Family fun!
Your holiday can be as energetic or as restful as you like - and the natural setting and our accessible lodges make it ideal for ALL the family. From a gentle stroll on the boardwalk to a bike ride along the Solway coast - and even your family pets can enjoy the break.
A family holiday at the Tranquil Otter is a great way to introduce your young ones to nature and wild life? North Cumbria offers plenty of great activities to entertain and educate. By the way, we have great 5-star accommodation that will let you relax and indulge in your personal hot tub when the young ones have worn themselves out. All of our two-bedroom lodges have large decks from which to watch the Queen’s swans, ducks, blue tits, buzzards, bats and many more. A woodland walk around the lake with paths and streams to explore’ let their imaginations roam.
Our five star lodges are equipped with digital TVs and DVD players; if you need to keep up with the story line in your favourite drama.
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Things to do with the family
For a rainy day take a day trip to the award winning Tullie House Museum with its fabulous Roman Army museum and great tea room with healthy food and friendly environment.
Explore the Guildhall Museum, Carlisle Castle or Walby Farm Park with its indoor mega slides, tractors, animals and great home cooked food.
Eat well, and try locally reared meat from Mulholland. Try what has been referred to as the “finest Cumberland sausage that Britain has ever produced” with fans travelling from the North East, you will not need to travel as far as Jimmy delivers to the Tranquil Otter.
Things to do with the family with pre-school children
There is lot to do on site with young children:
Close the gates to your private deck and let the children roam about, watching the ducks, swans and geese.
Take a walk through the woods and around the lake, make sculptures, look out for bird nests, hide and seek, let their imagination roam free.
Take a swim – hire Longburgh Pool by the hour and enjoy a private swim with the family – a pleasant two mile walk/cycle ride or short drive from Thurstonfield.
Drive to the marshes and play in the sand near Port Carlisle with or without a picnic. There is a great playground and fantastic views of the Solway. The Hope and Anchor is a great place to drink, eat or just grab a sandwich.
Explore historic Carlisle. Park at Devonshire Car Park, next to Carlisle Castle and take a walk to the City Centre either using the bridge or using the subway near the Castle which takes you through to Tullie House, a fabulous place to learn and play. Set in beautiful gardens, Tullie House is 17th Century Town House with many original Jacobean features, lovely museum shop and tea room with variety of healthy options. Tullie House is fully accessible for wheelchair users.
A short drive away from the City Centre is Walby Farm Park, a great experience for children up to 12 years old. Adventurous indoor slides, zip wires, tractor rides, trampolines and a variety of farmhouse animals to feed.
For more information see – family activities.
Consult the guest handbook in your lodge for more information and ideas.
Things to do with for families with older children
Cycle around the Solway, explore the marshes around the Solway Firth and then take a break at Greyhound Inn at Burgh by Sands. Take a walk to see Edward 1 monument marking the site of this warrior king’s death on campaign against the Scots.
A visit to Tullie House museum and a walk around Carlisle provides an insight into life as a border city with constant threat of war and invasion. Carlisle Cathedral, a fraction of its original size, bears witness to brutalities on both sides. Learn the shocking origin of the word, “bereaved” and much more.
Learn how Romans protected the fringe of their empire by visiting Roman Army Museum at Vindolanda, Birdoswald and Housesteads Roman Fort. See the wall at Housesteads.
For all ages, take a picnic at Crummock Water, and perhaps even swim if you like to swim in natural waters, good to start in warm summer months if you have so far only swum in indoor or heated pools.
For more information see – family activities.
Consult the guest handbook in your lodge for more information and ideas.
