Water & swimming in Liverpool

Under-8s swim free at the Liverpool Aquatics Centre, which also keeps a 20 metre pool at 30 degrees, the one you actually want with small children. The 50m pool at Wavertree is £4.60 an adult and £2.30 a junior.

Volair Huyton over in Knowsley runs the same idea from 6am to 10pm, under-5s free, £4.40 a junior and £6.40 an adult. For water that is not a swimming pool, Liverpool Watersports Centre on Queens Dock does kayaking at £10 a child and £15 an adult and an inflatable aquapark at £12.50, and the Mersey Ferries River Explorer is a 50-minute loop with commentary that most children rate above any museum.

Water & swimming in Liverpool

Liverpool Aquatics Centre

Liverpool~30 min

★★★★☆4.1(620)

Liverpool put its serious pool at Wavertree Sports Park: an eight lane 50m tank, and alongside it a 20m pool kept at 30 degrees, which is the one you actually want with small children. Under-8s swim free.

Adults £4.60, juniors £2.30, under-8s freeIndoorsAges 0-14

Mersey Ferries River Explorer

Liverpool~30 min

★★★★★4.6(2,583)

The famous ferry across the Mersey run as a 50-minute sightseeing loop with commentary, and the honest truth is kids love the boat more than any museum. Hop off at Seacombe for Eureka! next door.

River Explorer faresAges 4-11

Volair Huyton (Knowsley Leisure & Culture Park)

Liverpool~25 min

★★★★☆4.3(986)

Knowsley's flagship leisure centre on Longview Drive, open 6am to 10pm, with public swimming, parent and toddler sessions and lane swimming. Under-5s swim free, and under-8s must be in the water with a parent.

Junior swim £4.40, adult £6.40, under-5s freeIndoorsAges 0-15

Liverpool Watersports Centre

Liverpool~35 min

★★★★★4.8(301)

A charity with a whole dock basin at Queens Dock to play with. Children can kayak, paddleboard, take out a pedalo or throw themselves round an inflatable aquapark, in the middle of the city, with lifeguards on duty.

Kayak £10 child, £15 adult; inflatable aquapark £12.50Ages 8-16

Water & swimming elsewhere in the North West

Blue Planet Aquarium

Ellesmere Port~35 min

★★★★☆4.1(8,117)

Sharks over a moving walkway tunnel, all under cover. A dependable answer to a washout forecast that still feels like a proper day out.

Day ticketIndoorsAges 4-11

Formby Beach & Pinewoods

Formby~45 min

★★★★★4.9(46)

Huge sand dunes, a proper beach and red squirrels in the pinewoods behind it. The dunes alone will occupy them for an hour. Free entry if you have National Trust membership.

Parking chargeAges 4-11

Anderton Boat Lift

Northwich~30 min

★★★★★4.5(3,464)

A Victorian lift that hoists whole canal boats fifty feet in the air, and you can ride it. Genuinely impressive to a small child, with a visitor centre and café on site.

Visitor centre / boat tripIndoorsAges 4-11

Sea Life Manchester

Trafford~25 min

★★★★☆4.0(5,173)

Ocean tunnel, rays, seahorses and rockpool touch sessions, sized for smaller legs - you can do the whole thing in a morning and pair it with Legoland next door.

Book online - walk-up costs moreIndoorsAges 4-9

Sandcastle Waterpark

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★☆4.3(8,767)

The UK's biggest indoor waterpark, kept at tropical temperature: proper toddler pools and mini slides at one end, big flumes at the other. Rainy-day Blackpool solved.

Book online - cheaperIndoorsAges 4-11

Sea Life Blackpool

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★☆4.4(11,062)

A solid seafront aquarium with an ocean tunnel and rockpool sessions - the reliable wet-weather hour when the beach plan falls apart.

Book online - cheaperIndoorsAges 4-9