Wednesday 3 August 2016

Places To Visit In South Wales With A Toddler

Places-to-visit-in-South-Wales-with-a-toddler-text-on-image-of-toddler-on-swing

Here is a list of places we have visited with Bear, our very own discerning toddler. All are within an hours drive of Cardiff so not too long in the car. We go out every week, rain or shine and we always manage to find somewhere for Bear to explore. Sometimes it's the local park and sometimes a Stately Home.
Grandad and I bought National Trust and CADW membership to make our days out more affordable so we visit lots of Castles. We would love to visit more National Trust places but there are so few close to Cardiff.

I've called this Places To Visit In South Wales With A Toddler  but it does include some places in England and bigger kids can enjoy them too. Each heading is a clickable link to our review with more information and lots of pictures. As we visit more places I will add them here.



Underneath the name of the place I have written a list of facilities with a longer explanation in the glossary.

Glossary


Animals - usually main attraction, farm or petting
Beach - sand or pebbles
Buggy Friendly - Mostly paths suitable for buggies or little balance bikes (like toddle bike)

Cafe - On site cafe although we usually take a picnic so have not reviewed them.
Exhibitions - changing, not just information display boards
FunFair - more than one or two rides, payable separately
Furnished - cottages/buildings in the style of a particular time eg Medieval or 1940's
Gardens - formal or not, but designed, planted and maintained
Lake - just water no water activities, probably ducks for feeding though
Museum - they have a dedicated area with displays, many are interactive
Picnic - either dedicated areas with picnic tables or just a great place to have one
Playground - at least swings and a slide
Ruins - just bits of buildings/walls still left. Not a whole building
Sculptures - more than one and part of a trail
Shop - just one, usually full of beautiful, but a bit too expensive, souvenirs
Shops - variety of shops not just touristy
Parking  F - free
Parking £ -  additional cost.  At CADW or NT sites, parking may be free for members.
Parkland - grass and large trees
Village or Town - it is either in the centre of the village or town or a toddlers five minute walk (disclaimer - that's a toddler actually walking, in a straight line, in the direction of the town!)
Walks - marked/unmarked trails suitable for a toddler but not necessarily a buggy



Free


Barry Island

Beach, Buggy friendly, Cafe, Funfair, Parking F, Parking £, Picnic, Shops, Town, Walks


Places-to-visit-in-South-Wales-with-a-toddler-Barry-Island-beach


Blaenavon Big Pit 

Buggy friendly, Cafe, Museum, Parking £, Picnic, Real coal mine, Shop.



big-pit


Blaenavon Ironworks

Furnished cottages, Museum, Parking F, Picnic, Shop.



blaenavon-ironworks-and-a-toddler



Bluebell Woods - The Wenallt

Bluebells (in the Spring), Parking F, Views of Cardiff, Woodland Walks.

toddler-in-amongst-bluebells


Caerleon Roman Fortress

Buggy friendly, CADW, Picnics, Ruins, Town, Walks.

toddler-at-caerleon-roman-fortress


Caerwent Roman Town

Buggy friendly, CADW, Picnics, Ruins, Village (No Shops), Walks.

toddler-at-caerwent-roman-town



Cosmeston Lakes and Medieval Village

Buggy friendly, Cafe, Furnished medieval village, Lake, Picnics, Walks.

cosmeston-lakes


Fforest Fawr Sculpture Trail

Buggy friendly, Sculptures, Woodland walks,

toddler-at-fforest-fawr-sculpture-trail


Garwnant Visitor Centre

Buggy friendly, Cafe, Parking £, Playground, Picnics, Sculptures, Woodland walks,


toddler-with-gruffallo-at-garwnant

toddler-on-swing-at-garwnant


National Museum Cardiff

Cafe, City Centre, Dinosaurs, Exhibitions, Museum, Parking £.


toddler-and-dinosaurs-national-museum-cardiff

Ogmore-By-Sea

Beach, Cafe (Ice-cream van and occasionally pizza stand), Picnic, Walks


toddler-walking-on-huge-sandy-beach

RSPB Newport Wetlands


Buggy friendly, Cafe, Playground, Picnic, Shop, Walks


Places-to-visit-in-South-Wales-with-a-toddler-rspb-newport-wetlands


St Fagans Castle & St Fagans Museum

Buggy friendly, Cafe, Furnished buildings, Gardens, Parking £, Picnics, Shop, Small play area with ride on tractors. Stately Home, Working Artisans



toddler-in-green-tunnel

Thornhill Farm Shop and Animal Paddock 

Animals, Farm shop, Small play area


empty-playground-in-the-fog

CADW with entrance fee


Caerphilly Castle


Castle, Exhibitions, Parking £, Parkland, Picnic, Ruins, Shop, Town

caerphilly-castle


Castell Coch


Cafe, Fairytale furnished Castle, Parking F, Woodland Walks

castell-coch



Chepstow Castle


Castle, Parking £, Picnic, Ruins, Shop, Town



toddler-looking-at-wire-knight-sculpture



Raglan Castle

Cafe, Castle, Parking F, Picnic, Ruins, Shop,


raglan-castle



Tintern Abbey


Buggy friendly, Parking £, Picnic, Ruins, Riverside/Woodland Walks, Shop, Shops, Village. 


tintern-abbey


National Trust



Dyffryn Gardens 


Cafe, Gardens, Parking F, Picnic, Playgound, Shop, Stately home, Walks. 



toddler-in-field-of-buttercups



Tredegar House & Gardens

Above link is the gardens, review of the house here

Cafe, Gardens, Parkland, Picnic, Stately Home, Walks. 



toddler-with-dalek

toddler-on-huge-stone




Attractions


Walnut Tree Farm


Animals, Cafe, Buggy friendly, Parking F, Playground, 


toddler-stroking-rabbit

Dewstow Grottoes


Fairies, Gardens, Parking F, Walks


toddler-touching-fairy-doors-on-a-tree


Perrygrove Railway


Adventure playgrounds, Parking F, Railway, Woodland walks, 


man-and-a-red-train


Puzzlewood


Animals, Cafe, Parking F, Picnic, Playground, Sand Pit, Woodland walk. 


toddler-on-a-path-through-rocks

Techniquest, Cardiff

Buggy friendly, Cafe, Exhibitions, Museum, Shops, Parking £, Town


toddler-with-head-through-hole-in-table-no-body-to-be-seen-trick-with-mirrors



Tintern Farm Baby Lambs


Baby lambs in the Spring costs just a small donation, Shop




toddlers-hand-and-a-lamb




I haven't included any soft play centres, because we just haven't visited any. We will in the winter when it's too cold to play out but while the weather is warm, even if it's raining, we will continue to explore the great outside. 

Where's your favourite place?  We are always looking for new places and would love to hear from you.









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4 comments

  1. Absolutely brilliant!!!! I love that you've added them all to one place, easy to update with future additions too :D And of course, love seeing a post that has millions of pics of my little boy in it too :)

    Georgina
    Pixiedoes.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! It took ages to write as I kept getting distracted looking at the pictures

      Delete
  2. Oh my goodness I love this post! I have a toddler the same sort of age and this is brilliant thank you! Bookmarking and sharing now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought it would help me too when I just can't think of somewhere to go.

      Delete

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