Madame Tussauds Blackpool
Over 75 wax figures across 14 zones, and the Blackpool version leans pop culture rather than politics, so kids actually recognise people. Book online or you pay extra for the privilege of queueing.
Museums & science in Blackpool
Hands-on museums and science centres. Several of the best ones are free.
Museums & science in Blackpool
Museums & science elsewhere in the North West
World of Glass
Free, indoors and better than it sounds: interactive science aimed at younger children, glassblowing demos, a picnic area and a small playground outside.
World Museum, Liverpool
Five floors, free, and it covers three things small children reliably love: giant dinosaurs, an aquarium and a space gallery. The best wet-weather day within half an hour.
Catalyst Science Centre
Hands-on science galleries and a glass rooftop observatory over the Mersey. Small, cheap, indoors and close.
Science and Industry Museum
Working steam engines, the story of Cottonopolis, and hands-on galleries in the world's oldest surviving passenger railway station. Free, and the live demonstrations are the bit kids actually remember.
Manchester Museum
A T. rex skeleton cast, live frogs in the vivarium, Egyptian mummies and a genuinely good natural history floor. Free, university-run, and less overwhelming than the big London equivalents.
National Football Museum
Shirts, trophies and match footage across six floors, with penalty shootout and skills games that football-mad kids refuse to leave. If yours do not care about football, skip it - it is exactly what it says.