Activities In East of England

Big skies, slow rivers and a surprising streak of mischief — that is the East of England in the family-day-out catalogue, 814 attractions spread across the flatlands from the Thames estuary up to the Norfolk coast. The split is nearly even between 509 outdoor venues and 489 indoor ones, which suits a region where the weather blows through fast off the North Sea.

The mischief deserves explaining. This is a region where laser tag turns up twice in the top-rated list — ZAPT Laser Tag Cambridge runs outdoor battles while Hemel Hempstead's arena keeps things under cover for £8.95 a player — and where a converted double-decker, the Gaming Bus StreetSide Gaming Essex and Suffolk, brings a mobile games arcade to the kerb. Escape games in Southend and punting tours through the Cambridge colleges give older kids and teenagers a genuine reason to get off the sofa.

Then there is the gentler East, the one grandparents pick. Stately estates like Somerleyton near Lowestoft open gardens and mazes to wandering children, wildlife boat trips such as Ross' Wildlife Boat Trips put seals and seabirds within a toddler's pointing range, and equestrian centres on the Fens teach first rising trots in wide-open country. Few regions let you pair a morning of medieval Cambridge with an afternoon of foam darts quite so easily, and because the land is flat and the roads are quiet away from the A12, pushchairs, scooters and small cyclists all get an easier ride than they would in hillier corners of the country.