Knocking knees and pamper passes
Kids will love the Shrewsbury Mystery-Themed Treasure Trail, the owls and hawks at Battlefield Falconry Centre, and the knee-knocking fun of The Adventure Rope Course. Grown-ups get a £5 day pass for the local spa, plus a world of castles and gardens, medieval Shrewsbury and God’s own walking country.
Country kids
Get out and about on the Self-Guided Mystery-Themed Treasure Trail and see the best of Shrewsbury as you tick off the answers. Or meet owls, hawks, falcons and a green-winged macaw named Woody at Battlefield Falconry Centre. There are more animal adventures at Hoo Farm.
Get your knees knocking at The Adventure Rope Course, with high ropes, abseiling, leap of faith, low-level parachute jumps, archery and bushcraft. Stay active at The Edge, with adventure activities customised for juniors, including quad-biking, mountain-boarding, clay-pigeon shooting and archery.
Go back in time to the rural life of yesteryear at Acton Scott Working Farm. See traditional 19th-century farm life unfold, complete with ploughs, heavy horses and daily demonstrations of period skills. Or, at West Midlands Safari Park, you can hand-feed a giraffe, count the stripes on a zebra and watch white rhino play.
Ride the River Severn by raft with Shropshire Raft Tours on a two-hour round trip. Or discover Shropshire by puffing billy on Telford Steam Railway. Drive a train, raid the gift shop, marvel at the model railway, refuel in the Furnaces Tearoom.
For the grown-ups
For a little pampering in the sauna and Jacuzzi, a game of squash, a swim or a sweaty gym session, check in to the Rowton Castle Country Club. Your stay at Albaston Lodge comes with a special day pass for just £5. Or with it’s own studio, you can hire in a yoga instructor, beautician or masseur, and be pampered from home.
Head into the market town of Shrewsbury for a medieval paradise of timber-framed buildings, narrow streets and alleyways, bars, restaurants and independent shops. Why not try the delicious range of cocktails on offer at Libertines? The castle is now a regimental museum and Shrewsbury Abbey is world-famous as the home of the fictional Brother Cadfael.
Keep moving south to sample the gastronomy of Ludlow. Head west to the great lakes and mountain passes of Mid Wales, or North West to Snowdonia National Park, home to soaring mountains, deep lakes and dense forest. Closer to home, walking purists will love Shropshire’s 3,500 miles of right of way.
Take a jailhouse tour at Dana Prison, discover the best-preserved fortified medieval manor house in England at Stokesay Castle. See more history in castles at Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Clun. Enjoy an open cockpit evening at the RAF Museum in Cosford. Or see the garden paradise at Dorothy Clive.
