Need something to entertain the kids – so either a really cool place or a good playground – possibly both 🙂

EDIT or English Heritage.

Air museum is good for an hour or two if you want to split the day
http://www.airsciences.org.uk/visitor-information.html

Farnborough hall, although we may be talking about different Farnboroughs!

Probably the Vyne near basingstoke hits your mark the best.

Petworth House isn’t too far either.

@hammy with all due respect Petworth house must be an hour away

25-30 miles on decent roads, would be my guess.

My offer – Farnham Castle in Farnham. And it’s right next to the park which has play areas and adventure trails.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/farnham-castle-keep/

http://www.waverley.gov.uk/info/200073/parks_and_countryside/687/farnham_park

Sculpture Park

This is not far from Farnborough, is not National Trust but is beautiful, plenty of room for kids to scamper and loads of stuff to set their little imaginations on fire. Also not far from Waverley Abbey which is a nice place for a picnic. Enjoy!

Shalford Mill, just outside Guildford is interesting. May not be suitable for very young children though.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/shalford-mill/

Painshill Park, Cobham

The Vyne doesn’t have a lot of stuff for kids, what about Alice Holt forest – big play area for kids, family cycle trail, Gruffalo trail…

jambalaya – Member

@hammy with all due respect Petworth house must be an hour away

27 miles under 40mins – straight down the A283, so not that far away.

What about Bird World?

sexist

Winkworth Aboretum is worth a visit. The kids will get a good run around there.

If they like cars & planes there are Mercedes Benz World (free) & Brookland at Weybridge so 45 mins drive away

The Sculpture Park is ace! Kids love it too (not that I have any).

Park in NT car park and enjoy the Devils Punchbowl (you can sneak you bike along and have a spin down Gibbet Hill!) lots of walks in all directions

Looks like I be popping over to Sculpture Park at the weekend.. 🙂

Alice Holt gets my vote 😀

Alice Holt is a good shout, just be aware that you pay for parking and the card machines do not always work. Loads of places to walk, huge playground and you could always take bikes.

Winkworth is good too, my 2 always enjoy running round there. Otherwise the other favourite is Virginia Water, although that’s probably a bit of a hike from Farnborough.

Swinley Forest

Take the kids to the Lookout Discovery centre. Lunch at the cafe, kids play in playground, then build a den in the den building area. Go for a walk in the forest, have a go at orienteering, hire some bikes for an hour and try the beginners trail/fire roads. Then go back in to Discovery centre to revisit favourite bits.

Frimley Lodge Park

Kids play in playground while you have coffee & cake in cafe. Then walk to model steam railway (open first Sunday of the month) and have a ride on a steam train. Walk along canal (feed bread to ducks) to canal centre. Lunch in the cafe, kids play on playground. Hire a canoe/pedalo/rowing boat to go along canal. Walk back to Frimley Park for a kick around with a football, game of frisbee etc.

Take Haynes car manual to read in cafe 8)

Go lizard spotting!!

Not sure if this link will work http://www.surrey-arg.org.uk/SARG/21000-MembersArea/HerpSites.asp

Anyway, walk on the boardwalk at Thursley common on a sunny day and look for lizards basking at the edges of the boards.
From Guildford, head south along the A3 for about six miles. Turn off at Milford junction and cross back over the A3 and take the B3001 towards Elstead. In about two miles you will reach the village of Elstead, which has many pubs which serve lunch. At the village green, turn left along Stacey’s Farm Road, which changes its name to Thursley Road. Keep on this road until there are no houses to your left. The road will become very straight, and look for a car park in the woods on your left. Pull into here, there will be a small lake next to the car park called ‘The Moat’.

Leave the car park, walking away from the road. As you walk along the sandy path, scan the edges of the heather for lizards and snakes. When you get to a damp area with a small bridge, look for Grass snakes in the pools and at the edges of undergrowth. When you get to a treeline on your right, turn right aling a raised path with many tree roots. Look in the pools on either side for Grass snakes. The path turns into a board-walk, follow this to a 90° right turn. Turn right, scanning the boards ahead at the edges for lizards basking. Look about ten feet ahead of where you are. Follow this path all the way back to the car park, scanning the undergrowth as you walk. This short walk should take around 40 minutes, with many other, longer walks available.

Needless to say – DON’T TOUCH THE REPTILES!!! Adder bites are really not very pleasant and grass snakes will poo on you, leaving a stink that lingers for days 😯

Godo suggestions thanks folks. They are in Portchester today.

The Vyne doesn’t have a lot of stuff for kids, what about Alice Holt forest – big play area for kids, family cycle trail, Gruffalo trail…

I don’t know – the Vyne’s play area kicks the ass of Alice Holt (IMHO – Im 37 so I’d probably best ask my 4 yo her opinion too, but I reckon it does), and the Gruffalo trail at Alice holt is a bit long and dull for a lot of kids, especially on a cold day. Brief was after all National Trust!