Photo: Photo of Guildford: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0Family days out in Surrey
For a family day out in Surrey, our first picks are Guildford Museum in Guildford (museums and history days out for kids), Box Hill in Tadworth (free things to do with kids), Bocketts Farm Park in Leatherhead (rainy day ideas) and Frimley Lodge Park in Frimley Green (days out with toddlers).
Below is a guide for each kind of day. Every place is a listing we have checked against official sources, and each guide links to the full list with prices.
Museums and history days out for kids in Surrey
Museums, Roman sites, forts and heritage centres for families.
Image: Guildford Borough CouncilGuildford Museum
A free museum in a run of historic buildings beside the Castle Grounds, partly built into the walls of the castle gatehouse of 1256. It covers Guildford and the surrounding area from prehistoric times to today, with a fine textile collection and changing exhibitions.
Photo: MartynDavies, CC BY-SA 3.0Brooklands Museum
A museum of motoring and aviation on the site of the world's first purpose-built race track, spread over 32 acres in Weybridge. You can look round racing cars, motorcycles and an aircraft park, go inside Concorde on a guided tour, and visit the London Bus Museum on the same ticket.
Photo: Mertbiol, CC0Godalming Museum
The town museum since 1921, behind a narrow blue entrance opposite the Pepperpot on Godalming High Street. It opens out into history and art galleries, a local studies library, a garden and a coffee shop.
Free things to do in Surrey with kids
Free days out in Surrey with children: Guildford Castle grounds, Priory Park in Reigate and Newlands Corner, with parking notes and free museums.
Photo: Victor Ochieng, CC BY-SA 2.0Box Hill
A chalk hill on the North Downs with wide views over the Mole Valley and the Weald, ancient box woodland and chalk grassland. It is a popular start for waymarked walks, the North Downs Way and the Zig Zag Road cycle climb used in the 2012 Olympic road race.
Photo: Peter S, CC BY-SA 2.0Frensham Great Pond and Common
A large medieval pond with sandy beaches on Frensham Common, about 1,000 acres of heathland owned by the National Trust and mostly managed by Waverley Borough Council. The ponds were dug in the Middle Ages to supply fish to the Bishop of Winchester.
Photo: Alan Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.0Frimley Lodge Park
A 24-hectare council park beside the Basingstoke Canal with open grass, woodland, meadows and picnic areas. It has held a Green Flag award for 22 years running and is home to two playgrounds, a cafe and the Frimley Lodge Miniature Railway.
Rainy day ideas in Surrey
Wet weekend in Surrey? Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, the free Mercedes-Benz World and climbing at Surrey Summit in Guildford keep the family dry and busy.
Image: Guildford Borough CouncilGuildford Museum
A free museum in a run of historic buildings beside the Castle Grounds, partly built into the walls of the castle gatehouse of 1256. It covers Guildford and the surrounding area from prehistoric times to today, with a fine textile collection and changing exhibitions.
Image: Bocketts Farm ParkBocketts Farm Park
A family-run working farm on the A246 between Leatherhead and Fetcham, with animals to feed, racing pigs, tractor rides and large play areas indoors and out. Much of it is undercover, so it works in most weather.
Photo: MartynDavies, CC BY-SA 3.0Brooklands Museum
A museum of motoring and aviation on the site of the world's first purpose-built race track, spread over 32 acres in Weybridge. You can look round racing cars, motorcycles and an aircraft park, go inside Concorde on a guided tour, and visit the London Bus Museum on the same ticket.
Days out with toddlers in Surrey
Toddler days out in Surrey: Bocketts Farm Park near Leatherhead, Hobbledown in Epsom and Lets Explore soft play in Horley, with booking notes.
Photo: Alan Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.0Frimley Lodge Park
A 24-hectare council park beside the Basingstoke Canal with open grass, woodland, meadows and picnic areas. It has held a Green Flag award for 22 years running and is home to two playgrounds, a cafe and the Frimley Lodge Miniature Railway.
Photo: Alan Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.0Lightwater Country Park
A 59-hectare council country park on the edge of Lightwater village, mostly heathland with ponds, woodland and meadows. The heathland is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the park has a playground, cafe and an 18-hole adventure golf course beside the entrance.
Photo: Dr Neil Clifton, CC BY-SA 2.0Priory Park, Reigate
A park of historic interest off Bell Street in Reigate, with lakes, a sunken garden and plenty of wildlife. Families come for the playground with sensory and splash areas, the skatepark and the café in the pavilion.
Castles and stately homes in Surrey
Castles and stately homes in Surrey for families: Guildford Castle, Farnham Castle and Hatchlands Park in East Clandon, with play areas and tour notes.
Photo: ChrisParkinson, CC BY-SA 3.0Polesden Lacey
The Edwardian country retreat of the society hostess Margaret Greville, set in a 1,600-acre estate of downland and ancient woodland with views across to Ranmore Common. The ground-floor rooms hold her collection of paintings, ceramics and French furniture, and the gardens include a walled rose garden and long herbaceous borders.
Photo: nick macneill, CC BY-SA 2.0Claremont Landscape Garden
An 18th-century garden shaped by Vanbrugh, Bridgeman, William Kent and Capability Brown, once a royal retreat for Princess Charlotte and later bought by Queen Victoria. Paths lead round a serpentine lake to a grass amphitheatre, a grotto and the Belvedere Tower.
Photo: David Hillas, CC BY-SA 2.0Hatchlands Park
A Georgian country house built in the 1750s for Admiral Edward Boscawen, with Robert Adam ceilings and the Cobbe Collection of more than 40 keyboard instruments linked to composers such as JC Bach, Chopin and Elgar. Around it are more than 400 acres of parkland and woodland, partly landscaped by Humphry Repton.