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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East of EnglandWhales, mummies and polar explorers: a free rainy day in Cambridge
Cambridge city centre
Three free university museums sit within a ten-minute walk of each other in central Cambridge, so a wet day costs nothing but lunch. Start under the giant whale skeleton, eat at the Fitzwilliam's courtyard cafe, then finish with sledges and snow goggles at the Polar Museum.
University Museum of Zoology → The Fitzwilliam Museum → The Polar Museum
One dayAges 3–7Rainy dayFree
LondonThree free museums on Exhibition Road
South Kensington
Dinosaurs in the morning, a garden picnic at lunchtime and hands-on science in the afternoon, all within a five-minute walk of each other and all free to enter. Because everything is indoors except the V&A garden, it holds up in any weather.
The Natural History Museum → Victoria and Albert Museum → Science Museum
One dayAll agesFree
LondonUnder the Thames: Mudchute farm and the foot tunnel
Isle of Dogs / Greenwich
Start with the goats and pigs at one of Europe's biggest city farms, picnic-gaze at the Greenwich skyline from Island Gardens, then walk under the river through the Victorian foot tunnel and come up beside the Cutty Sark. An afternoon in Greenwich Park rounds it off without spending anything.
Mudchute Park and Farm → Island Gardens → Greenwich Foot Tunnel → Greenwich Park
One dayAges 3–7Free
LondonHighgate woods, Waterlow Park and Kenwood
Highgate / Hampstead
Ancient woodland with a big fenced playground in the morning, lunch at a 16th-century house overlooking a hillside park, and an afternoon at Kenwood among Rembrandts and sweeping lawns that run down to the Heath. Free from start to finish.
Highgate Wood → Waterlow Park → Lauderdale House → Kenwood
One dayAll agesFree
LondonRichmond Hill, Pembroke Lodge and the deer park
Richmond
Climb from Richmond town through the sloping Terrace Gardens, take in the long view from King Henry's Mound in Pembroke Lodge's gardens, lunch on the tea-room terrace and then spend the afternoon on the open grassland of Richmond Park looking for red and fallow deer. A big-sky outdoor day.
Terrace Gardens → Pembroke Lodge → Richmond Park → Pembroke Lodge
One dayAll agesSunny dayFree
LondonWest London parks: Gunnersbury and Walpole
Ealing / Gunnersbury
A big parkland morning at Gunnersbury with a free local history museum in the old Rothschild mansion and restored Victorian kitchens, then on to Walpole Park in Ealing for its playground, walled kitchen garden and lake. Free entry everywhere and a museum to duck into if it rains.
Gunnersbury Park & Museum → Walpole Park
One dayAges 3–7Free
LondonOlympic Park and the V&A East Bank
Stratford / Hackney Wick
A morning of big playgrounds and riverside paths in the 2012 Olympic Park, a picnic, then two very different V&A spaces: the new East Bank museum and the Storehouse, a walk-through working store where you can peer into conservation studios. Free unless you add a paid venue in the park.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park → V&A East Museum → V&A East Storehouse
One dayAges 8–12Free
LondonWalthamstow Wetlands and a Victorian steam engine
Walthamstow / Tottenham
Reservoir paths, bird hides and herons in the morning, lunch in the cafe inside an old engine house, then a short walk to Markfield Park where volunteers fire up a huge Victorian beam engine on steaming days. Free all day, and built around the engine's open Sundays.
Walthamstow Wetlands → Markfield Beam Engine and Museum
One dayAll agesFree
LondonHackney toddler day: farm, market and park
Hackney
Pigs, goats and a donkey at a small free city farm, a weekend street-food lunch on Broadway Market, and a flat, buggy-friendly afternoon in Victoria Park with its play areas and boating lake. Three stops, short hops.
Hackney City Farm → Broadway Market → Victoria Park Tower Hamlets
One dayToddlersSunny dayFree
LondonFree London: playgrounds, paintings and street performers
Westminster / South Bank / West End
A day in the middle of London that costs nothing but your packed lunch: a Thames-themed playground by Parliament, the timber playground behind the London Eye, a picnic in the National Gallery's family space, the Covent Garden street performers and a hidden wildlife garden.
Horseferry Playground → Jubilee Gardens Playground → The National Gallery → Covent Garden Market and Piazza + 1 more
One dayAll agesFree
LondonRainy toddler half day at Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
Two dry stops a few minutes apart: the free Mudlarks play gallery for under-8s at London Museum Docklands, with lunch in the museum cafe, then a gentle wander under the covered roof garden above the station. Home before nap time.
Museum of London Docklands → Crossrail Place Roof Garden
Half dayToddlersRainy dayFree- London
Sunny day: Olympic Park to Victoria Park
Stratford / Bow / Hackney
Two of east London's biggest green spaces in one dry day: playgrounds and wildflower gardens in the Olympic Park, a picnic, then a walk across to Victoria Park for its boating lake and play areas, finishing with a weekend snack on Broadway Market.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park → Victoria Park Tower Hamlets → Broadway Market
One dayAll agesSunny dayFree 
LondonToddler day at Deen City Farm and Morden Hall Park
Morden / Merton
A small city farm with sheep and goats to feed and a wooden playground, then the flat meadows, boardwalks and rose garden of Morden Hall Park beside the River Wandle, with a cafe for lunch. Two stops, a 13-minute hop, and free entry.
Deen City Farm → Morden Hall Park
One dayToddlersSunny dayFree
North EastDinosaurs, Leazes Park and the Turbinia - a free Newcastle day
Newcastle city centre (Haymarket)
Three free stops within a mile of each other: a natural history museum with a T. rex and Egyptian mummies, Newcastle's oldest park for a picnic and a run-around by the lake, then the city's science and industry museum. It works in drizzle because two of the three stops are indoors.
The Great North Museum → Leazes Park → Discovery Museum
One dayAges 3–7Free
North EastToddler morning: city farm animals and Saltwell Park
Newcastle / Gateshead
Two stops only, both free: a small city farm where little ones can meet pigs, sheep and goats, then Gateshead's Victorian park with its hedge maze, play areas and boating lake. Lunch is in the turreted tearoom so nap time can happen in the buggy on the paths afterwards.
Ouseburn Farm → Saltwell Park
One dayToddlersSunny dayFree
North EastDerwent Valley woods and a riverside castle
Rowlands Gill (Gateshead)
A free green day on Gateshead's western edge: a flat old railway path along the Derwent for scooters and buggies, a picnic deep in a big Forestry England wood, then the ruins of a medieval castle above the Tyne at Prudhoe. Good for families who want fresh air without paying entry fees.
Derwent Walk Country Park → Chopwell Wood → Prudhoe Castle
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayFree
North EastFree day in North Tyneside: farm, dene and bay
Wallsend / North Shields
Three free stops with free or cheap parking: a big country park on reclaimed colliery land with a community farm and sand-and-water play, a wooded Victorian dene with a pump track, and a little sheltered beach to finish. Pack a picnic or use the park cafes.
Rising Sun Country Park → Northumberland Park → Cullercoats Bay
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayFree
North EastSunderland seafront and city: Roker, Seaburn and Mowbray Park
Sunderland (Roker)
A bracing walk out along Roker Pier, a long play on Sunderland's main family beach, then into the city for a restored Victorian park with a big adventure playground. End inside a medieval gatehouse castle that is free to visit on a booked slot.
Roker Pier and Lighthouse → Seaburn Beach → Mowbray Park → Hylton Castle
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayFree
North EastSea glass and a wild gorge on the Durham coast
Seaham
Hunt for smooth coloured sea glass washed up from an old bottleworks on Seaham's beach, then head down the coast for a wilder walk through a steep wooded limestone gorge full of yews and birdsong. Free all day apart from parking.
Seaham Beach → Castle Eden Dene National Nature Reserve
One dayAges 8–12Sunny dayFree
North EastDarlington and Shildon railway day
Darlington
Follow the world's first passenger railway story from Darlington's 1825 station, now Hopetown with its Wagon Woods adventure play, to a hall of historic locomotives in Shildon. A Victorian park with play areas and an aviary fits between them. Site entry is free throughout.
Hopetown Darlington → South Park → Locomotion
One dayAll agesFree
North EastAlnwick morning: bookshop railway station and Hulne Park
Alnwick
Browse one of Britain's biggest second-hand bookshops inside Alnwick's old railway station, with a model train running along the shelf tops, then walk into the Duke of Northumberland's walled park for a picnic by the river. Dogs and bikes are banned in the park, which keeps it calm for small children.
Barter Books → Hulne Park
Half dayAges 3–7Free
North EastMorpeth bagpipes and south-east Northumberland parks
Morpeth
A quirky free start in a medieval chantry full of bagpipes you can listen to on headsets, then a woodland-and-riverside country park with a wooden playground and cafe, ending at a lake with flat paths for scooters on the edge of Ashington.
Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum → Plessey Woods Country Park → Queen Elizabeth II Country Park
One dayAges 3–7Free
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
North WestRed squirrels and iron men on the Sefton coast
Formby / Crosby
Look for red squirrels in the Formby pinewoods before running down through the dunes to the beach. After lunch, head south to Crosby to find Antony Gormley's cast-iron figures standing along the shore.
Formby Nature Reserve → Crosby Beach
One dayAll agesSunny dayFree
Northern IrelandFree museum and park day in south Belfast
Belfast
A no-cost day in Belfast's university quarter: dinosaurs and a mummy at the Ulster Museum, a wander through the glasshouses and lawns of the Botanic Gardens, then a playground stop across the river.
Ulster Museum at Botanic Gardens → Botanic Gardens and Palm House → Ormeau Park
One dayAges 3–7Free
ScotlandTrams, tall ships and a dinosaur hall: Glasgow's free museum day
Glasgow West End
Two of Glasgow's best free museums sit within a mile of each other along the Kelvin. The Riverside Museum is packed with trams, cars and a walk-through old street, and Kelvingrove's halls hold everything from a Spitfire to a stuffed elephant.
Riverside Museum → Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
One dayAll agesRainy dayFree
ScotlandRiver islands and glasshouses: an easy Inverness morning
Inverness
Follow the River Ness south from the city centre to a string of wooded islands linked by footbridges. Next door, the Botanic Gardens have warm glasshouses for a cactus and jungle detour, and a café with baby changing for lunch.
Ness Islands Walk → Inverness Botanic Gardens → Café Botanics
Half dayToddlersFree
South EastWhitstable gardens and the Reculver towers
Whitstable
A low-cost morning on the north Kent coast: a play park and tearoom in the gardens of Whitstable's little castle, then a short drive east to the twin towers standing in the remains of a Roman fort on the shore. Bring a kite for the clifftop grass at Reculver.
Whitstable Castle and Gardens → Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
Half dayAll agesSunny dayFree
South EastDover to Folkestone along the white cliffs, for free
Dover
See a 3,500-year-old boat in Dover's free town museum, then drive through a tunnel in the cliffs to Samphire Hoe, a seaside park built from Channel Tunnel spoil. End on Folkestone's Harbour Arm for a picnic or street food and a walk to the lighthouse.
Dover Museum → Samphire Hoe Beach → Folkestone Harbour Arm
One dayAll agesSunny dayFree
South WestToddler riverside wander: Snuff Mills to Oldbury Court
Fishponds, Bristol
A gentle, free morning for little legs: a woodland riverside stroll past an old stone mill, ending at a playground with a kiosk café and proper toilets.
Snuff Mills → Oldbury Court Estate
Half dayToddlersSunny dayFree
South WestFree fun on the edge of Dartmoor: lake, marbles and forest
Newton Abbot or Exeter
A day that costs little more than parking: a lakeside country park with a treetop boardwalk, free giant marble runs at lunchtime, then play and a storybook trail in a big forest park.
Stover Country Park → Haldon Forest Park
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayFree
WalesLakes, ducks and a pier for little ones in Penarth
Penarth
A gentle morning on the flat lakeside paths at Cosmeston, with a café break before toddlers flag. Finish on the Victorian pier on Penarth's seafront for sea air and a look back at the bay.
Cosmeston Lakes Country Park café → Penarth Pier
Half dayToddlersSunny dayFree
WalesAnglesey for almost nothing: a burial mound and Newborough
Anglesey (south-west)
Crawl into a 5,000-year-old passage tomb in a quiet field, then spend the rest of the day in the pine forest and dunes at Newborough. The beach looks across to Eryri and, at low tide, out to Llanddwyn island and its lighthouse.
Bryn Celli Ddu Burial Chamber → Llanddwyn Bay
One dayAll agesSunny dayFree
West MidlandsFree aircraft and the Iron Bridge
Telford
A free day out with paid parking only: historic aircraft and a playground at the RAF Museum, then a walk across the world's first iron bridge in the Ironbridge Gorge.
Royal Air Force Museum Cosford → The Iron Bridge
One dayAges 8–12Free
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
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
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
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.