May 26 - Half Term in Warwick: A Love Letter to Family Adventures 👦👧🏰♥️

Dear Warwick,

You really do make school holidays suspiciously easy.

Every half term begins the same way: parents stare into the middle distance wondering how they’re going to keep children entertained for an entire week, while children somehow develop an Olympic-level ability to say “I’m bored” within approximately six minutes of waking up.

And then you quietly remind us that actually, you’ve got this covered. Because when it comes to family activities in Warwick, you seem to have thought of everything.

Take Warwick Castle, for starters. As if towering walls, stories of knights and enough history to make school lessons suddenly seem interesting weren’t enough, this May Half Term also sees the arrival of their brand-new stunt show, Viking Raiders. Frankly, any day involving Vikings, stunts and children returning home exhausted sounds like a parenting win.

And if the castle sparks a few curious questions on the journey home (or if little legs still somehow have energy left to burn), Warwick has conveniently planned your next stop too. Market Hall Museum is currently hosting its Warwick Castle Unboxed display — a lovely way to continue the adventure beyond the castle walls and discover even more of the stories hidden around the town. Alongside saying hello to a full-sized museum bear, spotting a working observation beehive cared for by local beekeepers and coming face-to-face with dinosaurs and ancient creatures, there’s also a free museum trail to enjoy. Which feels rather fitting, considering Warwick seems to have quietly developed a talent for turning walks into adventures.

Because if your children enjoy turning literally anything into a mission, Warwick town centre is also running a free Family Eco Bear Trail, with trail maps available from the Visitor Information Centre. Apparently walking around town becomes infinitely more exciting when there’s a challenge involved.

For families wanting some fresh air next week, Hill Close Gardens is hosting a Summer Vibes drawing workshop — giving little creatives a chance to get outdoors and make something colourful while enjoying one of Warwick’s loveliest corners.

The weather forecast also looks like it may finally be remembering that we’re approaching summer. Which means one thing: St Nicholas Park season has arrived.

Few places in Warwick can fill an entire day quite like St Nick’s. There’s boating, mini golf, crazy golf, a funfair, football fields, tennis courts, one of the town’s best playgrounds and enough open space for children to run off approximately 97% of their energy. (We make no promises regarding the remaining 3%.) And if all of that still isn’t enough, the park will also be hosting a two-day food festival on Sunday and Monday, with live entertainment and plenty of food to keep everyone fuelled for the day ahead.

And for anyone wanting to see Warwick from a completely different perspective, don’t forget you can climb the tower at the Collegiate Church of St Mary. The views across the town and countryside are well worth the steps, even if some tiny legs suddenly become dramatically more tired on the way back down.

Half term is also one of those rare times when family photos actually happen, rather than existing only as blurry pictures buried in camera rolls. Local photographer Squire & Squire is currently offering 10% off family photoshoots, both in the studio and outdoors — a lovely excuse to capture this season while everyone’s together.

Eventually, of course, somebody gets hungry.

Thankfully Warwick also happens to excel at family-friendly places to eat. Dough & Brew has a dedicated kids menu and their brilliant free Film Club (complete with cinema screens and headphones showing children’s favourites), offering parents a rare and treasured thing: five minutes of relative peace and quiet. Happy Puccia serves milkshakes likely to be discussed for several days afterwards. And Bread & Co remains a strong contender for "one quick coffee and cake" becoming "let’s just stay a little longer."

Of course, let’s not forget the inevitable need for sugary treats as bribes from time to time.

Luckily, Mary’s Sweet Emporium exists, a place capable of creating levels of excitement normally reserved for Christmas morning. We suspect many parents accidentally find themselves choosing a few favourites too. Purely for quality control purposes, obviously.

So thank you, Warwick. For making half term feel less like a challenge and more like an adventure waiting to happen.

Now if you could just do something about the inevitable mountain of washing that appears afterwards, that would be appreciated too.

With love,

Warwick Chamber of Trade ♥️ ♥️ ♥️