Yew Tree Farm

Waddesdon Manor is a French-inspired château built for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in the late 1800s as a weekend home for entertaining and for his collection. It is now cared for by the Rothschild Foundation in partnership with National Trust. Inside, the opulent rooms hold portraits by Gainsborough, Reynolds and Romney, along with Sèvres porcelain.

Tip: Book tickets ahead and check the website for opening days, as the house and grounds have different hours.

The Ashmolean is the University of Oxford's museum of art and archaeology, founded in 1683 and widely described as Britain's first public museum. Its collections range from Egyptian mummies to contemporary art, telling human stories across cultures and across time. Highlights include the Egypt and Nubia galleries and the Chinese Picture Gallery, the only museum gallery in Britain devoted to Chinese paintings.

Tip: Groups must book ahead, and booking is strongly recommended for the major ticketed exhibition.

Whipsnade Zoo is the UK's largest zoo, run by the Zoological Society of London, a conservation charity. It covers 600 acres on the Dunstable Downs, and you can walk between the enclosures or drive your own car around. Look out for the huge White Lion carved into the hillside.

Tip: Book tickets online in advance, as the zoo says its best prices are always online. Last entry is one hour before closing.

Gulliver's Land is a children's theme park resort in Milton Keynes, designed with rides and shows for ages 2 to 13. It opened in 1999 and has themed areas including Lilliput Land, Adventure Land, Discovery Bay and Toy Land. Rides range from gentle first rides to family adventures, with Western World and the JCB Zone among the highlights.

Tip: Parking is free on site. If you're coming by car, put MK15 0DT into your satnav and follow the brown signs from M1 Junction 14.

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is a working steam museum and heritage railway at Quainton Road station, about five miles west of Aylesbury. The 25-acre site is split into two halves joined by footbridges, one of which has wheelchair access. Each side has a demonstration line, workshop buildings and museum buildings, with a glass-roofed Visitor Centre at the heart of it.

Tip: Check the What's On calendar before you go. The museum and train rides only run on event days, and the weekday café has no rides or museum access.

Bletchley Park was the principal centre of Allied code-breaking in the Second World War. Its codebreakers penetrated the German Enigma and Lorenz ciphers, and the team behind Colossus, the world's first programmable digital electronic computer, worked here. Today the estate in Milton Keynes is a heritage attraction and museum, set around a Victorian country house.

Tip: Pick up a Top Secret Mission Pack or a free family multimedia guide if you're visiting with children.

Blenheim Palace is one of England's largest houses, found in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Designed in the rare English Baroque style, it was a reward to the 1st Duke of Marlborough for his victory at the Battle of Blenheim, which gave the palace its name.

Tip: Look out for Fair Rosamund's spring, which survives from the old royal deer park at Woodstock.

Bekonscot in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, is a model village built at one inch to one foot and opened to the public in 1929. It is commonly described as the oldest surviving model village in the UK. Its miniature villages capture rural English life in the 1930s, with a cathedral, castle, airport, zoo and cricket match, plus shops with punning names such as Miss A. Stitch the dressmaker.

Tip: Head for the ride-on miniature railway and look out for the punning shop names as you go round.