Newark Air Museum

WHAT IT’S LIKE

A huge, mostly outdoor aircraft collection kids can wander and climb around near, with free parking and dog-friendly grounds, allow at least 3 hours.

Newark Air Museum sits on the old WWII airfield at Winthorpe, just outside Newark, with over 80 aircraft and cockpit sections spread across 16 acres, plus two big display hangars. Kids get to see aircraft up close both outdoors and indoors, with occasional access aboard some of the larger aircraft (guides can arrange this with notice), and there's a schools-focused Anderson Shelter/Victory Garden set-up and a Dambusters Hut used for education sessions. It suits a wide age range, school groups doing WWII/evacuation and Principles of Flight topics come regularly, and there's an orienteering trail around the site for Cubs and Scouts. Practically speaking, it's an easy day out: free on-site car and coach parking, level wheelchair access across the site (though some grassed areas near larger aircraft can get uneven from rabbit and mole activity, and a few of the bigger aircraft open to the public aren't wheelchair accessible). There are male and female WCs in two locations, each with a disabled cubicle and baby changing facilities. The café seats 40 and uses locally sourced food where possible, with picnic benches dotted around the site too, handy as the café is only for museum visitors and last admission there is 45 minutes before closing. Dogs are welcome on site and in most buildings (on a short fixed lead, no extendable leads), though café access for dogs is at staff discretion. It's open 361 days a year, 10am–5pm in summer and 10am–4pm in winter, with last entry an hour before closing. Sat nav postcode directions aren't reliable, follow the brown tourist signs from the A1133/Drove Lane roundabout instead. There's no public footpath route from the local train stations, so driving is by far the easiest way to get there.