As an archaeologist with an interest in how the past is presented to the general public, something I do enjoy doing is visiting archaeological sites that are set up for general visitors. One thing France does very well in my opinion is their parc préhistoriques, and there are a number of them. But my favourite, and I think well worth a visit particularly if you have children who need entertaining, is Samara. This really is no boring archaeological theme park.

Samara is the name the Gauls (those chaps who made and used iron for the first time, the so-called Iron Age) gave the river Somme, on which the park is situated only a few kilometres outside the city of Amiens at the western end of Picardy. The park traces the evolution of humanity in the Somme Valley – some 600 000 years, and it does so in a very accessible manner. There are no stuffy, out of reach displays, but rather a series of reconstructions of four different periods of prehistory that cover the early hunters and gatherers, the arrival of farmers in the area, the making of metals, bronze and iron. And in each of these areas are people who demonstrate the skills associated with the particular period in prehistory. In all of these, children are actively encouraged to get stuck in and have a go themselves.

In over thirty hectares a number of different bio-zones are preserved, including an arboretum, a more formal botanical garden, a wetland willow bed typical of the Somme valley, and a Neolithic garden that reveals the importance of plants for the first farmers in western Europe some 5000 years ago. And the highlight of this side of the park is definitely the maze. There are a number of activities in the nature section of the park to keep everyone busy.

Samara is only open from March through to October, but during that time there is a very varied programme of activities designed for children of all age groups. Unfortunately, their website is only available in French, but if you are planning to spend some time in the Valley of the Somme/Amiens area, or even if you are just passing through and need a place to stop over with something interesting to do for everyone, it is ideally located just off the A16 and I really do recommend you consider Samara. There is a restaurant at the site, but they do allow you to take you own picnic baskets in.