Days out diary - child friendly and family activities

Family days out Avoncroft building museum Family days out Wookey Hole Cave Family days out Magna Science and Technology Centre Family days out London area Family days out Swing ride at The Big Sheep Family days out Legoland Windosor Family days out Lake district cruise on Lake Windermere

Zip World velocity is the worlds fastest zip wire and the longest in the northern hemisphere, and it's in Wales.

The zip line goes across a former slate quarry in Snowdonia.

I visited on the same day as going White Water Rafting.

When we arrived we were weighed and height measured before we were kitted up with a one piece suit, helmet and glasses. We then had a short walk to the first zip line, the Little Zipper, which is 420 meters long and reaches speeds of up to 65km/h.

The reason for the weighing became apparent as we were given different amounts of additional wind resistance (effectively small sales) and instructions about holding our arms out at different points to slow us down before reaching the end.

We were then driven up to the top of the quarry in a truck ready for the Big Zipper which is a massive 1560 meters long and has a top speed of up to 165km/h.

The ride does feel very safe as the harnesses are checked and then cross-checked by another person before each flight.

The launch from the top platform is performed whilst laying in the harness and is released by the operators. This makes it easier for those nervous of going on the zip wire, for me it didn't have the same adrenaline rush as zip wires where I stepped off a platform such as those at Go Ape! (obviously for safety reasons that is not an option on these zip wires).

The zip wire is very fast, but whilst the initial start feels fast once travelling across the quarry the ground is a long way off so some idea of perspective is lost. You do then realise the speed again when coming in to the end of the zip wire. Flying across on the zip wire is a great feeling and well worth doing.

You also get a free video of the ride. I've created an extended version by adding some additional footage from my GoPro camera (included in the video above).

Zip World in Wales

There's just one complaint about the site and that's the limited toilet facilities. There is one toilet inside the main building and temporary toilet with one male and one female toilet which did mean a big queue when everyone was wanting to go to the toilet before we got into the harnesses.

The ride is dependant upon the weather, but there are no refunds even if your ride is cancelled up to 24 hours in advance. Instead you would need to re-book within the next 12 months. This is OK if you live within a reasonable distance, but I could see this being an issue for anyone that was looking to do this whilst they were on holiday in Wales and didn't have an opportunity to do it whilst on holiday, so please check the terms and conditions before booking.

Summary

This is a very long and very fast zip wire and it's great to be able to say I've been on it. It is however expensive for such a short period of time on the zip wire. I'm certainly glad that I had a go, but it's not something I'd be in a rush to do again.