If you’re after a family day out around Hedge End or Eastleigh, you’re spoilt for choice — you just have to know where to look. Within about twenty minutes you’ve got free country parks, a couple of little steam railways, a proper zoo, a theme park, soft play for a wet afternoon, and — full disclosure, because it’s us — a floodlit dinosaur adventure-golf course. Here’s an honest, local run-through, sorted by the kind of day (and budget) you’re after.
Free outdoor days (the country parks)
You can fill a whole day in Hampshire’s country parks without spending a penny on entry.
- River Hamble Country Park — a few minutes away over towards Bursledon and Botley: woodland walks, cycle trails and lovely views over the river, with play areas dotted about. Free to roam; bring a picnic. (The farm here, Manor Farm, is a separate paid attraction — see below.)
- Lakeside Country Park — right by Eastleigh town centre: lakes, open meadow and flat paths that suit little legs and buggies. Free to walk. The big draw is the Eastleigh Lakeside Steam Railway, a much-loved miniature steam line (small fare) doing a roughly 15-minute loop — catnip for train-mad toddlers.
- Royal Victoria Country Park — down at Netley: big open fields right on the water, a café, and another miniature railway (small fare). Flat, buggy-friendly, made for a picnic-and-a-scoot afternoon.
Paid attractions worth the money
- Manor Farm (inside River Hamble Country Park, Bursledon) — a proper hands-on farm: guinea pigs and rabbits to stroke, alpacas, goats, pigs, donkeys and a café. Brilliant for under-7s. There’s an admission charge.
- Go Ape at Itchen Valley Country Park (West End) — tree-top adventures across a range of ages, from the gentler Treetop Adventure for younger children up to the full Treetop Challenge (height 1.4m and over) and axe-throwing for teens and grown-ups. The 440-acre park around it — meadows, woodland trails and a café — is free to wander even if you’re not climbing.
Worth the short drive
- Marwell Zoo (about twenty minutes towards Winchester) — tigers, giraffes, penguins and a big play area; open daily, and an easy full day out.
- Paultons Park, home of Peppa Pig World (around twenty-five minutes out at Ower) — Hampshire’s big theme park and an absolute winner with under-8s. A day in itself.
Rainy or low-energy days
Some days you just want a roof — and we’d rather point you to one than pretend our outdoor course suits a downpour.
- Places Leisure Eastleigh — a swimming pool and a decent indoor soft-play area for burning off energy whatever the sky’s doing.
- The Berry Theatre (Wildern Lane, Hedge End) — family shows, films and live music through the year; a calmer outing that still feels like an event.
Something a bit different: dinosaur adventure golf
We’ll be straight about our own place, because that’s the point of a guide you can actually trust. Mighty Adventures on Upper Northam Road in Hedge End is an outdoor, dinosaur-themed adventure-golf course. It’s floodlit, so unlike most outdoor days out it keeps going after dark — handy on a gloomy winter afternoon when everywhere else is shutting up shop. A round suits roughly school age and up; little ones not quite ready for a putter have the indoor soft play, and there’s the Longship café for the grown-up who’d quite like to drink a coffee in one piece. Weekdays in term time are our quietest, and the whole course is buggy-, pram- and wheelchair-friendly.
What it isn’t is an all-weather option — it’s open-air, so a properly wet day is one for the soft play, not eighteen holes in the rain. When the weather’s behaving, it’s a genuinely good couple of hours. You can check prices and book online on our tickets page before you come.
Quick picks by age
- Under-5s: Manor Farm animals, the steam railways, or our indoor soft play.
- 5–12: dinosaur adventure golf, Marwell Zoo, or a country-park trail.
- Teens (who think they’re too cool for all this): Go Ape, or hand them the scorecard and watch the competitive streak appear.
The honest summary
For a free day, the country parks are hard to beat. For a wet one, the leisure centre or the theatre. For a big day out, Marwell or Paultons. And if you want the kind of thing the kids are still talking about on the way home — with a coffee in it for you — come and find the dinosaurs.