Places To Go, Things To Do

Stuff to do in the Easter Hols 2022

How is it the Easter holidays already?! Why didn’t I book more time off work?! I must make the most of my precious time off with some wholesome days out. If you suffer from FOMO and want to tear your offspring away from their gadgets, good luck and here are a few local, vaguely seasonal ideas in no particular order:

The Tiger Who Came to Tea at Dyffryn Gardens

12 March – 15 May 2022

This gorgeous little exhibition from Seven Stories invites your little ones to play with the tiger in an indoor tea party. There are plenty of fun tiger themed activities to keep your young ones busy and playing through the Arboretum, gardens and the Log Stack play area. There’s also a £3 Easter trail if you fancy it. The usual National Trust entry fees from £5.50 per kid and £11 per adult apply so take a picnic and make a day of it.

Tiger Who Came to Tea at Dyffryn Gardens | National Trust

The Golden Egg Treasure Hunt

10 – 24 April 2022

A treasure hunt competition to find the locations where Beach Academy Wales photographed a shiny replica of Harry Potter’s golden egg. They’ve included some stunning Vale locations, and there’s a cracking prize for a lucky family to win the golden egg used in the pics and a two-day trip London with a Family Studio Tour at Harry Potter World and hotel stay. Register and read the instructions on their website:

The Golden Egg | Beach Academy (beachacademywales.com)

Fonmon Castle Joust

16 – 18 April 2022

This Easter weekend get a taste of medieval times, brought to life with jousting, owl displays, archery, and more. You can also visit in the rest of the holidays for the usual family fun of dinosaurs, story trail and playground. Under 3s are free, adults £16.50, children & concessions £13.

https://fb.watch/ck0juMKOJU/

https://fonmoncastle.com/whats-on-at-fonmon-castle/

Salmon Leaps Walk

This three-hour (or three-mile, depending on whether your want to do the full figure-of-8 route or not) stroll through Dinas Powys woodland and fields is a dreamy and free way to while away a day with family and dogs. We loved tootling about, flinging ourselves about on the rope swing we found and having a good old chat as we ventured along the path. There’s a guide available with details of where to park if you’re not from Dinas Powys (or you could walk from the train station) and the route:

Vale Trail 6 | Walks in the Vale of Glamorgan (visitthevale.com)

Twitchy Curtains

Launched 9 April 2022

Use the QR stickers to experience this free audio trail of Barry’s Holton Road. Local characters will tell you tales from that spot in the past. Based on real stories, use your smart phone and stereo headphones to follow the gossip. For more information and a map of the story route in Barry town centre, head to this website:

Twitchy Curtains – Barry

Cinema, Wrestling and Pop Divas at Memo Arts Centre

The Bad Guys (U) 16 – 21 April 2022

Welsh Wrestling Live 14 April 2022

Pop Divas Live! 22 April 2022

This Easter holiday, the Memo are showing The Bad Guys on the Vale’s biggest cinema screen. If Ocean’s Eleven was a cartoon and all the characters were animals, that’s the vibe of this film. Popular family events Welsh Wrestling and Pop Divas Live return to Barry.

Home-New – Memo Arts Centre, Barry

Amelia Trust Farm: The Big Easter Event

11 – 14 April 2022

All the fun of the farm with extra Easter treats. Included in the cost of entry there’ll be face painting, lawn games and tractor rides. If you complete the Easter trail, there are chocolate prices. Costs £7.50 per child and from £4.50 per adult.

The Big Easter Event at Amelia Trust Farm – Amelia Trust Farm

Cowbridge Food and Drink Festival 2022

17 & 18 April 2022

Head to the Old Hall Gardens and AJ car park for stalls of delicious grub and drinks. Pick up an edible treat or two and have a wander around the pretty town centre. Closes at 5pm both days. Expect plenty of the best foodie businesses in the Vale to exhibit their wares, and demos of their culinary skills.

St Fagans National Museum of History

Open all fortnight, including bank holidays

A classic Easter hols trip. It’s the perfect time of year to mooch around the site. We like to take our dogs so they get a day out too. Doggos must be on a short lead and can’t go in the buildings. There’s a £3.50 Easter trail or you can take yoursleves on a time travelling adventure exploring the cottages, chapel, shops, school, farmhouse etc. Free entry, you just pay £6 for parking. There are a few busses that go to St Fagans, route details on their website.

The Big Museum Easter Trail   | National Museum Wales

A Dog’s Trail

How many Snoopy sculptures will you find? Dog’s Trust is celebrating their new rehoming centre with a free public art trail, a Wild in Art Event. There’s a map of all the decorated Snoopys, designed by local and national artists, school children and community groups, dotted around Cardiff, the Bay, Caerphilly and Porthcawl. And it’s free.

Art Trail – A Dog’s Trail : A Dog’s Trail (adogstrail.org.uk)

Mountain View Ranch: Ranch Easter Trail

On top of all of the usual fun, hunt for the Golden Eggs. We’re big fans of the Fairy Forest, the Jumping Pillow, the Adventure Playground, the Tree Houses, the Vomit Comet, Roly Poly Hill, and of course, the only licensed Gruffalo Trail in Wales. Take a picnic or treat yourselves to one of their amazing stonebaked pizzas. Dogs allowed on a short lead. Under 2s free, children and adults £8. Book online.

Mountain View Ranch

This isn’t a list of everything, it’s just a few ideas if you’re struggling. The photos of my own visits used in this post are all paid for by me. If anywhere wants to invite me along to review or promote, that’s grand, pop me a message. I’ll always let you know if that’s the case.

Each year I feel less motivated to share a “things to do in the Vale and nearby in the school hols” type of post. Last summer I prepped and research a load of things with photos, links, dates, prices etc but then photos of handwritten pages in a notebook of all the parks, beaches etc got shared all over the place by loads of people and I just felt sort of pointless and stupid for wasting my time. So, if you do end up going along to any of this stuff, I’d blooming love it if you could let me know.

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Places To Go, Things To Do

Mwah Ha Halloween Half Term

October half term is here and no doubt there’ll be a glut of Halloween related activities on offer. I’m not a massive Halloween fan. There, I’ve said it. Why can’t we just carve a pumpkin, dunk some apples and wear a sheet to be a ghost? What’s all this decorating the house faff about?

What’s jumping out at me so far:

Memo Arts Centre, Barry

One Man Shoe Monday 29th October (2pm) £7 / £24 for 4

A family show with puppetry, slapstick and magic. My youngest currently wants to be a ventriloquist when he grows up so it sounds right up his street.

The Little Mix Experience Thursday 1st November (6.30pm) £13.50

This Little Mix tribute act were incredibly popular last time they were in town.

Dyffryn Gardens

Lots of activities on offer here and it is a lovely day out.

Autumn Apprentice Trail Saturday 27th October – 4th November (10am-3pm) entrance fee but event is free

Whack on your wellies and join in with five tasks like raking up piles of autumn leaves.

Pumpkin Carving Saturday 27th October – 31st October (11am-3pm) £4 per pumpkin plus the entrance fee

If you don’t fancy tackling this in your own kitchen, make the most of the stencils, carving sets and helpers at this event.

Make It Mondays Monday 29th October (12-3pm) entrance fee but event is free

Craft activities.

Cook on a Campfire Friday 2nd November (12-3pm) £2 plus entrance fee

As the name suggests, you get to cook on a campfire.

Amelia Trust Farm

Pumpkin Patch Trail Saturday 27th October – Sunday 4th November

Kids Crazy Headwear Monday 29th & Tuesday 30th October £5.50 per child, pre book on website

Mini Beasts & Pond Dipping at the Farm Saturday 3rd November £5.50 per child, pre book on website

Penarth Pier Pavilion

Snowcat Cinema: The Curse of the Wererabbit – scratch ‘n’ sniff experience. Wednesday 31st October (2pm-3.30pm) £7.50 / £6 concessions (50p extra if you buy on the door)

Watch this family film from the makers of Wallace and Gromit with a special scratch ‘n’ sniff card. Fancy dress is encouraged. No adverts so arrive for a 2pm start.

Mountain View Ranch

Halloween Daily Events Saturday 27th October – Sunday 4th November (11am & 1pm)

Room on the Broom read by the Ranch Witch (11am & 1pm)

Marshmallow Toasting at Creepy Creak (2pm-3.30pm)

Spooky Pumpkin Trail (all day)

All activities are included in the entrance fee of £23 for a family of 4 and £28 for a family of 5. Wrap up warm, take a flask and a picnic and have a lovely time. Dressing up is optional. Last time we went we bought delicious pizzas and hot chocolates in their café which I’d thoroughly recommend.

St Fagans National Museum of History

Halloween Nights Monday 29th – Wednesday 31st October (6pm-9pm) £15 adults, £8 children, under 2s free but recommended for ages 4+

I really want to go to his. Expect Halloween special effects display across the outdoor Museum, Creepy Craft workshops, wand making, ghost stories for children and adults, Halloween character walkabouts, live music, lantern parade (no naked flames), Burning of the Wickerman (!) and a Scare Zone for bigger frights with a 12+ age advisory! The timing makes this perfect for those of us working over half term with older kids.

 

Sadly, they’re not running their usual Halloween event at Hendrewennol Fruit Garden this year. No pumpkin picking for us.

Let me know what you think of any of these goings on if you get a chance to try them out.