42 places · every place verified by us
Hills to run on, a free museum, Tudor dressing up, a racing museum and a long-running pantomime, with pubs that have gardens for the children. No theme park, so plan around outdoor space and the weather.
42 places
Family days out · Bicester
An indoor trampoline and adventure park on Talisman Business Park in Bicester, with Open Jump sessions for ages 4 and up, toddler sessions, quieter SEN sessions and a café for those not jumping.
Family-friendly · Rainy days
Verified Nov 2026
Museums and galleries · Banbury
Banbury's free town museum, on the Oxford Canal with an entrance in Castle Quay: Bronze Age finds, a cannon from Banbury Castle, plush cloth and a canal gallery, with paid touring exhibitions and a canalside café.
Family-friendly · Rainy days · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Sport and activity · Bicester
The town's public pool and sports centre on Queens Avenue, run for Cherwell District Council, with a 25m pool, a 15m learner pool and pay-as-you-go public swims booked online.
Family-friendly · Rainy days
Verified Nov 2026
Parks and gardens · Burton Dassett
A hundred acres of open hilltop in south Warwickshire with wide views, old quarry workings and a beacon, plus the medieval church of All Saints. A country park since 1971. Car parking £3.50 a day.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Historic houses and heritage
The Lucy family's Tudor and Victorian house beside the River Avon near Stratford, with fallow deer, Jacob sheep and a service courtyard. National Trust, about 30 minutes from Banbury. The park opens all year, and the house days change for Christmas.
Family-friendly · Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Family days out · Chipping Norton
A theatre in a former Salvation Army citadel in Chipping Norton, known for its long-running family pantomime, with films and other shows through the year. The Snow Queen runs from 18 November 2026 to 17 January 2027.
Family-friendly · Rainy days
Verified Nov 2026
Family days out · Bicester
An indoor climbing centre on Bessemer Close in Bicester with more than 20 auto-belay climbing lines for ages 4 and up, short family sessions from age 2, a pottery-painting room and a café beside the arena.
Family-friendly · Rainy days
Verified Nov 2026
Museums and galleries
An art gallery in a Robert Adam house in a Capability Brown park, about 25 minutes north west of Banbury, with six permanent collections and changing shows. Open Wednesday to Sunday, all winter too. Adults from £22.50 in 2026, and 18 and under free.
Family-friendly · Dog-friendly · Rainy days
Verified Nov 2026
Hotel · Silverstone
A hotel inside Silverstone Circuit between Copse and Becketts: 184 bedrooms in 60 private residences of one to four bedrooms, some facing the track, with a pool, gym and restaurant.
Family-friendly · EV charging
Verified Nov 2026
Cafes and tearooms
The café at Barn Farm Plants garden centre, Upper Wardington, near Banbury, serving homebaked cakes and freshly made food with indoor and outdoor seating, on the Jurassic Way and beside an antiques centre.
Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Cafes and tearooms · Upper and Lower Heyford
A café, bar and village shop at Heyford Wharf on the Oxford Canal in Lower Heyford, open daily from 9am to 5pm by its own page, with breakfast, lunch, local cakes and a large garden by the moorings.
Walker-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Restaurants · Banbury
A canalside food hall and independent market at Castle Quay in Banbury: sushi, pizza, burgers, pasta, crepes, afternoon tea and a bar, with small shops alongside. Dogs on leads are welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Cafes and tearooms · Bicester
An independent board game café in the old bank at the top of Sheep Street, Bicester, with hundreds of games, barista coffee, toasties and cakes, open Tuesday to Sunday; £2.50 an hour a head to play, under-5s free.
Family-friendly · Rainy days
Verified Nov 2026
Self-catering · Upper and Lower Heyford
Self-drive narrowboat holidays, short breaks and day boats from Heyford Wharf on the Oxford Canal at Lower Heyford, from mid March to the end of October, for 2 to 12 people, dogs included.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Hotel · Bicester
A Premier Inn on Oxford Road, on the A41 at the southern edge of Bicester, half a mile from Bicester Village by the chain's measure, with family, accessible and Premier Plus rooms, a restaurant and a paid car park.
Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Hotel · Silverstone
A four-star golf club hotel, by its own description, on Silverstone Road opposite the circuit near Club Corner. Breakfast and parking are included, check-in is contactless, and the club also runs an official Grand Prix campsite on the same ground.
Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Museums and galleries · Silverstone
The interactive museum of British motor racing, at Silverstone Circuit: cars and bikes from the 1940s on, RAF Silverstone's wartime story, a sim suite and a trail round parts of the old track. Adults £24 online or £29 on the day, valid for return visits for a year.
Family-friendly · Rainy days
Verified Nov 2026
Hotel · Great Tew
Soho House's private members' club and hotel on 100 acres near Great Tew: 115 bedrooms and cabins, with a pool, spa and restaurants. Soho House says a day visit needs membership and a stay needs membership or Soho Friends, at £135 a year.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Historic houses and heritage
Two attractions on one estate, about 30 minutes east of Banbury: Stowe House, a Grade I palace run by an independent charity and shared with a school, and the National Trust's landscape gardens around it. Separate tickets, entrances and parking.
Family-friendly · Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Historic houses and heritage · Sulgrave
The Tudor manor house built by George Washington's English ancestors, in Sulgrave north east of Banbury, and a museum of the Anglo-American link since 1921. Open Sundays to Tuesdays in season, walk-ins welcome. Closed for the winter until March 2027.
Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Pubs
An ironstone country pub on the village green at Shenington, opened in 1700, with a log fire, flagstones, a short chalkboard menu that changes with the seasons, and dogs and muddy boots welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Pubs · Edgehill and Radway
A pub and restaurant in the castellated 18th-century tower on top of Edgehill, above the 1642 battlefield, with Hook Norton ales, large gardens, five en-suite rooms and a gin school in the tower.
Family-friendly · Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
Pubs · Chipping Norton
A Grade II listed 17th-century inn on Goddards Lane, Chipping Norton, with home-cooked food under head chef Nick Pullen, real ale and a private room for up to 30.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Pubs
A pub at Hinton-in-the-Hedges, just west of Brackley, that dates itself to the 15th century, with a log fire, a couple of gardens, a snug, dogs welcome and vegetarian dishes given proper room. It cites a 2022 Good Beer Guide entry. The car park is small.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
This is a place for a hill, a house with a trail, and a pub with a garden. It does not have a zoo or a theme park on our list. Pick by the age of your children, because some of the best things here have a lower limit.
Start in Banbury, where the day can be free. People's Park has an aviary and a play area, and Spiceball Country Park has another play area and woodland trails. Banbury Museum is free, with lifts to every floor. Our day out with children strings them together on foot, with a plan for rain.
Burton Dassett Hills is a big hill for children who need to run, and the council lists no café, so take a picnic. Sulgrave Manor has family trails and Tudor dressing up in its season, and carers and under-5s go free, though no pushchairs in the house.
Compton Verney is the best choice near Banbury for teenagers, since entry is free up to 18. Silverstone Museum is built for families and racing fans, and the ticket lasts a year, but it is loud in places. Charlecote Park has deer to look for and a service courtyard. Stowe needs a whole day and two tickets. At Upton House, the terraces have steep drops and unguarded ponds, so hold on to little ones.
Chipping Norton Theatre is the winter treat, with a pantomime that is its longest-running and largest show, and relaxed performances too. In June, the free Banbury Show fills Spiceball.
Lock29 in Banbury is the easy answer when nobody can agree. The Hare and Hounds has a large beer garden the pub says suits small children, and the Red Lion at Long Compton has a play area and activity sheets. The Malthouse Kitchen and the Plough at Bodicote both have children's menus. The Castle at Edgehill has large gardens and a battlefield view.
Whately Hall is in the middle of Banbury, and booking sites list a family double room there. The Unicorn at Deddington has a family room with a double and a single bed over the Market Place. Whittlebury Park is the resort choice, where children aged 4 and under stay free. The Sun Inn has a room for a family of four. Soho Farmhouse has Teeny Barn for children, but only child members and children staying overnight can use it, and staying needs a Soho House or Soho Friends membership.
Check first, because several places here have a limit. Banbury Cross Bed and Breakfast and Heythrop Park are adults only, camping at the Pig Place is for over-18s, and the Killingworth Castle takes no under-16s overnight. The tour at Hook Norton Brewery takes no under-12s. Alberto's has no room for pushchairs and no high chairs.
A hill, a free museum, a Tudor trail, a racing museum, a gallery that is free up to 18, and a pub with a play area.
All places
Parks and gardens · Burton Dassett
A hundred acres of open hilltop in south Warwickshire with wide views, old quarry workings and a beacon, plus the medieval church of All Saints. A country park since 1971. Car parking £3.50 a day.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Museums and galleries · Banbury
Banbury's free town museum, on the Oxford Canal with an entrance in Castle Quay: Bronze Age finds, a cannon from Banbury Castle, plush cloth and a canal gallery, with paid touring exhibitions and a canalside café.
Family-friendly · Rainy days · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Historic houses and heritage · Sulgrave
The Tudor manor house built by George Washington's English ancestors, in Sulgrave north east of Banbury, and a museum of the Anglo-American link since 1921. Open Sundays to Tuesdays in season, walk-ins welcome. Closed for the winter until March 2027.
Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Museums and galleries · Silverstone
The interactive museum of British motor racing, at Silverstone Circuit: cars and bikes from the 1940s on, RAF Silverstone's wartime story, a sim suite and a trail round parts of the old track. Adults £24 online or £29 on the day, valid for return visits for a year.
Family-friendly · Rainy days
Verified Nov 2026
Museums and galleries
An art gallery in a Robert Adam house in a Capability Brown park, about 25 minutes north west of Banbury, with six permanent collections and changing shows. Open Wednesday to Sunday, all winter too. Adults from £22.50 in 2026, and 18 and under free.
Family-friendly · Dog-friendly · Rainy days
Verified Nov 2026
Pubs
A Grade II listed inn on Main Street, Long Compton, under the Rollright Stones, with seven dog-friendly bedrooms, an AA Rosette and Breakfast Award for 2025, a play area and dogs welcome in bar and restaurant.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Parks and events in Banbury that cost nothing to walk into.
Sight · Common or park · Banbury
Banbury's town centre park, opened in 1919 to mark the peace, with an aviary of budgies and cockatiels, a walled garden, rose garden, bowling green, tennis, a play area and a café. Free, and run by the town council.
Sight · Common or park · Banbury
Banbury's largest park, 26 acres split by the River Cherwell with the Oxford Canal along one edge: play area and skate ramps on the town side, woodland walks and nature trails across the wooden bridges. Free, with free parking on Grimsbury Green.
Event · Spiceball Country Park, Banbury ·
Banbury Town Council's free one-day show in Spiceball Country Park, on a Saturday in mid-June, 10am to 5pm: arena acts, local music, fairground rides and stalls. The last was on 13 June 2026. The 2027 date is to be confirmed: the pattern points to Saturday 12 June 2027.
Event · Oxford Canal, Banbury town centre ·
A free two-day festival on the Oxford Canal through the middle of Banbury, usually on the first weekend of October, with Tooley's Boatyard at its heart. The last was on 3 and 4 October 2026, 11am to 5pm. The 2027 date is to be confirmed: 2 and 3 October 2027 if the pattern holds.
Event · In front of the Town Hall, Bridge Street, Banbury ·
Banbury's free Christmas lights switch-on, on Sunday 29 November 2026 in front of the Town Hall: music and rides from 11am, the lights at about 5pm, then fireworks and a headline act until 6pm. The Winter Market runs alongside it.
School holiday plans and new things to do with children, about once a month.
People's Park has an aviary and a play area, Spiceball has another, and the museum is free. Our day plan links them on foot, and includes a plan for rain.
Burton Dassett Hills for space, Sulgrave Manor for younger children in season, Compton Verney for teenagers, and Silverstone Museum for racing fans.
The Hare and Hounds at Wardington has a large garden, the Red Lion at Long Compton has a play area, and the Plough at Bodicote has a children's menu.
No under-12s, and the tour has over 100 open steps. Families can use the Malthouse Kitchen on the same site, which has a children's menu.
Booking sites list a family double room at Whately Hall in the town centre. Whittlebury Park is a resort where children aged 4 and under stay free. Banbury Cross Bed and Breakfast does not take children.
What is on, what is new and what is in season in Banburyshire, in your inbox about once a month.