Guides · Family days out
Days out,
already planned.
Whole days worked out for you: where to start, when to stop for lunch, how to get between places and what to do if it rains. Every stop links to its own page with opening times, prices and a map.
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YorkshireWalls, Vikings and a castle keep in one walkable York day
York city centre
Start high on the medieval walls with the Minster towering beside you, then step inside the cathedral, where under-18s go free with a paying adult. After a picnic among the abbey ruins in Museum Gardens, ride through Viking-age York at JORVIK and finish on top of Clifford's Tower looking back over everything you've walked.
York City Walls → York Museum Gardens → Jorvik Viking Centre → Clifford's Tower
One dayAges 8–12dryCost ££
YorkshireA rainy York day: Victorian streets, a guildhall lunch and chocolate
York city centre
Three indoor stops a few minutes apart. Walk the cobbles of a recreated Victorian street at York Castle Museum, have lunch at the café inside a 660-year-old timber guildhall where children go free, then join a guided chocolate tour with tastings and a lolly to decorate.
York Castle Museum → Merchant Adventurers' Hall → York's Chocolate Story
One dayAges 3–7Rainy dayCost ££
YorkshireSheffield's free museums: woolly rhinos, steel and a giant glasshouse
Sheffield city centre
Three free stops linked by tram. Meet the woolly rhino and polar bear at Weston Park Museum, ride across town to see a 12,000-horsepower steam engine in action at Kelham Island, and end among 2,500 plants in the Winter Garden.
Weston Park Museum → Kelham Island Museum → The Winter Garden
One dayAges 3–7Rainy dayFree
YorkshireWaterwheels and city farm animals in south Sheffield
South-west Sheffield
A free half day for under-fives. Watch the waterwheel and let them loose on the new timber play area at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, have lunch at its café, then drive across to Heeley City Farm to meet the goats, pigs and sheep.
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet → Heeley City Farm
Half dayToddlersFree
YorkshireSharks, trams and sailing ships in Hull's Old Town
Hull city centre
Hull's Old Town packs a lot into a short walk. Spend the morning at The Deep with its sharks and penguins, then follow the river into the free Museums Quarter for vintage trams and a 1940s street, and end in the grand old dock offices of the Maritime Museum.
The Deep → Streetlife - Hull Museum of Transport → Hull Maritime Museum
One dayAges 8–12Rainy dayCost ££
YorkshireRockpools, sea cliffs and seabirds on the Flamborough headland
Flamborough / Bridlington
A clifftop coast day around the chalk headland. Rockpool at South Landing in the morning, cross the headland for lunch and a cliff walk at North Landing, and end at Bempton Cliffs, where the viewing platforms overlook one of England's biggest seabird colonies.
Flamborough South Landing → Flamborough Cliffs Nature Reserve (North Landing) → RSPB Bempton Cliffs
One dayAll agesSunny dayCost £
YorkshireSaltaire and Lister Park: a free Bradford day
Saltaire / Bradford
A free day in and around the Victorian model village of Saltaire. Play in riverside Roberts Park, have lunch inside the huge Salts Mill with its free galleries, then hop two stops towards Bradford for the boating lake, Mughal Water Gardens and free art at Lister Park's Cartwright Hall.
Roberts Park → Salts Mill → Cartwright Hall Art Gallery → Lister Park
One dayAll agesdryFree
YorkshireSculptures in the fields and a coal mine museum near Wakefield
Wakefield (M1 J38-39)
Two of West Yorkshire's best-value big days out, four miles apart. Walk the open-air galleries at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where under-19s go free, then spend the afternoon at the free National Coal Mining Museum learning about life down the pits.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park → National Coal Mining Museum
One dayAges 8–12dryCost £
YorkshireWhitby in a day: fossils, fish and chips, Captain Cook and the abbey
Whitby
Cross Whitby from west to east. See ammonites and model ships at the Pannett Park museum, where under-18s go free, then have harbourside fish and chips. Cross the swing bridge to the house where young James Cook lodged as an apprentice, and finish by climbing the 199 Steps to the abbey ruins on the clifftop.
Whitby Museum → Magpie Café → Captain Cook Memorial Museum → Whitby Abbey
One dayAges 8–12Cost ££
YorkshireTwo days on the Yorkshire coast: Scarborough's two bays, then Whitby
Scarborough (overnight), then Whitby
Day one is a classic Scarborough loop: seals and penguins at the far end of the North Bay, the pagoda lake at Peasholm Park, the castle on its headland and a harbourside ice cream to finish. On day two, drive up to a hidden woodland waterfall on the moors before a Whitby afternoon of fish and chips and the clifftop abbey.
SEA LIFE Scarborough → Scarborough Castle → The Harbour Bar → Falling Foss and Sneaton Forest + 2 more
WeekendAges 3–7Cost ££
YorkshireFairy waterfall and the great limestone cove at Malham
Malham, Yorkshire Dales
A free walking day from Malham village. Follow the beck through the woods to Janet's Foss, a little waterfall wrapped in legend, then walk to the foot of Malham Cove's huge curved cliff. Strong walkers can climb the stone steps to the limestone pavement on top for a picnic with a view.
Malham National Park Centre → Janet's Foss → Malham Cove
One dayAges 8–12Sunny dayFree
YorkshireA castle morning in Skipton, then the Strid and stepping stones at Bolton Abbey
Skipton / Wharfedale
Start inside one of England's best-preserved medieval castles in the middle of Skipton, then drive up the Wharfe to Bolton Abbey. After lunch by the river, follow the family trails to the ruined priory and the stepping stones, or into Strid Wood, where the river squeezes through a narrow rock channel.
Skipton Castle → Cavendish Pavilion → Bolton Abbey Estate
One dayAll agesdryCost ££
Written by Tumble from each place's own published information, checked October 2026. Times are suggestions, not bookings. Opening hours and prices change, so check each place's page before you set off.