Heathrow Airport 1 hr 8
Epping Ongar Railway (27 min) Hylands House (24 min)
Council-run stately home and grounds hosting music festivals and family activities year-round. Old MacDonald's Farm & Fun Park (17 min)
Small, homespun farm with the usual zoo suspects, plus alpacas, wallabies and owls, and kids' rides. Barleylands Farm Park (11 min)
Family-friendly attraction featuring farm animals, craft workshops, rides, play areas & more. Weald Country Park (15 min)
Historic 500-acre park with a visitor centre, cafe & paths, plus fallow deer & a shop selling feed. Thames Estuary (1 hr 28)
1 of the country's largest, this landmark estuary features shipping routes & various lighthouses. Tilbury Fort (15 min)
Riverside fort built to protect London, with bastions, moats and a magazine house, plus a gift shop. Hainault Forest Country Park (28 min)
Walking trails in a forest park with adventure play area, fishing lake and varied zoo with a cafe. Red House (30 min)
National Trust-run house and gardens of the founder of the arts and crafts architectural movement. Shorne Woods Country Park (29 min)
Visitor centre, cafe and marked paths in 288 acres of woodlands, lakes, wetlands and meadows. Thorndon Country Park (12 min)
Trails through a landscape of ancient oak trees, marshes & meadows, with birdlife & grazing cattle. Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker (23 min)
Large underground bunker with self-guided tours, a Cold War history museum, canteen & ropes course. Hadleigh Castle (28 min)
Ruined 1200s castle, refortified by Edward III in the Hundred Years War, affording marsh views. RHS Garden Hyde Hall (27 min)
Site run by horticulture charity, including bird hide and Dry Garden with bold architectural plants. RSPB Rainham Marshes (19 min)
Bird-rich former marshland firing range with accessible boardwalks and a modern visitor centre. | 
