10 brilliant UK attractions that surprise kids more than any museum ever could

For keeping kids happy, a trip to a chocolate factory is the easiest of slam dunks. And Cadbury World has exhibitions and rides delving into the history of chocolate as well. The tour shows chocolate being made, but kids also get the opportunity to make some themselves - while filling their faces with choccy handouts. For older children and adults, there's some interesting social history. The surrounding suburb of Bournville was built by the Cadbury company to improve the living conditions of the factory workers. cadburyworld.co.uk

This museum's jaunt through law, order and punishment - kids seem particularly enthralled by the punishment part - starts with actors hamming it up in an interactive mock trial. There's then a rather dry exhibition on the history of crime and correction, but it all gets more interesting when things move on to the grim gaol cells and stories of convicts being transported to Australia. Most enjoyable is the build-up to a public execution - again, performed by actors playing to the crowd. If you've ever wanted to watch your eight-year-old yell abuse at a hangman, this is the place. nationaljusticemuseum.org.uk

For theme park thrills, Alton Towers is several levels above anything Australia has to offer. Set around 370 hectares of gardens of a former stately home, it hosts 10 big rollercoasters. The monster-themed Nemesis Reborn and 14-loop Smiler are the primary targets for teens, while CBeebies Land charms the littlies. One underrated factor in Alton Towers' greatness, however, is what the kids in the middle get out of it - access to several excellent adrenaline-pumping rides, including the lightning-fast Viking-coded Wicker Man, which kicks in at the 120cm height mark. altontowers.com

Also turning a stately home into much more, Longleat has a pretty good zoo section - look out for the gorgeous red panda - but everybody really visits for the pioneering safari park. This self-drive experience takes you through enclosures of giraffes, ostriches, lions, tigers and wolves. But the stars of the show are the monkeys. Driving through the Monkey Jungle section is the sort of risk rental car companies that value windscreen wipers don't particularly like. But try telling that to the kids in the back seat, who howl away with laughter as the brazen macaques saunter all over the vehicle. longleat.co.uk

Making most botanic gardens resemble hobby projects, the Eden Project inhabits a former quarry and is dominated by two giant "biomes" that look like enormous conjoined bubbles. The landscaping is outrageously impressive - a waterfall tumbles through several levels in the Rainforest Biome - which helps contribute to a kid-appeasing wow factor. More importantly, the displays bring out budding environmentalists. Sometimes they're learning, shocked by the size of banana plants, and at other times they're sharing what they've learned at school. My 11-year-old, for example, was incredibly eager to explain how carnivorous pitcher plants work. edenproject.com

Warwick Castle is often accused of being Disneyfied but, hey, kids like Disneyfied things. The castle itself is so-so - redoubtable-looking with fancily decorated rooms and waxworks preparing for centuries-old battles. The castle grounds, however, are brilliant. A working trebuchet lobs missiles 100 metres along the River Avon, the Horrible Histories Maze entertains with grisly snippets from the past and costumed knights joust on horseback. Elsewhere, a woodland theatre hosts hugely endearing live performances of Julia Donaldson's Zog stories, and the birds of prey show has Andean Condors and peregrine falcons swooping mere centimetres above the audience's heads. warwick-castle.com

With nearly 1000 years of history, the Tower of London's strength is in variety. If children aren't gripped by the section on the Royal Mint being founded there, there are the Crown Jewels to gawp at. Or the wire-frame animal statues telling the stories of the creatures once kept inside the Tower - such as the polar bear kept on a rope in the Thames. The biggest hit for my two was the Bloody Tower. Dark and gory tales of murdered princes and merciless executions win out over shiny crowns, it seems. hrp.org.uk

The site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 doesn't scream child catnip, but my daughters loved it, largely because the visitor experience gets little imaginations firing. Key to Battle Abbey is the introductory video explaining the pivotal battle and the Norman Conquest - my eight-year-old still goes on about King Harold getting an arrow in the eye four years after visiting. Once they've seen that, young'uns can charge around the battlefield, finding wooden sculptures, following treasure trails and trying to work out where the archers stood. english-heritage.org.uk

The Peak District National Park in the Midlands does walks and caves very well - the nearby Peak Cavern in Castleton offers a story-packed adventure, for example. Higger Tor, however, delivers a landscape of gritstone boulders for kids to clamber over and through; its simple magic works consistently well. The exploration of boulder stacks, rock tunnels and hidden paths gets progressively more intrepid, and grown-ups can just enjoy a stroll with expansive views.

The setting elevates the MAGNA Science Adventure Centre above a global glut of fairly interchangeable science museums. The themed sections on air, water, fire and water are thoroughly engaging, with lots of levers to pull and buttons to hammer. But they come inside a gargantuan former steelworks, with fearsome machinery left intact. The regular Big Melt fire, light and sound show brings the steel-making process roaring back to life. Just off the M1 motorway in Rotherham, MAGNA's a handy stop on the drive north from London to York or Edinburgh. visitmagna.co.uk