The 10 best adventure and activity holidays in the UK for all ages

The hills around Britain give off the sense of muddy boots, wide grins and memories of scrabbling over rocks, biking down switchbacks and drops, or simply being and feeling. This is activity holiday nirvana. 

Then there are lochs, lakes and beaches for all sorts of activities with oars, paddles and boards, plus coastal trails to follow and wetlands to perch on with binoculars and a hot flask of tea. How very British.

Adventures and outdoor activities are practically a human right in our isles these days and, despite a raw wind in my face or a rainy forecast, I’m always looking for new and invigorating activity breaks in the UK. 

Because, put simply, Britain is at its best when you’re outdoors. 

The best adventure and activity holidays in the UK

1. Gravel biking on The Ridgeway

• Difficulty: challenging
• Suitable for: over 16+
• Season: Summer

The Ridgeway is Britain’s oldest road, an ancient trackway that freewheels across southern England from Wiltshire to Buckinghamshire. It was opened as a protected route by National Trails in 1973 and, as it turns 50 this year, there’s never been a better time to bikepack the 87-mile path. The ancient chalky tops between Avebury and Ivinghoe Beacon represent the Elysian Fields of gravel biking.

As it was populated by traders, toothless shepherds and tunic-wearing Roman soldiers 5,000 years ago, these days it’s the domain of lycra- and merino wool-clad bikers. Go in summer, when the trail is at its driest. Trust me this is one serious activity break for adults.  

2. Snorkelling in Wester Ross

• Difficulty: easy
• Suitable for: +8s
• Season: year-round

No tropical fish and very little credible coral reef. No board shorts, bikinis, or beach shacks. Why then would you go snorkelling under a whisky-coloured sky in a thick neoprene wetsuit? 

The Scottish Wildlife Trust created a succession of snorkel trails running from East Lothian to Lochaber to North Harris a few years ago and, my favourite, is the one in the Wester Ross Marine Protected Area in the northwest Highlands.

The snorkel trail here hides velvet crabs, urchins and bug-eyed wrasse that play peek-a-boo in the shallows, as well as almost unheard-of sunburst flame shells and ocean flowers. 

Besides that, the nine sites, including those at Clachtoll and Achmelvich beaches, are worthy of a Caribbean James Bond stunt. Here the company of dolphins and whales is also a regular occurrence. 

3. Surfing for beginners in Cornwall

• Difficulty: easy
• Suitable for: all ages
• Season: autumn and winter

Cornwall’s Atlantic coast once pulled in pirates and all sorts of smugglers, now it’s the turn of surfers, who park up in camper vans with boards bungee corded to the roofs. The reason? Turquoise barrels and seasonal southwesterly swells. 

Surfing camps, academies and family-friendly retreats in England’s southwest are ten a penny these days, with many clustering on the sandy beaches of weekend party spot Newquay, St Ives bay, Upton Towans strand in Gwithian and as far north as Bude. 

I marvelled at the nascent surf scene when I first visited in the late 1980s and, while it might not rank high with pro-level barrel riders or make it onto many surf forecasts, my favourite spot still remains Porthcurno Beach. 

You’ll find it on the south coast, near to Land’s End, and where cliffs tumble from top to bottom in moshing waves.

4. Coastal and forest foraging in Wales

• Difficulty: easy
• Suitable for: all ages
• Season: autumn

In the moist and maritime climate of Wales, fungi, wild garlic, hedgerow plants and edibles like nettles, seaweeds and chickweed often swarm over every inch of ground and coastal crook. 

Food foraging is big business and plant-lore identification and bush explorer courses now regularly populate places such as Brecon Beacons National Park and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, with Wales on a plate the sustainably-minded mantra. 

The Abergavenny Food Festival every September is a great place to start, with fungi-picking lessons and outdoor dining classes, or do as I did a few years ago and join a delightfully slow-paced foraging safari in the Cambrian Mountains. Some operators to consider are Dryad Bushcraft, Coastal Foraging and Fishing and Foraging Wales.

5. Wilderness walking in the Highlands

• Difficulty: challenging
• Suitable for: +12s
• Season: year-round

Whenever hikers make plans to tackle the land’s finest peaks, they often head to the Isle of Skye to conquer the Cuillin, among the most dramatic summits anywhere on Earth. Far less crowded, yet with a full-frontal view of these same dragon-back peaks from across the Sea of the Hebrides, is the Isle of Rùm in the Small Isles. 

A National Nature Reserve since 1957, Rùm is as wild as it is winsome and the Rum Cuillin traverse is for wild campers and bothy baggers who’d rather have the mountains to themselves. Come prepared with all wild camping kit and expect an outdoor adventure of a lifetime.

6. Sea kayaking the Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland

• Difficulty: moderate to challenging
• Suitable for: +8s
• Season: spring to autumn

The lie of the land around the Giant’s Causeway gives little inkling of the adventures that can be had in the surrounding sea. Yes, there are cliff-top viewpoints and paths, but besides that, there are sea caves, golden beaches, tight channels and maritime stacks to explore.

With a sea kayak as your passport to adventure, the Causeway Coast then takes on an entirely different proposition, with tours leaving from various locations along the coast, including Dunseverick and Ballycastle. 

If you’re a beginner, the tours that depart from Ballintoy Harbour, gliding under the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge are absolutely thrilling. 

7. Bird watching in the Malverns in Worcestershire

• Difficulty: easy
• Suitable for: all ages
• Season: year-round 

Not all activity holidays need to be fast-paced. The upland granite ridges of the Malvern Hills are renowned nesting sites for all sorts of birds, from skylark, curlew and redshank to sparrowhawk, pied flycatcher, brambling, Eurasian nuthatch and migrant osprey, one of Britain’s most famed high fliers.

Besides that, the varied landscapes, which ping-pong between grassland and mountain to scrub and moorland create a sort of sanctuary and there’s plenty of chance to run into other sorts of wildlife. 

Apart from hard-to-see harvest mice, you might encounter foxes, badgers, and polecats. The Malvern Hills Trust is a terrific resource for first-timers. 

8. Fossil hunting on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset and Devon

• Difficulty: easy
• Suitable for: all ages
• Season: year-round

Activity weekends in the UK don’t come more imagination-stirring than looking for long-forgotten dinosaur prints and fossils along England’s southwest coast from Exmouth to Lyme Regis. 

Of course, it’s hardly Jurassic Park, but there are still activities for families galore. Consider Weymouth’s silver sand beach or fossil-rich Chesil Beach, which has miles of pebble and shingle hiding relics from the Cretaceous and Jurassic eras. 

Branscombe is also worth a travel brag, as are the National Trust dinosaur prints stamped below the T-Rex-sized cliffs at Spyway.

9. Skiing in Glencoe in the Highlands

• Difficulty: moderate
• Suitable for: all ages
• Season: winter

I love the sense of being so close to the mountains where I live that I can work in the morning and run off to the pistes in the afternoon. There are five main ski areas in Scotland, including Cairngorm Mountain, Glenshee, The Lecht and Nevis Range, but, if you’ve been to the Highlands before, you’ll know the teeth-bearing summits and airy freedom of Glencoe Mountain cannot be surpassed. 

So it’s on Meall a’Bhuiridh, with clear day views of Ben Nevis, Rannoch Moor and Glen Etive, where you’ll find me carving powder in off-piste bowls, holding onto my bobble hat in high winds, or bunny-hopping grass when the cover is thin. 

True, there is little chance of the terrain competing with the Alps, but this is also good news because along with a greater sense of affordability, the other thing is much easier access for many Brits. 

10. Hiking the England Coastal Path

• Difficulty: easy
• Suitable for: +6s
• Season: year-round

The first time I hiked around St Bees Head, the RSPB reserve that curves south of Whitehaven, I continued on for two days until I reached Ravenglass and Silecroft along the Cumbrian coast. Utter bliss.

It gave only a hint of the soul-stirring King Charles III England Coast Path, a route stitching together existing clifftop footpaths and byways around the country’s 2,700 mile shore. But it was more than enough to figure in my dreams for months later. 

You could argue over the highlights of the route, which is still in development, but there is no shortage of adventures to be had. Tackling one chunk at a time makes the most sense to me, so consider the 62-mile Northumberland Coast Path, the 130-mile Norfolk Coast Path, or the 109-mile Cleveland Way, which zig-zags through Robin Hood’s Bay and Whitby along the Yorkshire coast. 

Arguably though, the pinnacle is the fact the route guarantees access, for everyone, to the salt coast, chalk cliffs and white lands of Albion. 

All these journeys will stay with you, now and later, and what you end up with afterwards is only one question: what will you do next? For more activity holidays in the UK check out the best places to go wild swimming and the 12 best walks in the UK.