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Are you looking for ideas of what to do with your family? Head to Salisbury for some family fun. We’ve put together some great ideas below for family friendly things to do in and around the city so whether you are here for just a day trip or a bit longer, you’ll find lots to keep your family entertained.
Get hands-on with some of Salisbury’s history
History doesn’t have to be boring, head to The Salisbury Museum for the Wessex Gallery and get hands-on with artefacts from the past and have fun on the interactive stations within the Gallery. Look out for the regular events that also take place here from Under 5s days through to living history days and the ever-popular archaeology festival (usually taking place in July).
Within the Chapter House and Cloisters of Salisbury Cathedral, children can enjoy the exhibits related to the Magna Carta, including some armour and the ever-popular stocks! Look out for events for children and families over the school holidays including craft sessions, workshops and children’s trails around the Cathedral. At Christmas, Salisbury Cathedral also puts on a popular family Christmas service where a real-life donkey usually makes an appearance!
Just two miles north of the city centre you’ll find Old Sarum. Old Sarum is the original site of Salisbury and is home to the ruins of the original cathedral. Regular family-friendly events take place during the school holidays from Roman invasions through to jousting. Outside of these times, families can enjoy exploring the ruins and letting off some steam by exploring the ramparts.
The extensive aircraft on display at Boscombe Down Aviation Collection is a fantastic day out for visitors of all ages. Children will love the opportunity to don a flight suit and helmet and climb aboard the many aircraft that are found here. Unlike some collections, here children are actively encouraged to press buttons and flick switches in most of the aircraft and friendly volunteer guides are on hand to give you more information on what you can see.
Join Salisbury City Guides for one of their regular ghost walks during the summer months or their Halloween Spooky Weekend in October. Lookout as well for other family-friendly walks including Salisbury’s Horrible Histories, where you get to know about the gruesome and gory bits of Salisbury’s past! Information and tickets can be found from the Salisbury Information Centre.
Eight miles north of Salisbury is the iconic World Heritage Site of Stonehenge. Here, not only can you take the shuttle bus to the world-famous stone circle but families can have a great time exploring the reconstructed Neolithic houses or trying their hands at pulling a Sarsen stone. Themed archaeological events often take place during the school holidays giving young visitors an opportunity to get hands-on.
Download or purchase a Treasure Trail around the city and see if you can uncover clues from the buildings around Salisbury. By embarking on a treasure trail you are likely to find bits of our buildings that you perhaps have never seen before.
Escape from the elements
If the weather’s not playing ball when you come to visit there are lots of places you can visit to keep dry. For older children and family groups there’s Salisbury’s two escape rooms (think Crystal Maze and you’ll get the idea). Both Salisbury Escape Room and Live Escape Salisbury offer an entertaining hour of solving puzzles and riddles to work your way out of a room. The question is, will you make it out in the 60 minutes you are allocated?
Behind an impressive historic façade, Salisbury’s Odeon cinema with its multi-screens showcases the latest blockbusters or why not embrace getting wet and head to the pool at Five Rivers Leisure Centre?
Animal Adventures and nature-based fun
Who doesn’t love a day out that involves meeting animals? Well, there’s lots of opportunities to do so in and around Salisbury.
For a free adventure pop along to the River Bourne Community Farm in Laverstock. Here, you can meet the farm’s resident donkeys and alpacas as well as spot some of the new arrivals. There’s a café here too, a popular spot with the locals.
Cholderton Charlie's Rare Breeds Farm is around ten miles out of Salisbury and is home to goats, pigs, sheep and many other farmyard animals. Look out for animal handling sessions and the daily pig racing! Indoor and outdoor play areas add to the fun here.
Langford Lakes nature reserve, owned by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, is an excellent place to make a day out for a nature walk. Children can hunt for bugs in the bug hotel, try a spot of pond dipping or pop into the bird hides to see what nature can be found.
On the edge of the New Forest National Park, Forest Falconry offers opportunities to get close to various birds of prey as does the Hawk Conservancy Trust, in nearby Monxton.
Join in with some family-friendly events
From the Salisbury International Arts Festival through to the annual St George’s Day celebrations, Christmas lights switch on events and more, there is a large array of family friendly events that take place in and around Salisbury.
Salisbury Playhouse, City Hall and Salisbury Arts Centre all hold regular family friendly performances from the traditional pantomime through to performances from popular children’s TV stars. Take a look at our events listings for details of what’s coming up.
Want to know more?
Use the search box to discover more things to do or browse our list of events and keep an eye on our blog for top ideas for what’s coming up in the area. Plus, book your tickets in advance for many of the places that we mention.
to add an item to your Itinerary basket.