Museums & science in Blackpool

All three sit within a few streets of the Tower, and they cost very different amounts. Showtown on Bank Hey Street is the museum Blackpool built about itself, circus, magicians and illuminations, with galleries you do things in. Children 4 to 15 are £4.50 and anyone paying Blackpool council tax gets in free on a resident ticket booked in advance. There is no cafe, so eat first.

Madame Tussauds on the Promenade leans towards faces children actually know, Marvel and Strictly rather than prime ministers, and it is noticeably cheaper booked online. The Grand Theatre on Church Street is the one to plan ahead for: a big Christmas panto with a relaxed performance, touring family shows through the year and a summer youth musical every August.

Museums & science in Blackpool

Showtown

Blackpool~0 min

★★★★★4.7(244)

Blackpool built a museum about being Blackpool, on Bank Hey Street next to the Tower: the circus, the magicians, the illuminations. The galleries are interactive instead of glass case. Allow an hour and a half.

Adults £9.50, children £4.50IndoorsAges 4-11

Madame Tussauds Blackpool

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★☆4.4(9,652)

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.

Book online - cheaperIndoorsAges 5-11

The Grand Theatre, Blackpool

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★★4.7(2,718)

Blackpool's big Church Street theatre runs a proper year-round family programme: a summer youth musical, storybook shows, magic, and a giant Christmas panto with a relaxed performance.

Tickets per show - panto from £18IndoorsAges 3-11

Museums & science elsewhere in the North West

World of Glass

St HelensIn town

★★★★★4.6(956)

Free to get in and better than it sounds: hands-on stations on glass, lenses and fibre optics, a Victorian street and the old Tank House, with live glassblowing around midday and 2pm for a small extra charge. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Free museum, glassblowing demo £5IndoorsAges 5-11

World Museum, Liverpool

Liverpool~30 min

★★★★★4.6(16,054)

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.

Free entryIndoorsAges 4-11

Catalyst Science Centre

Widnes~20 min

★★★★☆4.4(1,125)

Hands-on science galleries and a glass rooftop observatory over the Mersey. Small, indoors and close, with one gallery shut for a rebuild until early 2027.

£13 each until 31 Oct, annual pass includedIndoorsAges 5-11

Science and Industry Museum

Manchester~30 min

★★★★☆4.4(20,615)

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.

Free entryIndoorsAges 4-11

Manchester Museum

Manchester~30 min

★★★★★4.7(10,653)

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.

Free entryIndoorsAges 4-11

National Football Museum

Manchester~30 min

★★★★☆4.3(7,724)

Shirts, trophies and match footage across four gallery floors, with a 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.

Adults £16, children £10 onlineIndoorsAges 6-11