Cheshire Ice Cream Farm, Tattenhall, Cheshire

This day out is a kid's idea of heaven – an ice-cream farm where you can take your pick from 30 different flavours, from vanilla or peaches and cream to banoffi or sticky toffee pudding (£1.70 large cone, £1.10 children's cone). If you're having trouble choosing, they'll even give you a taste of a few flavours to help you decide. When you've eaten your fill, there's plenty more to see and do, with an animal petting corner, a duck pond and an outdoor play area with slides, swings and climbing frames. Recently they have also added mini golf, a quad bike track and a gold panning feature. If it's raining, there's a Crazy Daisy soft play area (entry £3-£3.50, free for toddlers), and they're also in the process of building a viewing gallery in the factory itself so that you can watch the ice-cream being made – it'll be opening in the Easter holidays.
• 01829 770446, cheshirefarmicecream.co.uk, free admission
Jill Nash, editor of Luxury Backpackers guidebooks (luxurybackpackers.com)

Southend-on-Sea, Essex

If you judge the success of a family excursion by how much your children like you at the end of the day, then a trip to a seaside theme park with no educational merit whatsoever is pretty hard to beat. Southend-on-Sea may have seen better days and in winter the beach looks more mudflat than golden crescent, but its Adventure Island is a kid's dream come true – a narrow strip of seafront crammed with rides, rollercoasters and unwholesome delights of every description (01702 443400, adventureisland.co.uk, admission free – you pay for the rides). If the weather's rotten you can retire to the Sea Life Adventure – an aquarium with a walk-through underwater tunnel where you can get up close with a whole host of exotic marine creatures. Don't miss piranha feeding time (01702 442211, sealifeadventure.co.uk, adult £9/£7.20 online, child £6/£4.80 online). Once the children have had their share of thrills and spills, recover with a bracing walk to the cafe at the end of the pier (the world's longest) for a hot chocolate and then catch the little train back to the shore (01702 618747, tinyurl.com/southendtrain, Pier walk and ride tickets, adult £3.10, child £1.80). No trip to this coastline would be complete without a seafood lunch. Head into neighbouring Leigh-on-Sea where you can buy tubs of the freshest cockles, whelks and winkles, a white-buttered roll and a mug of tea from one of the wooden cockle sheds, and sit on the sea wall watching the boats come and go.
Joanne O'Connor, Observer travel columnist

Trelissick Garden, Feock, near Truro, Cornwall

You don't need to be a garden fan to enjoy a day out at Trelissick and its 500-acre estate on the banks of the River Fal. Here families picnic in waterside meadows, wellie brigades wander woodland trails and foodies dine on local produce in the restaurant. From the hub of the art gallery and cafe, the gardens wind into a deep wooded valley and abound with sub-tropical plants. Zigzag along the trails, climb knotted trunks or tumble past grazing cows to skim stones on the crescent of beach. The waterside setting isn't just eye candy: arrive by boat in summer or follow the river to the King Harry Ferry and take the 10-minute crossing to the Roseland peninsula.
• 01872 862090, nationaltrust.org.uk/trelissick-garden, adult £7, child £3.50, National Trust members free. Open daily 11am-4pm winter, 1.30pm-5.30pm rest of year. King Harry Ferry and ferries from Truro, St Mawes and Falmouth, falriver.co.uk/frl
Hayley Spurway, writer (seainsight.co.uk)

River Wye cycle ride, Monmouthshire

I've finally got my three kids cycling. They're still a bit wobbly on the narrow lanes where I live in the Black Mountains, but an excellent way to build their confidence is riding on traffic-free paths, many of which are part of Sustrans' National Cycle Network. There are several good routes in south-east Wales, but my current favourite is along the River Wye, from Monmouth to Symonds Yat, following part of the Peregrine Path. It's actually best in winter – there are no leaves on the trees and the views of the river are wonderful. The ride is 5km each way and flat. It's a breeze for the kids. Oh, and did I mention there's a pub halfway?
• sustrans.org.uk/sustrans-near-you/midlands/herefordshire, bike hire from pedalabikeaway.co.uk/monmouth.html, adult trail bike £16 a day, child's bike from £9 a day
Robert Penn, director of bikecation.co.uk and writer of It's All About the Bike (Penguin, £8.99, guardianbookshop.co.uk)

The Forbidden Corner, North Yorkshire

The Forbidden Corner, near Leyburn in North Yorkshire, manages to appeal to children and adults alike. Built in the four-acre gardens of Tupgill Park in the Dales, it's a warren of labyrinths, follies and secret doors. There are underground chambers, tunnels that shrink down to tiny doorways and statues that are waiting to spring a surprise on the unwary. My kids' favourite part is the wood-panelled passageway, lined with portraits of scary-looking Victorians, that leads underground to Neptune's lair. It has just the right balance of scary versus enchanting. We've been three times and my children nag me to take them back again. Entrance numbers are strictly limited so you have to book in advance, but I'd recommend it to anyone with an ounce of imagination.
• 01969 640638, theforbiddencorner.co.uk, adult £10.50, child (four-15 years) £8.50, under-fours free
Jerry Ibbotson, founder of yorkparents.co.uk

Mirehouse, near Keswick, Cumbria

We always have a brilliant day in the grounds of Mirehouse near Keswick in the Lake District. After a (brief – if this weather continues) stroll in the walled Bee Garden, with its tiny maze and rainproof follies, we walk along the woodland path (which will be bright with rhododendrons later in the year) to the adventure playground hidden among the trees. Its zipwire, rope climbers and wobbly bridges across a gushing stream are not for the faint-hearted (mums, I mean); the grown-ups' favourite bit is the walk across fields on to the shore of Bassenthwaite Lake. There's also a play fort and wooden steeplechase hidden among the trees – whoever gets round fastest gets the first ice-cream in the tea room.
• 017687 72287, mirehouse.com, adult £3.50, child £1.50, under-fours free. Gardens open during half-term week 10am-5pm
Rachael Oakden, writer

Puck's Glen, Cowal peninsula, Argyll

This is one that canny Scots have kept to themselves – a magical mystery tour to an enchanted glen, with a bracing boat ride for the children and scrumptious teas in a botanical garden for grown-ups, within easy driving distance of Glasgow. Puck's Glen on the Cowal peninsula is a hidden gem, where a waymarked path winds up a narrow gorge woven with waterfalls and rock pools and spanned by wooden bridges. Easy to imagine fairies in the woods. A contour path at the top offers Highland views and an easy descent to the Benmore Botanic Garden (rbge.org.uk/the-gardens/benmore, adult £5.50, child £1) with its magnificent Californian redwoods and douglas fir. Getting there is half the fun on a 20-minute ferry ride across the Firth of Clyde from Gourock.
• western-ferries.co.uk, return fares from McInroy's Point, Gourock, to Hunter's Quay, Dunoon, £35.70 for a car and two adults, child £2.70, under-fives free
Gavin Bell, writer

Ashridge Estate, Herts/Bucks border

I can't believe we lived in North London for 20 years before we discovered the Ashridge Estate in the Chiltern Hills. It's a 5,000-acre National Trust estate (just grounds, no house) straddling Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, with free entry. Yes, free. Not only does it feel like "proper" countryside, with hills and pretty valleys and everything, but the kids can ride their bikes safely along miles of ancient woodland paths, and we can eat our picnic in a pretty forest clearing, with not a manky crisp packet in sight. Sometimes we walk up Ivinghoe Beacon at the start of the Ridgeway walk – yes, a proper hill just 45 minutes from London! – and look across the chalky downland to Kent in the distance, the wind blowing away our city pallor. If it's a nice day, we take our guide to pub walks in the Chilterns, and head off across empty fields in search of Sunday lunch.
• Moneybury Hill, Ringshall, Berkhamsted, 01442 851227, nationaltrust.org.uk/ashridge
Louise Millar's new novel, The Playdate (Pan, £7.99, tinyurl.com/theplaydate), is out on 26 April

Enchanted Forest, Groombridge Place Gardens, Kent

Too many places tell us they're for families, when what they really mean is they're for kids. Not so the Enchanted Forest at Groombridge Place, where dotted on a vast, wooded hillside are giant swings that are just perfect for adults to release their inner child – in fact, children under 10 aren't even allowed to use them. Don't worry about the kids though: there are endless tree-related activities for them. My daughters have disappeared for hours into the woods to build dens, to spot rabbits and deer, and to explore the "dark walk" boardwalk that snakes through the trees. We go back again and again; each season is different, and the magic is there even on dark, wintry days. Other big hits are Crusoe's World – a desert island recreated from the props from the TV series – canal boat rides, birds of prey and even formal gardens.
• 01892 861444, groombridge.co.uk, adult £8.95, child (three-12 years) £7.45, under-threes free. Open during half-term 10am-5.30pm, then closed until 31 March
Joanna Moorhead, writer