I went to the Monkey forest near Stoke a couple of years ago, and as an adult going with my husband and no children we thoroughly enjoyed it.

I had read a few articles about this park and they had all said about the monkeys roaming free, but I was very sceptical as to how close you could get and just how free they were. It turns out that I shouldn't have been sceptical, the monkeys are literally in the trees, walking around, with no cages or fences at all. Apart from a knee high wooden barrier that you have to stay on the right side of, but the monkeys don't know that and roam around everywhere.

I can't remember how much it cost when I went but I just had a quick look on the website and this years prices are:

Prices 2010
Adults: £6.50 each
Oaps/students £6.00 each
Children (from 3 to 14 years old): £4.50 each
Disabled/carers (no restriction on numbers) £4.00 each
Under 3 years old Free of charge.

I think these prices are pretty reasonable for the experience you actually get.

Their website also has lots of other useful information. the site is: www.trentham-monkey-forest.com

The monkeys at Trentham are all Barbary Macaques, and they are very cute. If you see one carrying around a little baby, it's really sweet.

I think this is a great and interesting place to visit, and it's so fascinating to watch all the monkeys close up, and just see them out roaming instead of being in cages.

I would say it only takes an hour or two to walk round this depending on your pace, and you can obviously stay for longer just watching the monkeys. There is a huge car park, but I imagine in the school holidays this place gets very packed. It is easily signposted from the surrounding area, and we found it quite easy to get to.

I would definitely recommend a trip to the monkey forest, especially with children, I could imagine they would love it. Getting so close to the monkeys really is an amazing experience.

If your in the area I would also recommend visiting the Trentham Village Garden Centre which has loads of quirky shops and a huge garden centre. You could easily spend a whole day between these two places.