I was lucky enough to be allocated some tickets for Vertigo Adventures at Stanborough Park in the ballot for the 2017 Herts Big Weekend, a weekend where local attractions give away free tickets with the aim of helping people discover more of what's available in the area.  Vertigo Adventures is an outdoors high ropes course and claims to be one of the largest and most challenging of it's kind!

It's always nice to get something for nothing... though in addition to the two free tickets we also paid for two extra because a) we have 3 children and drawing lots wasn't going to go down well, and b) children aged 8 - 10 have to have an adult accompany them on the high ropes at Vertigo.  So it wasn't a completely free day out, but I had realised that would be the case when I entered the ballot.  At £15 for the high ropes and £10 for the low ropes (our youngest had to do the low ropes as he wasn't tall enough for the high ropes) it's not cheap, but they did all get their monies worth.  

At 30ft up with 20 different obstacles the high ropes is not for the faint-hearted (it's not called "Hawks View" for nothing!) and all-in the session took about an hour. The "Monkey Trail" low ropes were about 10ft high and offered a shorter course but ideal for little monkeys aged 5+.  The children in that group were able to go around the course 3 times during the session - once in each direction and then third time they were challenged to complete each section without holding onto their guide rope - a challenge which they all relished.  It was definitely something different for a Saturday afternoon and, I have to admit, something we probably wouldn't have done had it not been for the free tickets.

If a high ropes experience takes your fancy you can find the details of Vertigo Adventures on our website (other high ropes experiences are available and you can find details of them there too) and it's definitely worth entering the next Herts Big Weekend draw, but do make sure you know how many tickets you would be allocated on each ballot and how much it might cost if you need extra. Other attractions offering free tickets this year included Go Ape a Wendover Woods, Aldenham Country Park, Rye House Karting, Rye-assic Dinosaur Adventure, Hatfield Farm Park, Knebworth House, Lee Valley White Water Centre and Warner Bros. Studio Tour to name a few.  Look out for it next year!

Alison