Happy Mount Park
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.
Days out with the kids in Morecambe
4 places in Morecambe, Lancashire, 3 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
4 in Morecambe3 free1 indoor
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
Heysham Coast and St Patrick's Chapel
Eight body shaped graves cut straight into the rock beside a ruined eighth century chapel, on a National Trust headland above Morecambe Bay. Free, but the paths are steep and cobbled and no friend of a pushchair.
The Stone Jetty & Eric Morecambe Statue
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.
Jump Rush
Morecambe's trampoline park, just off the prom: over 100 trampolines, an airbag, a 6 metre inflatable tower and a small soft play for under 4s. The prom's rainy-day plan B.
What’s on in Morecambe
7 dated events coming up, 1 of them this weekend.
Halloween parties at Happy Mount Park
Happy Mount Park Cafe, Morecambe
until 1 Nov. Sun 25 Oct, Wed 28 Oct, Sat 31 Oct and Sun 1 Nov
Four not-too-scary Halloween parties run by the park cafe: a K-Pop Demon Hunters party (Sun 25 Oct, 2 to 4, £13.50), a Friendly Witch show for toddlers (Wed 28 Oct, 2 to 4, £12.50), Wizardry and Dragons with party food (Sat 31 Oct, 11 to 1, £13) and a Wicked-themed party (Sun 1 Nov, 2 to 4, £15). Most let one adult in free with each child and are capped at 30 children, so book early.
Written by us
Youth Group (opens on St James)
St James · Morecambe
2 Nov. Monday 2 November, 5.30pm
Meet weekly during term time on a Monday.
Listed by St James · collected 1 Nov
North Lancashire Wildlife Group - Birds, Beasts and Bugs of the Bog (opens on Lancashire Wildlife Trust)
Lancashire Wildlife Trust · Morecambe
13 Nov. Friday 13 November, 7.30pm
This entertaining talk on Foulshaw Moss will introduce you to an amazing array of wildlife and explain why peat bogs are so vital.
Listed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust · collected 1 Nov
Christmas parties at Happy Mount Park
Happy Mount Park Cafe, Morecambe
6 Dec to 13 Dec. Sun 6 Dec and Sun 13 Dec
Two Sunday morning character parties at the park cafe: Elf on the Shelf and Jingle the Elf on 6 December, 10 to 11.30, and Elsa and Olaf on 13 December, 10 to 11.30. Both have games, music and treats, a visit from Santa and a book from him for every child. There is also a short Elf on the Shelf meet and greet at 12 on the 6th, in two 20-minute sessions. Prices were not on the pages or the booking pages when we checked.
Written by us
North Lancashire Wildlife Group - Christmas Wildlife Quiz and Jacob's Join (opens on Lancashire Wildlife Trust)
Lancashire Wildlife Trust · Morecambe
11 Dec. Friday 11 December, 7.30pm
Very easy-going Xmas Wildlife Quiz and photos of the year slideshows.
Listed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust · collected 1 Nov
North Lancashire Wildlife Group - Swimming against the Current? (opens on Lancashire Wildlife Trust)
Lancashire Wildlife Trust · Morecambe
8 Jan. Friday 8 January, 7.30pm
This talk will focus on the Salmon's life cycle, their dangerous journey including a brief history of the changing River Lune and the future
Listed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust · collected 1 Nov
Also worth the drive
Not in Morecambe, but close enough for a day out.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
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.
Blackpool Tower
Tower Top'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.
Sandcastle Waterpark
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.
Blackpool Zoo
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.
Sea Life Blackpool
A solid seafront aquarium with an ocean tunnel and rockpool sessions - the reliable wet-weather hour when the beach plan falls apart.
Stanley Park
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.
WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre
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.
Windmill Animal Farm
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.
What’s on near you, every Friday
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.