Outdoor theatre, Cornwall
Take your sprogs to Tehidy Woods, near Portreath, where fairies from Rogue Theatre will lead them down a candlelit path to Old Man Winter’s cosy woodland tent for stories, songs, hot chocolate and face-painting.
Until Dec 30 (closed Christmas Day); £8.50/under-4s free; roguetheatre.co.uk
Cave Christmas, Somerset
Lit up over Christmas by 10,000 lightbulbs, Chamber 20 (nicknamed King Arthur’s Beard by local cavers, after the fluted formations on its walls) is the stunning star turn of Wookey Hole’s Winter Wonderland. More than 20 attractions are included in the price of admission, including crazy golf, 4D cinema and circus.
Until Jan 2; £15; wookey.co.uk
Festival of light, Wiltshire
Szechuan comes to Longleat safari park, near Bath, which is hosting the biggest display of Chinese lanterns in Europe. A vast Peter Rabbit (Beatrix Potter would have turned 150 this year) is among the hundreds of giant illuminations; you’ll also come across a Santa Express (extra cost), an Arctic-themed play park and a 50ft Christmas tree.
Until Jan 2; £28.75/£20.65; longleat.co.uk
Lapland comes to Berkshire
Yes, it’s pricy, but it’s cheaper than flights to Finland — and Lapland UK, near Ascot, is a genuinely magical all-day affair. Wide-eyed littlies get to skate, meet reindeer, pet huskies and decorate gingerbread biscuits with Mrs C, then are led by some convincing elves to meet Santa in his snowy woodland grotto.
Until Christmas Eve; from £99; laplanduk.co.uk
Free Shard tickets, London
Fancy the Shard, but don’t care for the £19.95pp it normally costs to take your kids up to the viewing gallery? Get to SE1 this week, when paying adults can take two kids free. Make sure they use the toilet on the 68th floor, the ultimate loo with a view, gazing at the city 800ft below.
Until Christmas Eve; from £25.95; theviewfromtheshard.com
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Winter Festival, London
The Southbank Centre has a bulging sack of wintry events, some free, including a festive market, a circus, a roller disco, a fairground and Scandi street food.
Until Jan 22; prices vary; southbankcentre.co.uk
Vintage funfair, Kent
Have yourself a merry retro Christmas at Dreamland, in Margate, with flash-mob carols, pop-up panto, a secret story tent and Santa’s grotto — as well as regulars such as dodgems, a helter-skelter, a carousel and a waltzer.
Dates vary; free (rides and grotto charged separately); dreamland.co.uk
Fossil hunt, Essex
Xbox doing your head in? Essex Wildlife Trust is offering a bumper crop of outdoorsy boredom-busters, from forest craft clubs and Christmas trails to birding boat trips and wetland walks. The best one for kids is the Fossil Walk around the Naze peninsula — which is also the best place in Britain to find a shark’s tooth.
Dec 28; free/£5; essexwt.org.uk
Winter Wonderland, Cardiff
Winter Wonderlands are old (Santa’s) hat, but the one on the lawns outside City Hall is a belter. It has a fairground, a ferris wheel, an alpine food village, a bierkeller and, after rain ruined things last year, a clear roof over the skating rink.
Until Jan 3; skating £9.50/£6.50; cardiffswinterwonderland.com
Boxing Day swim, Pembrokeshire
Cure the Christmas turkey coma in Tenby, where 600 swimmers of all shapes and ages are expected for the annual fancy-dress stampede to the sea. There is a raft race beforehand, a beach bonfire afterwards, and cockle-warming soup provided by the Lions Club.
Boxing Day; free; tenbyboxingdayswim.co.uk
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Get bouncing, Gwynedd
After a £750,000 facelift this summer, Bounce Below — the wacky underground trampoline attraction in a disused Blaenau Ffestiniog slate mine — has four new giant slides and six new levels of trampolines. Above ground at Bethesda, adrenaline junkies can take on Velocity, the fastest zipline in the world.
Dates vary (closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day); Bounce Below £25, Velocity £60; zipworld.co.uk
Lego exhibition, Coventry
Christmas has come early for Lego fans at the Herbert Gallery & Museum, where a Niagara Falls and a Great Wall of China headline a Lego exhibition, alongside a “have a go” Lego graffiti wall. There’s also a Christmas decorations workshop.
Until Jan 15; free; theherbert.org
Star show, Birmingham
Explore the science behind the Christmas star in a new show at the Think Tank’s planetarium. The engagingly hands-on science museum also has an exhibition of Tim Peake’s photos from space, as well as creations by the madcap inventor Rowland Emett, including the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car.
Daily (closed Dec 24-26); £13/£9.50; birminghammuseums.org.uk/thinktank
Light show, Norwich
The Tunnel of Light, on Hay Hill, is 148ft long, 13ft high and pulses with an aurora borealis of colours. It cost £60,000 and is Norwich’s must-see holiday attraction, along with the movies projected onto the art deco City Hall and the castle walls.
Until Jan 5; free; visitnorwich.co.uk
Snowy Sodor, Staffordshire
Drayton Manor goes tot-friendly for Christmas, closing down its thrill rides, but keeping (snowy) Thomas Land and the zoo open, adding a light show on the Christmas tree, showing the Polar Express movie in 4D and setting off fireworks over the lake.
Until Jan 31 (closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day); from £16/£11; draytonmanor.co.uk
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Department of elf, Staffordshire
Join elves at Blithbury Reindeer Lodge, near Rugeley (home to the biggest reindeer herd in England), for stories by the fire, snowman biscuit-making and reindeer cuddles galore, before being whisked off by sleigh to Santa’s grotto and collecting a pressie at the elves’ workshop.
Until Fri; £9.95/£14.95 (sleigh ride £6.50 for one adult and child); blithburyreindeerlodge.co.uk
Victorian life, Derbyshire
Spoilt brats getting you down? Show them what life was like for their Victorian forebears at the Museum of Childhood, in Sudbury Hall. They can go up chimneys, head down a mine and make do — call Childline — with low-tech, wi-fi-less puppets and wooden toys.
Daily (closed Dec 24-27, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day); £15/£7.50; nationaltrust. org.uk/sudbury-hall
Christmas illuminations, Liverpool
Follow the Snowflake Trail (until Jan 3; free; thisliverpool.com/Christmas) between sound and light installations around town, then visit St George’s Hall for the first UK DreamWorks Lights Lantern Experience, with more than 100 illuminated DreamWorks stars, including Shrek, Alex the lion from Madagascar and Po from Kung Fu Panda.
Until Jan 15 (closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day); £10/£8; dreamworkslights.com
White Christmas, Manchester
Every day is a white Christmas at Chill Factore, home to the longest indoor ski slope in Britain. In the sparkly Snow Park, little ones can throw snowballs, muck about on Downhill Donuts and visit Santa’s grotto.
Grotto open until Christmas Eve; £50 for one adult and one child; chillfactore.com
The Snowman meets the Hallé, Manchester
Raymond Briggs’s Christmas classic is brought to life at Bridgewater Hall, where the film will be accompanied by the Hallé Orchestra. They will also perform Paddington Bear’s First Concert.
Tue and Wed; £24/£16; halle.co.uk
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Enchanted garden, South Yorkshire
The grounds of Brodsworth Hall have been transformed by lights into a magical secret garden, with the scent of mulled wine, mince pies and a festive barbecue heavy on the frosted air below Charles Thellusson’s magnificent Italianate mansion.
Until Fri; £9/£5.40; english-heritage.org.uk
Fire festival, East Yorkshire
Count in 2017 Viking-style, as Flamborough celebrates its Norse roots with a spectacular New Year’s Eve fire festival. There’ll be a torchlit parade, fireball-twirling, a longship pulled through the streets by helmeted warriors and midnight fireworks.
New Year’s Eve; free; flamboroughfirefestival.org
Rainy-day banker, Cumbria
Rain stopped play? Rheged Centre, near Penrith, has a stocking’s worth of indoor entertainment, from a 30ft helter-skelter to a theatre (Jack & the Beanstalk) and a cinema showing Elf, The Polar Express and a singalong screening of Frozen.
Daily (closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day); prices vary; rheged.com
Garden festival, Northumberland
In the shadow of Alnwick Castle (aka Hogwarts in the early Harry Potter films), Alnwick Garden gets a festive facelift, with a skating rink, a market, illuminated trails and an ethereal son et lumière.
Dates vary; £7.80/£5.10; alnwickgarden.com
Street of light, Edinburgh
The west end of George Street is a river of light in the run-up to Christmas, with more than 60,000 lightbulbs illuminating its neoclassical facades. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the RSNO and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus provide a musical backdrop, and the Scottish Market, also on George Street, is handy for any last-minute pressies.
Until Christmas Eve; free; edinburghschristmas.com
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Fire walk, Falkirk
Blow off the Hogmanay hangover (sorry, take the kids for a lovely walk) at the Helix park. Kicking off by the Kelpies, a two-mile trail will be lit up by lanterns and illuminations, while fire-breathers and fire-dancers will help kids forget they’re actually getting some exercise.
New Year’s Day; £3.50/£2.50; thehelix.co.uk
Wild goose chase, Aberdeenshire
A fifth of the world’s pink-footed geese pass through Loch of Strathbeg on their winter hols in the UK, along with whooper swans and wintering wildfowl in their tens of squawking thousands. The reserve’s Tower Pool Hide is the best place to see them, before heading back for hot chocolate in the visitor centre.
Tower Pool Hide open daily, visitor centre closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day; rspb.org.uk/lochofstrathbeg