Not what you'd expect to find tucked behind an airfield in the Oxfordshire countryside, and that's exactly what makes it so good. The UK's only crocodile zoo is barely twenty minutes from the cottage, and it's one of those places that surprises everyone who visits.
Crocodiles of the World sits just off the road near Brize Norton, in what looks from the outside like a modest business park unit. Step inside and the air turns warm and humid; you're suddenly standing a few feet from Nile crocodiles, Cuban crocs, caimans and alligators. The collection is genuinely impressive, covering species from every continent where crocodilians are found, and the keepers clearly know (and love) every animal by name. Daily feeding sessions are worth timing your visit around. Watching a saltwater crocodile launch itself at a piece of chicken is the kind of thing children talk about for weeks.
Beyond the crocs, there are meerkats, otters, reptiles and a good little play area for younger ones. It's not a huge site, so two or three hours covers it well, which makes it easy to pair with lunch in Burford or Witney on the way back. If the weather turns grey (it will, eventually), this is a reliably brilliant wet-day option. The close-encounter experiences, where you can handle smaller crocodilians up close, are worth booking in advance if your group is keen.
“Our kids were mesmerised. It's one of those slightly unlikely places that turns out to be genuinely world-class.”
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.