9 places in Windermere & Bowness, Cumbria, 3 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
Windermere the town sits a mile uphill from Windermere the lake, and the first thing worth doing costs nothing. Orrest Head is the short climb from behind the station that gave Wainwright his first sight of the fells, twenty minutes up on a decent path, and primary-age legs manage it fine with the promise of cake on the way down.
Down the hill at Bowness, The World of Beatrix Potter covers the under-sixes and the lake cruises turn a ferry into an event. Brockhole on Windermere is where local families actually go: free to enter, lakeside grounds, Zip World's treetop nets and Minty Land's indoor play, paying only for the activities you pick, though BeWILDerwood is still rebuilding the site so expect changes. Days out in Windermere with kids divide into up for the view and down for the water. Do the hill first, while the legs are fresh.
The old national park visitor centre on the Windermere shore, now run by BeWILDerwood and still mid-makeover. The grounds are free to wander; Minty Land indoor play, Zip World's treetop courses, Wild Bounce and the lake cruises are the paid extras.
Ten acres of fellside garden looking down over Windermere, run by the Lakeland Horticultural Society: terraces, a walled garden, glasshouses and children's trails. No fixed entry price and children go free.
The classic first family fell: a short climb from Windermere village to a proper summit with the whole lake and the high fells laid out below. A surfaced accessible path now runs all the way up, though it is still a real 120-metre climb, not a stroll.
A new woodland-themed adventure golf course at Troutbeck Bridge, just outside Windermere, with little animal characters to spot round the holes and a golf-and-swim family deal with the health club pool next door.
BeWILDerwood's first indoor play centre, opened at Brockhole in July 2026: tree-top tunnels, river rapids and magic mirrors in the world of Minty the Crocklebog. Timed slots, and a proper wet-day answer on the Windermere shore.
Peter Rabbit's world recreated in walk-through scenes, ending in the garden with Mr McGregor's vegetables. Squarely for the under-8s; it is small, sweet and unashamed of it.
Lakeland Arts keeps Windermere's historic boats floating under cover in a wet dock on the Bowness lakeshore, so children see them in water and not propped on stands.
England's biggest lake from the deck of a proper boat, on colour-coded routes from the 45-minute Islands cruise out of Bowness to the Yellow run down to Lakeside. Combo tickets pair it with the aquarium, the steam railway or the motor museum.
Giant bouncy nets, slides and walkways strung through the trees at Brockhole, with a one-hour Treetot Nets session for the under-sixes and harnessed Treks for older kids. Good fun, but Brockhole parking is charged on top.
7 dated events coming up, 2 of them this weekend.
A Halloween trail through the Brockhole woods with six character stations to find. Collect a letter at each one, work out the secret word and claim a Halloween gift bag (colouring book, crayons, a snap band and a maze book) back at Minty Land. Built for 2 to 8 year olds at £3 a child.
Half term crafts at Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts house above Windermere: tissue paper flowers every day and stamp making on 29 October. Included with house admission.
Come along and enjoy our weekly Lego Club for ages 5+.
Runs on 8 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Children write a letter to Father Christmas and post it in the Peter Rabbit post box, then make a bag of reindeer food to scatter on Christmas Eve.
A 50 minute Christmas show followed by a meet and greet with Santa, with a free gift for every child. Recommended for 3 and up. You can add the attraction or a festive afternoon tea, but the show-only ticket is the sensible buy if you have already done the Peter Rabbit rooms.
Not in Windermere & Bowness, but close enough for a day out.
A small, well-done aquarium at the quiet end of Windermere with an underwater tunnel walk beneath the lake's own fish, plus otters and rays. Pairs naturally with the steam railway next door.
A short, perfectly-formed steam line through the Leven valley that connects with the Windermere boats at Lakeside. Do train plus cruise and you have built the classic Lakes day without a single car park argument.
Thousands of vehicles and period pieces packed into a riverside mill, with the Campbell Bluebird story told properly in its own gallery. One for kids who like machines; a surprisingly good wet-weather card.
England's only true mountain forest: the Room on the Broom trail, Gruffalo orienteering, the WildPlay trail, red squirrels if you are lucky, and Go Ape for older kids. Views over Derwentwater thrown in.
An anti-gravity room where water appears to run uphill, a hologram gallery and a room that shrinks the grown-ups. Cheap, indoor, and exactly the right length for the age group.
Sculptures hidden through the trees turn a forest walk into a treasure hunt, with trails from buggy-flat to proper leg-stretch and Go Ape overhead. Between Windermere and Coniston, and quieter than both.
A lived-in castle above the Esk with a Hawk and Owl Centre whose flying displays are the real event, gardens to roam and a healthy line in ghost stories for the brave. Far, but it earns the drive.
Miniature steam engines - properly miniature, knee-high to a real train - hauling open carriages seven miles into the fells. Forty minutes of pure delight each way; combine with Muncaster next door.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.