Days out with the kids in Morecambe

Morecambe works the old way: a park, a prom, an ice cream, and the bay doing the scenery. Happy Mount Park is the anchor, a proper old-fashioned seaside park where the splash park is the summer event - book a session ahead if the forecast is good - with trampolines, adventure golf and a cafe built for the flask-and-chips crowd. The splash park is summer only; the rest of the park costs nothing all year.

The prom is the other half of the day: flat, wide, made for scooters, with the Eric Morecambe statue for the photo the grandparents will ask for. When the weather turns, Lancaster is ten minutes inland, with Salt Ayre Leisure Centre for burning energy indoors and Williamson Park's butterfly house for something gentler. Morecambe with kids is a fair-weather town, and on the right afternoon, tide in and sun on the bay, there is nowhere in Lancashire you would rather be.

Places in Morecambe

Happy Mount Park

Morecambe~1 hr 10

★★★★☆4.4(3,429)

A proper old-fashioned seaside park: the splash park is the summer draw, with trampolines, adventure golf and a cafe for the flask-and-chips crowd. Pair it with an ice cream on the prom.

Park free; splash park chargedAges 4-8

The Stone Jetty & Eric Morecambe Statue

Morecambe~1 hr 15 min

Morecambe's free seafront hour: walk the 1853 jetty past steel bird sculptures and pavement games, then get the photo at the Eric Morecambe statue on the prom. On a clear day the Lake District sits across the bay.

FreeAges 2-11

What’s on in Morecambe

5 dated events coming up, 1 of them this weekend.

Also worth the drive

Not in Morecambe, but close enough for a day out.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★☆4.3(35,528)

The big one. Nickelodeon Land covers the primary ages properly while the Big One and the wooden coasters wait for brave older kids. August queues are real; go in expecting them and it is a great day.

Wristbands - cheaper onlineAges 4-11

Blackpool Tower

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★★4.5(18,434)

The Tower Eye's glass floor 380 feet up, a proper circus that still knows how to play to kids, and the famous ballroom below for a fancy ice cream. Buy the attractions you want rather than the bundle you will not use.

Per-attraction ticketsIndoorsAges 4-11

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

Blackpool Zoo

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★★4.6(17,786)

Elephants, gorillas, giraffes and sea lions in 37 acres that are actually walkable with primary-age legs - big enough to feel like a full day, small enough that nobody ends up carried.

Book online - cheaperAges 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

Stanley Park

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★★4.6(6,085)

Blackpool's grand free option: Italian gardens, a big boating lake, one of the best playgrounds on the coast and model boats on the lake. The antidote to a wristband day.

FreeAges 4-11

WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre

Burscough~40 min

★★★★★4.7(3,181)

Otters at feeding time, flamingos, pond dipping and a canoe safari through the reeds in season. One of those places that quietly turns a nature-indifferent child into a nature child.

Day ticket - WWT members freeAges 4-11

Windmill Animal Farm

Burscough~40 min

★★★★★4.7(1,883)

A friendly hands-on farm whose star turn is the miniature railway running out across the fields. Animal handling sessions, indoor play for wet spells, and it never feels too big.

Day ticketIndoorsAges 4-8