Great Green Days Out
If you love nature, our eco attractions offer wonderful adventures out for everyone, whether near to home or on holiday!
Our Great Green Days Out include hidden gems as well as larger more well-known attractions, each offering a unique day out. All will give you an adventure with nature, leave you inspired to live in a more eco-friendly way at home, and be a fun day out for the whole family to enjoy.
Click on the map to find a Great Green Day Out near you today!
Green Credentials
Our members have some great green features at their attractions, use the key below to find out what they have:
Electric Car Charging
Solar Panels
Water Conservation
Eco Food & Gifts
Wind Turbines
Electric Car Charging Units
Learning outside the classroom
Solar Panels
Nature Reserve
Water Conservation
On site waste recycling
Eco Food & Gifts
Biomass Boiler
Wind Turbines
Eco Build
Outdoor Learning
Nature Reserve
On site waste recycling
Biomass Boiler
Eco Build
If you love nature, our eco attractions offer wonderful adventures out for everyone, whether near to home or on holiday!
Our Great Green Days Out include hidden gems as well as larger more well-known attractions, each offering a unique day out. All will give you an adventure with nature, leave you inspired to live in a more eco-friendly way at home, and be a fun day out for the whole family to enjoy.
Click on the map to find a Great Green Day Out near you today!
Based at the foothills of Snowdonia, this is Europe’s leading eco centre that researches and support greener ways of living. With seven acres of interactive displays, eco-demonstration areas, organic gardens and family activities there is something for everyone at CAT.
Why you'll love visiting us
As a pioneering eco centre, The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) has been inspiring visitors for over 40 years. Arriving via one of Europe’s steepest water-balanced cliff railways, you’ll discover a beautiful abundant setting packed full of working examples of renewable energy, organically managed gardens, sustainable woodland habitats and experimental green buildings
Combining exciting practical skills with immersive wellbeing experiences, CAT truly is the home of sustainability education. Join a tour around the visitor centre to dig a little deeper or come along to a day or week long course to explore everything from sustainable woodland management and nature connection to sustainable building practices and renewable energy.
With plenty to see and do, CAT is a great place for the kids! Run off extra energy in the eco-adventure playground, discover a world of green living on family friendly trails and scavenger hunts or come during school holidays for a fun packed programme of family activities, shows and workshops.
With a shop full of eco goodies and tasty treats and hearty lunches in their vegetarian café, CAT has everything you need for a great day out.
Play Area
Dogs Allowed
Free Wifi
Accessibility Scooters
Eco Shop & Online
Vegan & Vegetarian Café
Public Courses
Postgraduate Courses
Exhibitions
Hothouse & Organic Gardens
Forest and Eco School Visits
Nature Reserve & Trails
Lecture Theatre
Accommodation
Eco Research Unit
Water Balanced Cliff Railway
Membership
Mission
CAT believes in a positive future where we have learnt to live harmoniously with nature and to tread lightly on the planet while enjoying the highest quality of life. Their Visitor Centre helps you explore that vision for the future and to learn about ways to help achieve it. Learn about CAT’s project Zero Carbon Britain through trails and activities, discover buildings made with rammed earth and straw bales or explore organic gardens full of ideas to take home.
Explore people’s relationship with plants in the Eden Project’s world-famous Biomes in Cornwall. Trek through a rainforest in the world’s largest conservatory, stroll through Mediterranean climes, and discover extensive outdoor gardens.
Why you'll love visiting us
The Eden Project is a horticultural spectacle, with over a million plants spread across 35 acres of stunning global gardens situated in the heart of Cornwall.
Explore their two vast covered biomes, housing wild landscapes, crops and stories from the Rainforest and Mediterranean regions: immerse yourself in the steamy heat of the largest rainforest in captivity and marvel at a close-up view of the tree tops from our Canopy Walkway. Then take a stroll through the sights and scents of the Mediterranean, where you’ll come across beautiful flower displays and ripening seasonal crops.
Discover their outdoor garden for all seasons, home to some of the world’s oldest and rarest plants. Trek down their Zigzag Through Time and discover the myths and legends tucked away in hidden corners.
Seek out the exhibitions, such as Invisible Worlds, and exhibits which bring their stories to life, watch a live concert or theatre performance, or enjoy the tastes of the food growing around you in one of their cafes.
Tropical & Temperate Biomes
Indoor & Outdoor Play Areas
Exhibitions
Gardens & Art Trail
Dogs Allowed (not in Biomes)
Free Wifi
Accessibility
Shop, Plant Centre & Online
Eco School Visits
Café
Event Theatre
On site Accommodation
Scientific Research Unit
Postgraduate & Public Courses
Membership
Mission
The Eden Project, an educational charity, connects us with each other and the living world, exploring how we can work towards a better future. We create memorable experiences that lead people to care about each other and the natural world and do transformational projects to show what people working together and with nature can achieve. Our first project was to build a global garden in a crater that was once a china clay pit as a symbol of regeneration and the art of the possible. Today we work on a wide range of environmental and social projects nationally and internationally to further our mission. The money we raise supports educational programmes and projects which catalyse change.
Immerse yourself in over 700 species of plants and animals, without leaving the UK at the Living Rainforest near Newbury in Berkshire. You’ll see birds, lizards, butterflies, weird and wonderful plants in our lush tropical glasshouses and see if you can spot our resident Sloth!
Why you'll love visiting us
The Living Rainforest is home to hundreds of species of tropical plants and animals, including Goeldi’s monkeys, red-billed toucans and a two-toed sloth. They have a fantastic plant collections with exotic flowers and super-sized leaves.
After exploring the rainforest houses and Human Impact Building, kids can let off steam in their outdoor play area while adults relax over a cappuccino.
The Living Rainforest is an all-weather attraction, open daily and year-round, with special events organised during weekends and school holidays.
Annual Ticket Entry
Outdoor Play Area
Tropical Glasshouse
Exhibitions
Free Wifi
Accessibility - wheelchairs
Shop
Café
Event Space
Eco School Visits
Scientific Research
Mission
A registered educational charity, The Living Rainforest explores the connections between rainforests, people and sustainable living. Located at the former site of one of Europe's leading orchid nurseries, our rainforest visitor centre welcomes over 80,000 visitors a year. Each visit helps to support the education and conservation work of the Living Rainforest and its partners.
The Living Rainforest's acclaimed education programme welcomes 25,000+ schoolchildren a year. The Trust for Sustainable Living, which runs The Living Rainforest, organises an annual International Schools Essay Competition and Schools Sustainability Challenge, attracting the participation of thousands of teachers and schoolchildren from around the world.
Markshall Estate
Experience our beautiful conservation landscape in the heart of Essex and surround yourself with nature.
Why you'll love visiting us
Discover over 1,000 years of history, explore ancient woodland and visit new continents in our world-class Arboretum. Uncover the power of nature and find out how to protect it for the future. We are a charity on a mission to help people and nature thrive.
With more than 2,350 acres of striking heritage landscape, you can explore miles of ancient woodland, relax in the captivating Walled garden, and find space in our world-class arboretum. It’s the perfect place for an outdoor adventure or bit of relaxation.
Let your imagination run wild in our hands-on play area, made from wood from across the estate, and become explorers as you enter our Arboretum planted with trees and plants from Europe and faraway places like North America, South America and Asia.
And once you are finally all tired out, you can rest up with a nice mug of hot chocolate in our café.
Play Area
Dogs Allowed (restricted areas)
Free Wifi
Accessibility
Shop & Plant Centre
Café
Lecture Theatre
Art Trails
Scientific Research
Mission
We’re here to connect people with nature and inspire generations to become ambassadors for the environment. Through our continuous care of Markshall Estate, we strive to advance our knowledge of the natural environment and to be leaders in conservation, education, research and climate action.
That’s why we stand for:
• Conservation
• People
• The Environment
• The Future
This stunning attraction features the biggest single-span glasshouse in the world. Set in 500 acres of Welsh countryside The Garden has blossomed into one of the most beautiful gardens in Wales.
Why you'll love visiting us
The garden is the biggest and best in Wales and has, as its centrepiece, the Lord Foster-designed Great Glasshouse. Poised in the landscape like a giant raindrop, the 3,500sqm structure is a Noah’s Ark for rare and endangered plants from around the world.
But there is much more to the Garden than the biggest single-span glasshouse in the world. Just an hour from Cardiff, it is set in more than 500 acres of fantastic, unspoilt, rolling Welsh countryside. It has so many features, you may not be able to see them all in a day. These include a unique and historic double-walled garden, a National Nature Reserve, organic farm with lakes, ponds and walks, tropical house, specialist gardens such as a bog garden, bee garden, apothecaries’ garden, physicians of Myddfai exhibition, a theatre and gallery, children’s play area and hands-on fun and games for children. Theyalso have so many events throughout the year from our food festival to many talks and courses for all ages.
Temperate Glasshouse
Tropical Glasshouse
Play Area
Dogs Allowed Mon & Fri
Free Wifi
Accessibility Scooters
Shop & Plant Centre
Café
Scientific Research Unit
Public Courses
Exhibitions
Forest & Eco School Visits
Nature Reserve & Trails
Membership
Mission
The Garden of Wales is a charity dedicated to the research and conservation of biodiversity, sustainability, lifelong learning and the enjoyment of the visitor.
With a collection of over 10,000 plant varieties spread over nearly 500 acres, this Garden is on a mission to inspire, educate and conserve.
Explore over 700 acres of wetlands, meadows, wildlife rich farmland, woodland and gardens, including one of the first ever public gardens designed by world acclaimed plantsman Piet Oudolf. Children will love exploring the giant natural play areas WildRootz and Hootz House open all weather and year round.
Why you'll love visiting us
Pensthorpe Natural Park really is for everyone, it's a great place for nature enthusiasts, tranquil seekers and for children and adults to connect with nature.
Inspired by reports that show children are more inclined to stay indoors rather than exploring outside, Pensthorpe developed a fantastic outdoor expansion to reconnect children with the natural world. This giant 7,000 sqm adventure play area, WildRootz, is unlike anything else Norfolk has to offer. Child-friendly thrills are nestled subtly into stunning natural surroundings with trees and gentle rolling hills managing to encompass over 30 pieces of individual play equipment including the giant 11 metre high slide tower called ‘The Worm’. The adventure continues with the opening of Hootz House, an amazing award winning indoor nature play experience for children that is imaginatively designed and complimentary to Pensthorpe's overall vision of weaving play into education about the natural world.
Pensthorpe Natural Park really is the place for everyone to come and be inspired by nature.
Nature Reserve & Trails
Five Gardens
Indoor & Outdoor Play Area
Exhibitions
Sculpture Trail
Free Wifi
Accessibility Scooters
Shop & Plant Centre
Café
Event Room
Scientific Research
Eco School Visits
Membership
Mission
Pensthorpe Natural Park mission is to inspire current and future generations to protect and enjoy nature by encouraging them to learn, explore and play outdoors.
Pensthorpe’s unique mix of inland habitats allows them to promote the study and understanding of native and endangered species within our natural landscape. As a visitor you will be supporting their charitable conservation work which includes habitat restoration, creation and their national breed and release programmes carried out by Pensthorpe Conservation Trust.
Our vision is to be actively involved in conserving the countryside and wildlife in the Wensum Valley with national partners, as well as through our captive breeding programmes, for endangered species including corncrakes, Red Squirrels and Eurasian Cranes.
As a World Heritage Site, Kew Gardens is home to the world’s largest collection of plants, magnificent glasshouses, attractions and 300 acres of tranquil gardens.
Why you'll love visiting us
As a World Heritage Site, Kew Gardens is home to magnificent glasshouses, the world's largest collection of plants and over 300 acres of tranquil gardens.
Visit the five glasshouses, each unique in their design, climate and species from delicate orchids, hungry carnivorous plants, foul-smelling Titan Arum to Britain’s oldest pot plant and a cycad that is possibly the last of its species in the world.
You can enjoy special gardens such as Japanese landscapes, traditional medicine plants in the Queen's Garden and also visit the Arboretum home to over 14,000 trees from all over the world including a fantastic treetop walkway to experience the wonder of the canopy level.
As well as the plant collections you can explore over 200,000 works of botanical art in three galleries and the Hive, an award-winning installation that highlights the importance of pollinators.
To inspire little ones Kew has opened a new Children’s Garden, it’s nearly the size of 40 tennis courts and has been designed by Kew garden designers around the elements that plants need to grow: earth, air, sun and water. Children can also explore the log trail, a human-sized badger sett. There is something for everyone at Kew Gardens.
Tropical Glasshouses
Temperate Glasshouses
Indoor & Outdoor Play Areas
Exhibitions
Art Installations
Public Courses
Accessibility Scooters
Shop & Online
Plant Centre
Café
Scientific Research Unit
Eco School Visits
Membership
Mission
Kew Gardens holds the Earth’s largest and most diverse botanical collection under our care. They are also an internationally respected centre of scientific excellence, identifying and classifying plants; researching their structure, chemistry and genetics; collecting and conserving endangered species; maintaining reference collections and sharing this knowledge with others.
