Day Trips & Family Fun in Fairfield & Westchester Counties
- David Saunders
- Jul 20
- 3 min read
K1 Speed in Mount Kisco, NY
Some days call for something a little more active than a walk downtown. Between go-karts, mini golf, gardens worth the drive, and a mall that's turned into a genuine entertainment destination, here's where to go for a fun day or evening with the family.
Gaming & Golf at Danbury Fair Mall
Danbury Fair has quietly become a real entertainment destination. Round1 Bowling & Arcade packs bowling lanes, hundreds of arcade games, karaoke rooms, and billiards under one roof. Right nearby, Golf Lounge 18 offers TrackMan golf simulators where you can play virtual rounds on famous courses like Pebble Beach without leaving Danbury.
Go-Karts & Racing
For high-speed go-kart racing, RPM Raceway in Stamford, CT, combines racing with arcade games, laser tag, Gel Blaster, VR gaming, and bowling. In Mount Kisco, NY, K1 Speed offers all-electric indoor go-karting on a professional track, plus a ninja warrior course and bowling.
Mini Golf
Right in Bethel, CT, Monster Mini Golf at 13 Stony Hill Rd is a glow-in-the-dark indoor course built for laughs, rain or shine. For an outdoor round with a view, Cove Mini Golf at Norwalk Cove Marina has been a Fairfield County summer tradition for over 50 years, with an 18-hole course overlooking Calf Pasture Beach and the Sound.
Driving Ranges
Golfers can hit the range at Richter Park Golf Course in Danbury, home to one of the largest driving ranges in Connecticut with 20 bays and over 20,000 square feet of grass tee space. Just up the road from Monster Mini Golf, Stony Hill Golf Range in Bethel makes for an easy pairing, mini golf for the kids and a bucket of balls for the grown-ups, all on the same street.
All-Ages Entertainment
For a bigger group or a mixed-age celebration, Dave & Buster's in Pelham Manor, NY, combines a full arcade with a sports bar and restaurant, built to work for everyone from kids to grandparents.
Gardens Worth the Trip
If you love the feeling of a great garden estate, the kind you could spend a whole afternoon wandering, Untermyer Gardens in Yonkers, NY, is the closest thing this area has to offer. It's free to visit, built around a dramatic Indo-Persian walled garden, fountains, and the Temple of Love overlooking the Hudson River, roughly 45 minutes to an hour from Ridgefield. For something closer to home, the Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens in Stamford, CT, offers 93 acres of gardens and trails, also free. And for a bigger day out, the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx is about an hour away and one of the largest botanical gardens in the country, worth planning a full day around.
Worth the Drive
For a full day rather than an afternoon, The Castle Fun Center in Chester, NY, is worth the trip: an 11-acre outdoor and 50,000 square foot indoor amusement park with go-karts, laser tag, a zip line, and axe throwing.
Rainy Day Movies
For a rainy day, or honestly any day, a few small, independently run theaters beat the megaplex. Right in Ridgefield, the Prospector Theater shows current releases in a beautifully restored space, and it's a nonprofit built specifically to create employment for people with disabilities, so every ticket supports that mission. In Bethel, Greenwood Features, the reimagined former Bethel Cinema, is a local couple's labor of love, mixing new releases with classic and independent films across four screens, plus real butter on the popcorn. And in Pleasantville, NY, the Jacob Burns Film Center is one of the best art house theaters in the region, a nonprofit with five screens dedicated to independent, documentary, and world cinema, often with filmmaker discussions after the show.
A Bonus Worth Knowing About
If you're looking for a bigger outing on the calendar, the Norwalk Oyster Festival, held each September at Veteran's Memorial Park, is one of the largest festivals in the region, with live music, carnival rides, and food for all ages.
Whatever kind of day you're after, quiet and green or loud and competitive, there's a place nearby built for it.
Day Trips & Family Fun in Fairfield & Westchester Counties
Day Trips & Family Fun in Fairfield & Westchester Counties
Comments