Adventure Valley: Everything You Need To Know For A Visit In 2020

Describing itself as "the North East’s biggest family adventure park", Adventure Valley Durham is a fantastic family experience and well worth a visit.

Whether you feel like enjoying the outdoors by going on go-karts, jumping on jumping pillows, and riding the zipline, or prefer indoor entertainment like looking at an array of animals at the farm, Adventure Valley has something for everybody. They even have an 18 hole, themed golf course to explore!

Whatever attractions appeal, and with the safety put in place by the staff, your visit is guaranteed to be a great day out. You can find all the information you need to plan your day of play right here.

If the Durham weather is looking fine, the outdoors at Adventure Valley has a full day's fun in itself. Runaway Ranch is an interactive playground for the biggest kids. Runaway Races, for example, is a giant slide that you go down by sitting in rings; note, this can only be done by kids aged 4+. The zipline can be found here, as well as Forty Towers, which is a huge play area.

There's also Water Wars taking place over the summer, so be prepared to bring dry clothes for the kids to get changed into. There's also Action Creek; slides, frames, sandpits, swings, and all with special areas for under-5s. You can find the go-karts and jumping pillows here, as well as the Dragon Swing. You can enjoy the Sweet Tweets aviary and Water Wildlife pond if you go a little further, as well as feed the goats at Goat Mountain.

Image © Adventure Valley

If all this activity has made you hungry, Adventure Valley has opened up Café Italia. Restricted entry is applicable and there is a socially-distanced queuing system, with sit-down or takeaway options inside. Microwaves are available inside for milk and baby food. Outdoor picnic areas are available to sit in, with several around the park, but the indoor picnic areas are closed.

Time to play some more? Then venture indoors to enjoy the Undercover Farmyard, host to lots of different animals including chipmunks, ponies and more. Although closed at the moment, there's much more indoor fun and many attractions to explore in the future, such as Bertie, a world-record-breaking tortoise, and Shelly (and their new babies!).

Outside again, Adventure Valley have restarted their Bird of Prey Shows and will be reopening their Maise Maze at the end of July. The Cowboy-themed Adventure Golf Course is also open, with equipment sanitised after every use. It should be noted, that the course is not suitable for buggies or wheelchairs.

Adventure Valley has reopened from the 18th July to 1st September, following new COVID-19 guidelines. Opening hours are from 10 am until 5 pm. A limited number of guests will be allowed into the park, so online pre-booking is essential as tickets can't be bought at the entrance.

Temperatures may be checked. An arrival timeslot must be chosen when pre-booking, however, guests can stay as long as they wish to so it can be a proper day trip! Extra hand sanitiser and handwash stations have been added around Adventure Valley. Protective screens have been put up at contact points. Social distancing is still necessary.

Image © iStock, under creative commons licence.

Address and SatNav Postcode: Union Hall Farm, Brasside, Durham, DH1 5SG.

How to get there: Adventure Valley is 8 minutes from Durham by car. There is also a direct Arriva bus service, Bus 62, that stops at Adventure Valley.

Parking: There is free parking on-site for cars and coaches.

Toilets and baby changing facilities: There are toilets inside the Indoor PlayTown and at the Round Table Cafe. Changing facilities are also found in these places.

Accessibility: The site is in three sections, with one that is flat and fully accessible. The other two sections are outdoors and hilly, but the paths are tarmacked. Only guide dogs and registered assistance dogs are allowed within the park.

Ticket Prices: Adults go in for the day for £11.95. Children from 2-16 years old go in for £11.95. Over-60s go in for £10.95, as do disabled visitors. Carers go in for £7.95. Babies and 1 year old's go in for free. For golf only for the day, it is £5.00 per person, £4.00 for members, with up to six people in a group.