Nature & gardens · 10:00–12:15 (2h15m)
Whinlatter Forest
Play areas and the family trail; snack at the visitor-centre café.
An outdoor nature reserve in Keswick.
Check pricesOutdoors
- Café on site
- Toilets
Photo: Ian Capper
Begin high up in Whinlatter Forest with play areas and a family trail above Bassenthwaite Lake. Then drop down into Keswick for a museum of optical illusions and the town museum's rocks, mining and Lakeland stories.
One dayAges 8–12Cost ££10:00–15:453 stops
The plan
- 10:001
- 13:302
Museum · 13:30–14:30 (1h)
The Puzzling Place
After lunch in town, the anti-gravity room and illusions.
An indoor museum in Keswick.
Check pricesIndoors- Good on a rainy day
Photo: puzzlingplace.co.uk
- 14:403
Museum · 14:40–15:45 (1h05m)
Keswick Museum
Rocks, mining and Lakeland life; arrive before the 15:30 last admission.
Keswick's town museum in Fitz Park covers Lakeland life, rocks and mining, and art, with family trails and activities. Café West is on site.
PaidIndoors- Café on site
- Good on a rainy day
Photo: Stephen Craven
More days out in North West
North WestCastle playground and a lake steamer near Penrith
Penrith / Pooley Bridge
A morning on the turrets, tunnels and slides of one of the biggest adventure playgrounds in the country, set among castle ruins and gardens. In the afternoon, step aboard a heritage boat on Ullswater for fell views from the water.
Lowther Castle & Gardens → Ullswater Steamers
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayCost ££
North WestA wet day of free museums in Manchester
Manchester city centre
Three free museums and galleries that keep everyone dry and busy, from steam engines and science in Castlefield to dinosaurs and live animals on Oxford Road. Finish with a calm hour among the art and trees at the Whitworth.
Science and Industry Museum → The Manchester Museum → The Whitworth
One dayAll agesRainy dayFree
North WestHeaton Park and a bus museum on a budget
North Manchester
Manchester's largest park gives you farm animals, playgrounds and a boating lake without paying for entry. After lunch, swap the outdoors for a hangar full of old buses and trams, where accompanied children get in free.
Heaton Park → Museum of Transport
One dayAll agesFree