Adventure Island Day Trip
Catch some fun and excitement with a day trip from London to Adventure Island
If you would like to spend a day of your vacation at a theme park, Adventure Island, with over 30 rides, ranging from large roller coasters to gentle rides for the little tots, is an excellent choice.
This popular attraction is located in the town of Southend-on-Sea which as its name implies is located right on the water's edge. By train, it is plus or minus one hour east of London, not including the trip to West Ham Station on the Underground. From the train station at Southend-on-Sea it is just a 10 minute walk to the park. This makes it close enough for an easy day trip with plenty of time to enjoy once you get there. The train ride through the suburbs and the English countryside will be part of the fun. Adventure Island is not literally an island but, it does project out into the sea.
Entry to the park is free, which is advantageous if you just want to let the kids ride while you watch. Ride tickets are sold individually or you can purchase a wristband that lets you ride all day, which is probably the better deal.
Previously named Peter Pan's Playground and then Peter Pan's Adventure Island the Peter Pan's portion of the name was later dropped after the park doubled in size and introduced many new rides.
The park, which is still adding new attractions, currently features four roller coasters along with a generous compliment of other rides for a total of 40 rides and attractions. There are 13 gentle rides suitable for young children less than one metre tall, however, they must be accompanied by a person 14 years old or older who get to accompany them on the ride for free. Be sure to checkout the video of a ride on the Rage Coaster near the bottom of this page.
Adventure Island is open daily during the summer months with limited openings during the balance of the year. While the park opens at 11am on the days it is open, closing hours vary by day and season. Be sure to confirm the parks hours by visiting the official site link below, before making your trip there.
Facts For Your Visit
Fee: YesAddress: Western Esplanade, Southend-on-Sea SS1 1EE, UK
Phone: 01702 443400
Official Website: Adventure Island
Adventure Island Reviews
Rated out of 5![]()
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Adventure Island, Southend-on-Sea
What an absolutely amazing experience! 🎢 Adventure Island is truly the happiest little amusement park by the sea! The moment you enter, you can feel the excitement and energy all around. It’s beautifully maintained, super clean, and offers something for everyone — from thrilling rides for adventure lovers to gentle ones for kids and families.
The staff are cheerful, helpful, and always ready to make your day better. The sea view adds a special charm to the whole experience — imagine riding a roller coaster with waves in the background! 🌊
Food stalls, games, and the overall vibe make it a perfect full-day outing. Whether you go with family or friends, you’re bound to make wonderful memories here. Highly recommended for anyone visiting Southend-on-Sea! ❤️
[ Adventure Island Southend-on-Sea, amusement park, family fun, seaside rides, thrill rides, UK travel ]
#AdventureIsland #SouthendOnSea #FamilyFun #UKAdventures #SeasideVibes #ThemeParkFun
Pooja Vyaas - a month ago
We love going to Adventure Island as a family!
We usually visit after 6pm when the wristbands are half-price, and they are definitely worth the money. Parking is close by and free around that time of day, which makes it really convenient, especially with kids.
Most of the rides do have queues, but the atmosphere is fun so the wait doesn’t feel too bad.
We always finish our visit with a coffee for us, and hot doughnuts and chips for the kids.
A perfect treat to end the evening. With a lovely sea view right next to the park, it makes the whole experience even nicer.
Overall, a great place for a family outing and one we keep returning to!
Jess - a month ago
We visited on the first day of our week holiday. We went for the annual pass as the children will want to visit again and the pass also gets discounts for food, shop etc. We are now on day 3 and going again! Well worth the money! The queues are very quick, we could wait nearby and see them in the queue for the majority of the rides. I wanted to go on a couple of rides so bought some ride tickets separately (no need for a day or annual pass for me 🤣)
Emma Spain - 4 months ago
VISIT DATE: SAT 20/09/2025
VISIT TIME: 13:30 - 20:00
Adventure Island is a fantastic place to visit if you have children and are in the Southend area. We’re based in Hornchurch, about an hour away by car, or you can also travel quite easily via C2C from Upminster, so my ex and I have visited a number of times with our daughter, starting when she was 3 (she’s now 6).
The park promotes itself as free entry, but no one is going to come just to walk through it, so the reality is that you’ll need to get a day pass to take advantage of the rides. At time of writing, it’s £35 for the day, but you can save £10 by purchasing online in advance. If you’re planning to go more than once, then it makes sense to upgrade to an annual pass. These are currently on sale at £50 and do not start until the first time you go. If your child is under 120cm tall, you won’t need your own pass, as they need someone taller (and at least 14 years old) to ride with them.
As you’d expect, during the summer, or on character event days, the park is very busy, so there are queues for rides, but going off season reduces this dramatically. We were really blessed with a quiet day, so barely any queuing time, all rides open, with the exception of one, which was closed due to a mechanical issue and the park and rides were open till 8pm. It was also a warm day - being inside the park means that you are sheltered from the wind coming off the Thames Estuary, so even when it’s breezy, you don’t really feel it.
There are a variety of rides, with plenty of slower ones for younger children, or those who don’t like faster stuff. Oh these, we really like Adventureville and Spooksville (which is the “scary” version, in darkness and with models of monsters and clowns, as well as appropriate sound effects), and you’ve also got stuff like little trains and boats and the best Crooked House ever, which has been an attraction on the site since 1949, surviving the great flood of 1953 and various ownership changes and developments over the years. I loved this attraction as a child and my daughter loves it too!
There are also a number of rollercoasters, with more gentle ones, then building up to Rage, which has a vertical drop and loops. My daughter is looking forward to being tall enough to do that, but she’ll be going on with her Dad when that time comes, not me!
There is also a water slide and an indoor area, Adventure Inside, which features a few more rides, including a traditional carousel (my personal favourite) and a decent sized soft play.
Staff at the park are generally young, so they have lots of enthusiasm (if we lived nearer, I’d probably encourage my daughter to apply when she’s older, as I think it’s probably a pretty fun working environment, as well as quite hard work) and they are also friendly and helpful when you need anything.
As well as the rides that are included in with your entry, there are also plenty of stalls encouraging you to spend more, like “Hook-a-Duck”, which my daughter loves. This is where having an annual pass is beneficial, as you get 20% discount on purchases, including from the food and drink stalls, of which there are also many! Personally, we recommend avoiding the restaurants inside the park as they’re not that great and there are loads of really nice local places a few minutes walk away which deserve supporting.
You can also spend money on a Funtopia gamecard, to use on the many games machines in the arcade areas. You can pay to play with a debit / credit card, but the Funtopia card gives you extra credit and allows you to collect points which can be exchanged for prizes. Annual pass also gives you extra credit!
Plenty of toilets in the park, including accessible and baby change. All in reasonable condition throughout the day.
Overall, we really enjoy visiting and will continue to do so; it’s a great day out on its own, but when you add the other nearby attractions to the mix (Sealife Adventure, Southend Pier, spending time on the beach and in the water when it’s warm enough), this is a fabulous place to visit.
Hayley J Bacon - 3 months ago
Great rides for £35 per day per head or half price after 5pm. Or £4 per ride if you want fewer rides. I had 6 and 11 year old and both enjoyed.
Gulzat E - 3 months ago
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Directions
| Tube Line | Nearest Station | Walking Time |
|---|---|---|
| District, Jubilee and Hammersmith & City Line | West Ham Station | 10 Minutes |
How to get to Adventure Island by Tube
Take the Tube to Westham station using any of the above lines. Purchase a National Rail Ticket for the c2c Line to Southend Central Rail Station. Go to the platform indicated on your ticket. The travel time from Westham station takes anywhere from 45 minutes to just over an hour depending on the departure time.
When you arrive at Southend Central Rail Station exit to your right onto Clifftown Road and follow it to High Street which is actually a pedestrian only corridor, and go right. Walk down the High Street walkway and then go left at Pier Hill. Watch for the terrace on your right that crosses the road below and take it to the enclosed stairwell. The entrance to Adventure Island is close to the foot of the stairs. This is about a 10 minute walk.
Use the National Rail Journey Planner to get details and departure times for you trip.
Map & Instant Route Finder
Click&Go Map and Route Finder with public transit, walking, driving or cycling directions. Get up-to-the-minute transit times for your route.
Accommodations near Adventure Island:
Photo Gallery
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A taste of what you will see inside Adventure Island cc licensed photo by Sarah G... -
Photo Credit: sergei.gussev - cc license via Flickr -
Photo Credit: sergei.gussev - cc license via Flickr -
Photo Credit: sergei.gussev - cc license via Flickr -
Photo Credit: sergei.gussev - cc license via Flickr -
Photo Credit: sergei.gussev - cc license via Flickr -
Photo Credit: sergei.gussev - cc license via Flickr -
Photo Credit: Loco Steve - cc license via Flickr -
Photo Credit: h2g2bob - cc license via Flickr -
Photo Credit: beareye2010 - cc license via Flickr

