Holidaying with babies or young children? It’s never straightforward, but a bit of advanced knowledge can be a big help. No time to do the research? No problem, we’ve done it for you.
We’ve analysed the number of family friendly accommodation, the total number of pram friendly walks and trails, the number of family friendly things to do, the number of parks and gardens as per the percentage of the population, and the number of child friendly restaurants, and the amount of babysitters as per the percentage of the population in the UKs most popular holiday spots to uncover the UKs most baby friendly destinations.
Here’s your quick guide to family-friendly facilities across the UK’s top destinations. Keep it handy for when you’re booking your next staycation.
Chester revealed as the best location to take a baby on staycation!
Congratulations to Chester for ranking best across all the categories. The ancient city caters for babies more than anywhere else in the UK with a whopping 83% of its hotels being family friendly and plenty of pram friendly walks and gardens to explore.
London gets a “could do better” eighth place despite topping the list for the most family friendly things to do — and maybe forget about rock-bottom Torbay until the kids are bigger.
Where to sleep like a baby?
Who knew Birmingham has so much accommodation that welcomes children – a whopping 88% of the cities hotels are family friendly and who knew Manchester has so few? Something to bear in mind when booking a city break.
Stress free strolls
Walking with a pushchair’s no problem in London, with 14 pram-friendly trails and routes to pick from to explore all the cities sights but steer clear of zero-rated Liverpool, Newquay, Bournemouth Great Yarmouth, Skegness and Blackpool where routes aren’t so easy to access with a pram.
Family friendly fun
When it comes to family friendly attractions and things to do, it’s no surprise that London takes the top spot with its wealth of family-friendly activities. Ranging from fictional favourites like Harry Potter World to educational zoos and museums, London has a whopping 330 family friendly activities in total.
Fancy a great British picnic in the park?
Well the capital has the most parks overall — 167 in total. But little Keswick ranks first with the most parks and gardens as a proportion of its population, and with glorious parks like the fitz, it’s not hard to see why .
Foodies favourites
For the foodies, Keswick has the most restaurants welcoming families. Whilst the village may be small, Keswick has a variety of bistros, cafes and restaurants for all occasions for families to enjoy. Surprisingly the capital has just 32% of its restaurants that are family friendly.
Call the baby sitter
Thinking of hitting the town for a romantic night? Bath is a baby sitter paradise with 250 to call on, whereas Torbay can only muster a couple, both in Torquay.
Staycation methodology & sources
We have produced a baby friendly index score for each location by analysing the number of family friendly accommodations (taken from booking.com for dates 7th June – 13th June 2021 for 2 adults 1 child 0 years old), the total number of pram friendly walks and trails (taken from The outdoor guide and AllTrails), the number of family friendly things to do, the number of parks and gardens as per the percentage of the population, and the number of child friendly restaurants (all taken from TripAdvisor), and the amount of baby sitters as per the percentage of the population (taken from Childcare.co.uk) and ranked them from best to worse to uncover the destination most suited for a UK staycation with a baby.