Crafts, cocktails and monkey business
Get down to Alton Towers for curvy rides aplenty. Or stick to straight lines on the Churnet Valley Railway. Meet 140 free-range monkeys at Trentham Monkey Forest. Celebrate the best of British craftsmanship at World of Wedgwood. Flex your plastic at Trentham Shopping Village. Wrap up the day with cocktails at Beyond the Pale.
Country kids
Journey back to the 1960s with views of the river and the Cauldon Canal on the Churnet Valley Railway. Or try rides of a less linear kind at Alton Towers theme park, just 20 minutes away. Meet 140 free-range monkeys at Trentham Monkey Forest, or exotic and endangered animals from three continents at Peak Wildlife Park.
Head to Waterworld in Stoke, a tropical-themed indoor water park offering wave pool, slides, rides and flumes, plus a weekly aqua disco. Take a boat out on Rudyard Lake and keep an eye out for wildlife. Or try Trials Day, the UK’s top motorbike trials school – no licence required.
Follow the hidden nature trail from Tittesworth Reservoir and beyond. Trek the play trail at Coombes Valley Nature Reserve, take the woodland walks and watch out for wildlife. Tackle and tame the local rocks and mountains with the Peak Climbing School. Or dip your toe into canoeing or paddleboarding at Tittesworth Water Sports Centre.
Meet pigs, donkeys, meerkats, sheep, chickens and bearded dragons at Beaver Hall Pets Corner and Nature Trail. Hire the Joshua Day 35-foot narrowboat and explore the spectacular Caldon Canal in the beautiful Churnet Valley. Or hit the slopes in Stoke, with a full programme of ski and snowboard lessons at Stoke Ski Centre.
For the grown ups
Head up to Roaches Ridge, admire the awesome rock formations and see as far as the Welsh mountains. Explore the nooks and crannies of Lud’s Church, an eerie rock chasm full of history, myths and dark-green moss. Or take in the beauty of Trentham Gardens, among the best planting in the UK among its 725 acres.
Visit World of Wedgwood, a unique, interactive visitor experience celebrating the best of British craftsmanship and offering shopping, food, visitor tours, and art and craft workshops. Or flex your plastic at Trentham Shopping Village, with 77 timber lodges housing shops, cafes, restaurants and big brands.
Choose from the biggest names in British pottery, such as Portmeirion, Spode and Royal Worcester, at the Portmeirion factory shop. Or travel back in time and uncover centuries of local history at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, including the world’s greatest collection of Staffordshire ceramics and a trove of Anglo-Saxon treasure.
Take a breather walking around Westport Lake, see the visitor centre and snack up on coffee and cake in the café. Vulture some culture at the Regent Theatre and refuel in the piano bar upstairs. Evening beers and cocktails can be had in watering holes such as the Spout Brew House, Beyond the Pale and Wine and Whisky.
