Coble Landing Fun Park

The seafront at Coble Landing has that proper seaside-town energy - fish and chips wrappers blowing about, kids running ahead of parents, the smell of salt and fried food mixing together. It's a fun park set right by the water in North Yorkshire, and it lives up to its name: there's enough going on to keep families occupied for a solid afternoon without breaking the bank.

You get the usual seaside attractions here - rides, games, the kind of place where kids want to win a giant teddy at the coin-push machines and you grudgingly hand over another fiver. The location is the real draw, though. Being right on the water means you can walk straight from the rides onto the beach, which beats being stuck inland. On a decent day it's genuinely pleasant; on a grey one it's just a bit windswept and you'll want to leave after an hour.

It works brilliantly if you're based at Centenary Way Camping and Caravan Park just down the road - literally under a mile away - or even Haven Primrose Valley if you're after something slightly bigger. Both give you easy access without the faff of driving. If you've got younger kids (say, under ten) it's worth a visit. Teenagers will get restless quickly unless they're into the arcade side of things.

Free to wander around and soak up the atmosphere, though you'll spend money on the attractions themselves. Allow a couple of hours, more if your children are particularly keen on the rides. Go on a school day rather than weekends if you can - the queues are genuinely annoying on Saturdays.