Best places: Tourist attractions in Colchester, United Kingdom

Zoo on 60 acres of parkland with lots of animals & interactive feeding times, plus play areas.

Meadow & forest country park with a lake, play areas, Nordic walking trail & a community garden.

Live music, plays, comedy shows & other acts in the intimate surrounds of a converted church.

👍👍 Although the inside element of the building is closed the outside provides you with lovely walkways and views across the estuary. Well worth a visit when you can. A excellent place for wildlife mindfulness. Recent visit went in and enjoyed lovely tea and cake plus the fire with great views. Fabulou...

Park & beach with walking trails through meadows, a playground & the ruins of a 16th-century fort.

Stately castle completed in 1100, featuring interactive exhibits, a jail & landscaped gardens.

Historic gatehouse with tea rooms in former stables, flower gardens open for picnicking and a farm.

Original Victorian buildings housing railway memorabilia, plus a functioning restoration workshop.

👍👍 Beautiful stately home & grounds, still containing personal effects of the artist who once lived there. Sir Alfred Munnings might have become a forgotten artist, in an area so dominated by the landscape master, John Constable, but seeing his full size canvases, each occupying an entire wall space, i...

👍👍 Other than a lot of mosquitoes in the evenings, the water is scenic and there are adorable geese chicks out and about foraging for food. Makes for a delightful walk to UoE!

👍👍 I absolutely love this place. It's a beautiful nature reserve full of trees and shrub land, and with lots of inter-crossing pathways to follow. It has a decent size free car park on the main road, with several other footpath entrances available from other surrounding streets. This is a great place f...

Eclectic contemporary art from new and emerging creatives among free galleries, plus films and cafe.

House museum depicting 18th-century life, with manicured grounds & exhibits on local history.

👍 Quiet, tranquil open space - perfect for fresh air and peaceful walks, dog walks (please clean up after your dog though!), cycle rides or jogging. A few places to sit, but it's more of a keep-moving-through kinda place! As the name suggests - very 'hilly' but some flatter areas too if you struggle o...

👍👍 Lovely Sunday Mass. Great for children as well.

Striking 1100s Augustinian monastery known for its Norman-style architecture, columns & arches.

👍👍 Lovely little museum and free to enter, but we did support them by buying lots of unusual jams at the shop next door. Our favourite in the museum was the bottle of "traffic jam"! You can see it in the display of old bottles.

👍👍 Mersea is a beautiful island to visit any time. The sunsets are sensational as you look out over the water. Best seen on foot, get out of your car and walk. Don't expect to park near the harbour. Please take your litter home with you.

Stone ruins of a large gateway with arched entrances, constructed circa the 1st century.

Access to pastures, arable fields, meadows, woodland & the meandering River Colne.