Hever Castle & Gardens was among the top 50 travel experiences and attractions to take away an accolade at the Family Traveller Excellence Awards.

The childhood home of Anne Boleyn beat off competition from Santa’s Lapland, Shangri-La, Singapore, Dubai Parks & Resorts and Camp Bestival to be voted top in the Pure Fun award.

The Awards underwent a makeover this year, moving away from the traditional set award categories such as best hotel for families to adapt to the emerging and changing travel trends of British families.

Over 110,000 votes were cast by Family Traveller readers and subscribers to find the 50 Excellence Award Winners.

The awards evening, hosted by singer songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor, took place at the Natural History Museum Ice Rink on Wednesday 13 November.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor said “The outstanding calibre of the award winners really shows what’s important to Family Traveller readers when choosing and booking their holiday experiences. As a mum of five boys it’s important to me that they not only have a wonderful time, but they are also educated by other cultures and experiences.”

Family Traveller editor Jane Anderson said “It’s vital to us that we are constantly evolving with the times and offering our audience choice. We know their holidays are precious and we have seen from the awards that sustainability and environmental impact is a real deciding factor when they choose to book an experience or holiday. We want to support those intentions and will continue to raise the bar with the content we create and make sure it’s topical and informative to help them make those informed decisions.”

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