Billing Aquadrome Holiday Park

Gulliver's Land is a children's theme park resort in Milton Keynes, designed with rides and shows for ages 2 to 13. It opened in 1999 and has themed areas including Lilliput Land, Adventure Land, Discovery Bay and Toy Land. Rides range from gentle first rides to family adventures, with Western World and the JCB Zone among the highlights.

Tip: Parking is free on site. If you're coming by car, put MK15 0DT into your satnav and follow the brown signs from M1 Junction 14.

Bletchley Park was the principal centre of Allied code-breaking in the Second World War. Its codebreakers penetrated the German Enigma and Lorenz ciphers, and the team behind Colossus, the world's first programmable digital electronic computer, worked here. Today the estate in Milton Keynes is a heritage attraction and museum, set around a Victorian country house.

Tip: Pick up a Top Secret Mission Pack or a free family multimedia guide if you're visiting with children.

Woburn Safari Park is a drive-through safari park in Bedfordshire, part of the Duke of Bedford's estate alongside Woburn Abbey. On the Road Safari you drive through several areas where animals roam freely, with species including southern white rhinos, Asian elephants, Amur tigers, African lions and North American black bears.

Tip: Do the drive-through Road Safari first, then continue on to the Foot Safari.

Whipsnade Zoo is the UK's largest zoo, run by the Zoological Society of London, a conservation charity. It covers 600 acres on the Dunstable Downs, and you can walk between the enclosures or drive your own car around. Look out for the huge White Lion carved into the hillside.

Tip: Book tickets online in advance, as the zoo says its best prices are always online. Last entry is one hour before closing.

Castle Ashby House is an Elizabethan country house in Northamptonshire and a leading example of the "prodigy house" style. It has an E-shaped floorplan with a deep central porch and a flight of steps, and a stone-lettered parapet runs around the top. The house, church, formal gardens and landscaped park are all Grade I listed.

Tip: Look for the terracotta lettering beside the church, a memorial to Theodosia, and the Grade II* listed Terrace Gardens around the house.

The National Museum of Computing sits on the Bletchley Park site in Milton Keynes, in Block H, the first purpose-built computer centre in the world. It holds the world's largest collection of working historic computers and follows computing from the secret wartime work of the 1940s, through the mainframes of the 1950s to 70s, to the personal computers of the 1980s and beyond.

Tip: Book online in advance, though walk-ups are welcome. Allow at least 2 hours, and check the Days Open page first, as it doesn't open every day.

Stowe House is a Grade I listed country house in Buckinghamshire, and it is also home to Stowe School. It is owned by the Stowe House Preservation Trust, and a visitor charge for the house goes towards restoration. The mansion grew over several periods, with architects including Vanbrugh, Kent and Robert Adam all leaving their mark.

Tip: National Trust members get free access to the gardens, so bring your membership card if you have one.

Rushton Triangular Lodge is a Grade I listed folly built by Sir Thomas Tresham, a staunch Roman Catholic who was often fined or imprisoned for his then-illegal faith. He designed it as a defiant protestation of his belief in the Holy Trinity, so every feature comes in threes.

Tip: There is no English Heritage car park. You can try the nearby lay-by, though parking isn't guaranteed, or walk from Rushton village.