Great Green Days Out 

Electric Car Charging

Solar Panels

Water Conservation

Eco Food & Gifts

Wind Turbines

Outdoor Learning

Nature Reserve

On site waste recycling

Biomass Boiler

Eco Build

The Centre for Alternative Technology

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.

The Eden Project

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.

The Living Rainforest

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. 

Marks Hall Estate

Lose yourself in this inspiring landscape that has restorative powers for people, plants and wildlife. Beautiful gardens, ancient oak woodlands and at the heart a stunning immersive arboretum make this heritage landscape a magical day out for everyone.

Why you'll love visiting us

Marks Hall Estate forms an unmissable attraction in Essex extending to over 2,200 acres of striking heritage landscape. It includes broadleaved woodlands of high nature conservation value, a  stunning walled garden, lakes and an 18th Century Coach House event venue and at its heart an Arboretum with a stunning collection of trees.

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The Arboretum combines beautiful formal lakeside gardens, an enviable collection of trees originating from every temperate area of the world and miles of leafy woodland walks to explore and enjoy.

Over 40,000 visitors a year come to explore Marks Hall Etsate, enjoy home cooked food and delicious cakes in the restored Essex Barn and browse the plant centre and gift shop. Many also choose this charming setting to celebrate their wedding with family and friends.

The National Botanic Garden of Wales

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.

Pensthorpe Natural Park

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. 

Kew Gardens

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.

Eden Project Foyle -

in Development  

This stunning attraction will be set within 225 acres of glorious heritage and newly created landscapes including restored walled gardens, treetop walkways, natural play and showcasing best practice in horticulture and agriculture.

Why you'll love visiting us when we open

Using the glorious landscape and gardens of Boom Hall and Brook Hall, Eden Project Foyle will unite landscape with built heritage and create a series of walled gardens that mixes joyful play with exceptional horticulture. 

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Drawing on the experience of The Lost Gardens of Heligan and The Eden Project, this eco attraction will create one of the best landscapes for play, creativity and learning, featuring covered courtyards adventure trails treetop walkways and natural slides. 

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Eden Project Foyle is a collaboration between local landowners, the local authority and community groups and  international partners. Developed by The Foyle River Gardens Trust and led by The Eden Project, with a track record of transforming spaces and communities. It aims to reshape not just the landscape but the social, economic and environmental opportunities to the people of Derry, Donegal and the wider north west. 

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Currently in the design phase, with a plan to open over the next 5 years, the business plan projections estimate Eden Project Foyle will:

• Generating £62 million economic impact for local community;

• Support over 2000 jobs and 25 apprenticeships;

• Create 8km of riverside trails connecting the site to the city and the Wild Atlantic Way;

• Restore 250 acres of land to benefit the community;

•  Enhance 1400 sqm of historic buildings

• Grow 1 million oak trees to reforest Ireland, and

• Bring 400,000 visitors through its door in the first year.

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Grant support and donations are essential to realise this vision, please find out more about how you can help fund or support this development on the Eden Project Foyle website.

Wildwood, Kent 

This hidden gem set within glorious ancient woodland, on the Kent coast, brings the joy of past and present British wildlife to the public through natural and immersive animal exhibits. Children will also love the outdoor adventure play area where they can let their imagination go wild!

Why you'll love visiting us

Wildwood, near Canterbury in Kent, is a great day out for all ages where you can see amazing British wildlife from past and present. Set in 40 acres of ancient woodland, Wildwood holds a stunning collection of over 200 British animals in natural enclosures.

See bears, wolves, otters, foxes, deer, badgers, owls, wild horses, lynx, beavers, wild cats, bison, squirrels, wild boar, reindeer and many more as you walk around the twisting trails through an ancient British woodland. Finish your day by letting your kids go wild in the amazing adventure play park featuring Kent’s tallest vertical drop slide, zip wire, wild fort, twisting tube slide, pine marten towers and a special area for under-5’s.

Join animal experts at weekends and school holidays for free close-up animal talks and feeds, visit the Beaver Lodge Cafe or enjoy your own food in the spacious picnic area.
Wildwood is not just a wildlife park but also a unique conservation project, which aims to protect native British wildlife and bring back the original wild wood. Find out more about their conservation, education and rewilding initiatives by clicking on the website below.

South London Botanical Institute