The Old Quarry at Colesdale Farm

If you’ve brought the kids on your Hertfordshire mini break, you won’t know where to start. Treat them to tractor rides and soft play at Willows Activity Farm (25 minutes' drive), let them pet goats and guinea pigs at Paradise Wildlife Park (15 minutes), or head off excess energy on the white-water rowing courses at Lee Valley White Water Centre (15 minutes) or go-kart races at Rye House Kart Raceway (25 minutes). For more sedate games of tennis, there’s a club at Cuffley, within five minutes’ walk of the campsite, and a golf course there too – and in fact you can hone your swing at numerous courses within half an hour’s drive. Fancy a country walk with a bit of history thrown in? National Trust-owned Morven Park has a stately white mansion and several acres of woodland to explore, while the 17th-century house at Forty Hall and Estate features a decorative-arts museum and landscaped gardens to wander. Both are 10 minutes' drive away.