Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield

On a fine day, Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a work of art for very little expense. For the price of an all-day four-pound car parking charge, three generations of our family and one dog enjoyed a wonderful day out exploring the wide expanse of greenery and discovering internationally acclaimed works of art. We choose to visit Yorkshire Sculpture Park, as it is ideally located just off the M1 and is halfway from the Grandparents and grandchildrens’ houses. Probably best to take a picnic, as we did, because there are dozens of places to lay your rug with marvellous views of both manmade and natural masterpieces. We did grab an early brunch in the café (the restaurant was full) and found service very slow and the food lacking inspiration but overpriced. Next time we visit, which won’t be long, we will check the website before venturing here as it can become very busy at weekends, especially when a new display or exhibition opens. On our most recent visit it was Mothers Day and also the second day of the Miro exhibition. Yet despite its popularity it was very easy to get away from the crowds and enjoy the peace of the open space.

We all absolutely love it here! It is one of our very favourite days out and honestly a place that we will visit time and time again. There is a small charge of £4 for parking then entry to the sculpture park is FREE! Amazing! There are hundreds of acres of countryside littered with sculptures and you can literally spend the whole day just walking and discovering the most amazing art. There are also some indoor galleries and I found the curators to be really engaging and incredibly welcoming. There is a restaurant there but there are also lots of picnic spots around the park so I would recommend going on a sunny day and making the most of it with a picnic. There's also a couple of small kiosks selling coffee, ice-cream and snacks so good for pit stops! I honestly couldn't recommend YSP enough - such a great, full and free day out! It really is a hidden gem.

When someone suggested we take the kids to a Sculpture Park for a day out I was dubious. Particularly given mine are 4 and 6. This place however is a revelation. It's set in a massive park as well as having some indoor spaces to explore and a small cafe. Most of the sculpture is modern and often very large (think Henry Moore!) and much of it very tactile and often big enough to interact with (although some things have signs up asking you not to sit/walk on them). Our lot had a great time moving in and out of the scultures, touching and feeling them etc. Choose a sunny day, take a picnic and explore the grounds.We manage to kill 3-4 hours. Only negative was having to pay parking for their car park (a monstrous £4 at the time) when it's in the middle of nowhere!