Hill Farm

There’s a brace of National Trust-owned sites to look up: Erddig Hall (20 minutes’ drive) is open for guided tours of the stately red-brick manor house and fine formal gardens, while Chirk Castle (25 minutes) is an interesting mash-up of defence fortress and sumptuous 18th-century apartments. There’s more unusual architecture at late-medieval Plas Newydd Historic House (25 minutes), which was remodelled as a half-timbered mansion in the 1930s. A scenic walk across Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (20 minutes) takes in views of Llangollen Canal and the River Dee, or you can see more of the Denbighshire countryside while riding the heritage steam train on Llangollen Railway (25 minutes). Over the border in Blighty, take the kids to watch raptor displays at Shropshire Falconry (25 minutes), or hire a barge for the day at Whixall Marina (20 minutes) to float gently down the Prees Branch of the Llangollen Canal. Another option is to head for Shrewsbury (35 minutes) and have a poke around the red-stone castle and its Shropshire Regimental Museum or take a wander along the River Severn in The Quarry park.