BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

Clara’s Corner, West Wycombe

Finally! A stylish soft-play centre with a top-notch café attached. This winning combination for frazzled parents can be found at the charming eighteenth-century Walled Garden on the West Wycombe estate, which has unveiled Clara’s Corner – a whimsical indoor play area for the under-sevens. It’s designed in calming pastel shades so children aren’t overstimulated and numbers are restricted to keep noise (and stress) levels to a minimum. Muddy reckons it sounds rather relaxing – and not a sticky plastic jungle mat in sight. The café’s home-made cakes (inc. gluten-free) take the biscuit too. Play sessions of 90 mins cost £10-£15 and can be booked two weeks in advance.

Odds Farm Park, Wooburn Green

Let’s face it, you can’t always rely on the British weather – which is when the huge indoor playbarn at Odds Farm comes into its own. South Bucks parents flock here for the soft play-zones for children of all ages – including a rather terrifying drop-slide and a netted climbing course for the older ones. (You’ll probably have to follow them in to drag them home again). Outdoors there are tractor rides and more assorted adventure playgrounds, plus a barn for feeding cute animals. Not the cheapest option (it’s pushing £80 for entry for two adults and two kids over two) but a lifesaver when the weather is grim.

Go Ape in Wendover Woods, Aston Clinton

If you need somewhere for older children to let off steam, take them to Wendover Woods to tackle Go Ape’s Treetop Challenge. It’s a perilous course involving high-wires and rope-crossings set in wild landscape on the north crest of the Chilterns. Vertigo-inducing views over Aylesbury Vale come as standard. The trail is for children aged ten and over, or at least 140cm. Adults with a head for heights can, of course, join them too.

Hogshaw Farm & Wildlife Park, nr Buckingham

Hogshaw Farm first opened as an eco-friendly rare breeds farm but has mushroomed into a full family day out in the Buckinghamshire countryside. Set over 44 acres, it has the obligatory indoor soft-play covered, plus adventure playgrounds, go-karts, bouncing pillows and sand and water zones. Hogshaw Farm is also running adventure camps in the school holidays for older children. Lighting fires, den-building and archery should keep them busy Famous Five-style – and off those pesky screens.

Ropes on the Rye, High Wycombe

The Rye is High Wycombe’s huge local park and it offers hours of summer fun on the banks of the Wye with a boating lake, travelling funfairs and two play areas. The smaller playground is best for younger children, and Ropes on the Rye near the café is an older kids’ delight, with walkways, turrets, slides, bucket swings and rope bridges. Need to cool off after all that haring around? You’re a stone’s throw from Wycombe Lido, one of the best outdoor pools in the country. Yes, it’s heated – and open rain or shine.

Black Park, Wexham

Another high-energy option is Nets Adventure at Black Park in South Bucks, where bigger kids (and grown-up big kids) can bounce about 30-feet above the forest floor in giant nets and explore seven canopy tree houses. Treetop heaven! Little ones can head in to Black Park itself for an easy walk round the lake followed by a trip to the café (or ice-cream van) next to the large woodland play area. It’s the perfect combination for watching the kids burn off energy on the wobble bridges, fortresses and seesaws as you sip a leisurely latte or catch up with a friend. Bliss.

Higginson Park, Marlow

Marlow’s revamped main playground is a big upgrade on the pre-makeover version, which had become rather tired. Re-opened last summer, it now has a pirate ship that doubles as a climbing frame, a trampoline, see-saw and swings (great for the under-10s), and stepping-stone animals for pre-schoolers. Its setting in Higginson Park by a lovely stretch of the Thames gives it the edge over other local parks, and you’re next to Marlow high street’s array of cafes and shops that give West London a run for its money.

Image: National Trust / Waddesdon / Chris Lacey

Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury

Waddesdon near Aylesbury is another National Trust gem – but as it’s managed on behalf of the NT by the charitable foundation of the squillionaire Rothschild family, its adventure playground is rather grander in scale. It’s more of a woodland assault course, with space to run, jump, swing and climb on slides, zip-wires and rope-swings under a canopy of majestic trees, plus a self-contained safe zone for toddlers. NT members have free access to the grounds (inc. the playground), but you can shell out more to scope out the French Renaissance-style chateau and its (rather pricey) restaurants.

Hughenden Manor, nr High Wycombe

National Trust members can hop over to Hughenden Manor, where your trusty NT card grants you access to a lovely children’s play area next to the orchard. It’s deliberately simple to encourage imagination, with rope walkways strung between climbing frames carved from fallen trees. It’s best for smaller children (more of a pit-stop than a day out), but it can be combined with a tour round Benjamin Disraeli’s one-time stately seat. For other pared-down woodland playgrounds c/o the National Trust, see Grey’s Court near Henley or Cliveden near Taplow on the Bucks/Berks border.

OXFORDSHIRE

Fairytale Farm, Chipping Norton

In keeping with the fairytale theme (check out the Beanstalk Café), the play areas at this Cotswold farm are called Huff and Puff (after the Three Little Pigs); Fairy Dell, where kids are ‘shrunk’ to the size of a fairy to roam amongst giant toadstools; and Rapunzel’s Kingdom, a new indoor play-zone with an enchanted forest vibe. Muddy is sure they’ll keep your kids spellbound. Based at Southcombe, near Chipping Norton, it’s also the only UK attraction to be designed with disabled children front of mind.

Millets Farm Centre, Abingdon

Sprouts Play Barn at Millets Farm Centre is billed as soft play on another level. As well as a four-lane wavy cow slide, there are seven (count them!) indoor soft play zones to cater for all ages and a huge tunnel slide. The outdoor adventure playground has been revamped too, with coin-operated diggers for would-be farmers. Throw in a Ferris wheel, a falconry centre and farmyard golf and Muddy reckons you’re all set for an amoo-sing day out. It’s free entrance to the outdoor play area and animal walkway, but there’s a charge for the indoor play barn and seasonal events.

Tumblestone Hollow, Stonor Park, Henley

Stonor Park has pushed the boat out for younger visitors – Tumblestone Hollow is a magical wooden playground of rope bridges and wooden walkways around an ornate little house on stilts. There are also slides, climbing walls, balance beams and a sand and water pit for tinies. Seasonal events jazz up school holidays and in June, the Hideway teepee next to the playground will stay open until 9pm on Friday nights so adults can tuck in to a beer and wood-fired pizza while the kids run down their batteries until bedtime. An annual pass is £136 for a family of four and kids under 92cm go free.

Abbey Meadows, Abingdon

For a playground with a view, Abbey Meadows by the River Thames in Abingdon ticks the scenic box. Thanks to a 2017 makeover with £320,000 of council cash, it’s bedded in nicely to the local scene. Older children enjoy the wooden fort with net tunnels, monkey bars and climbing nets, while toddlers potter about the interactive sensory play area with baby swings. As a bonus, the Abbey Meadows splash pad and outdoor pool will re-open for the summer soon. It’s heated, so no excuse not to dive in.

Blenheim Palace, Woodstock

Blenheim Palace - Adventure Play winter 1

The adventure playground at Blenheim’s Walled Garden is the King of play areas – it has towers, walkways, climbing walls, cargo nets, slides, swings, three zipwires and a river feature that kids can skip across. It’s all beautifully planted and elegantly landscaped, with a café and pizza restaurant at hand to turbocharge knackered parents. The downside? Tickets cost £7 for adults and £5 for children – but you’ll also need a Park and Gardens Pass which costs £80 for the year for a family of four. An investment, but Muddy reckons it justifies repeat visits.

South Oxford Adventure Playground, Oxford

The South Oxford Community Playground – called SOAP by locals – was started by parents keen to keep their children off the streets. Some 50 years on, it’s still a great place for bigger children to come and play on the wooden fort with a zip-wire, wobbly bridge and slides, plus plenty of trees to climb and a den-making area. This charitable enterprise runs play sessions in school holidays, and children over 7 can be supervised for two-hour spells if you need some child-free time. Opening times and age-ranges for each day vary, so check the website to plan ahead and register in advance.

Cutteslowe Park, Oxford

Cutteslowe and Sunnymede Park in north Oxford makes Muddy’s cut because it’s the biggest in the city and it proudly flies a Green Flag award as one of the best green spaces in the country. You won’t be short of things for the kiddies to do here, either. On top of three children’s play areas (two on the Cutteslowe side, one on the Sunnymead side), this Oxford gem’s attractions include orienteering, crazy golf, beach volleyball and a miniature railway that chugs around the park. The splash park opens from the first May Bank Holiday if you want to take the plunge…

Blackthorn Play Park, Bicester

Family outings can soon tot up, so if you want a free excursion with lots of space for children to run around, head to Blackthorn Park near Bicester. It has a little-known adventure playground that has a fab fort plus a zip-wire, wobbly bridges and monkey bars. Great for getting some fresh air if you don’t want to make an expensive day of it – there’s plenty of green space for bringing your own picnic too.

FOUR MORE OVER THE BORDER

Adventure Play, Windsor Great Park, Windsor

This palatial play-zone in Windsor Great Park has delighted thousands of kids since its official ribbon-cutting in July 2023. The rustic playground is beautifully hand-crafted and made almost entirely from wood, with a little post office, walkways, turrets with thatched roofs, slides, rope-tunnels and cargo nets. Fit for a prince or princess! A two-hour session costs £10-£16 and under-twos are free. Pre-booking essential.

Adventure Playground, Compton Verney, Warks

Head over the Oxon border to Warks for the children’s adventure playground tucked away in the Christmas Tree plantation on the Compton Verney estate. Children of all ages can climb, swing, explore and whizz between the pines on the zip wire. Access to the playground is included with day-pass admission so make a day of it by exploring the art collections and Capability Brown grounds. Kids under 18 are free. Hurray!

Wellington Country Park, Riseley, Berks

Hop off the M4 to the Duke of Wellington’s estate, known as Welly Park, for a full-on family day out. There are adventure playgrounds to cater for all ages (the biggest has a giant zip-wire), plus a huge jumping pillow, a dinosaur trail, mini automated jeeps to drive through the forest, and – to top it all off – the Snakes and Ladders zone where your kids can hurtle down huge slides. Be warned – they are fast! Plenty of cafes (and parking) on site, or the well-stocked Wellington farm Shop is across the road for pricey (but delicious) lunches and cakes.

California Country Park, Finchampstead, Berks

The playground at California Country Park on Nine Mile Ride is still only in its third year (so not showing toooo much wear and tear!) and has two well-equipped children’s play areas for different ages and stages. The Sensory Garden is perfect for toddlers to splash about in (bring your wellies), and the Wild Wood is packed with slides, tree houses and zip-wires for older children to throw themselves at. Enjoy!

It’s child’s play: 21 of the best local adventure playgrounds

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