Activities in Brentwood

With over 30 different animals, a huge indoor soft play area, nearly 20 rides and even a roller-coaster, a visit to Old MacDonald’s Farm is excellent family fun whatever the weather. As well as a wide array of animals in the zoo enclosure including wallabies, alpacas and meerkats, the farm puts on plenty of regular events including shows from Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol. The farm is open daily from 10am-5pm and is located several miles west of Brentwood along Weald Road.

Staying in the animal world, Hopefield Animal Sanctuary is a non-profit charity focussed on helping sick and poorly animals including parrots, sugar gliders, donkeys and alpacas. There are around 500 animals in total across the sanctuary, with several areas where you can pet the animals plus a cosy café and gift shop.

Spread over 500 glorious acres, Thorndon Country Park is home to a range of activities including fishing, horse riding and dozens of cycling and walking routes including the famous Gruffalo Trail. The park is spread into two different zones – Thorndon North, the larger of the two, has plenty of woodland to discover plus a café and gift shop. Thorndon South which, on a clear day, offers views across to Canary Wharf has plenty of picnic tables and gently sloping hills. 

Another popular park option is Weald Country Park. Like Thorndon Country Park, it’s a 500-acre green space with another popular woodland trail, this time recounting the trials and tribulations of Stick Man. The park has a large visitor centre, café and shop plus plenty of walking and cycling routes.

Built an impressive 38m underground, Kelvedon Hatch is a thankfully-never-used cold war underground station that was designed to hold the government in the event of a nuclear war. Capable of holding hundreds of people for up to three months, the bunker is a fascinating insight into the Cold War, with headsets provided for the self-guided tour plus a variety of historical costumes you can try on. 

Taking its scary cue from the bunker’s history, adrenaline junkies can also sign up to ‘The Last Survivor’, a thrilling Zombie experience held once a month.

Where Thorndon and Weald Country Parks are perfect for exploring the Essex countryside, King George’s Playing Field is more action-packed with rugby, cricket and football pitches, 12 bowling greens, crazy golf, a skate park and children’s play area. Less than a mile from our Brentwood hotel, the popular park also has a café and excellent disabled facilities.