Walby Farm Park
Cumbria's big family farm park: animal handling, giant jumping pillows, pedal go-karts and an indoor play barn big enough to lose a wet afternoon in. The far-north option when you are up that way.
Carlisle Castle
Carlisle, Cumbria
This is the other kind of castle: no towers-and-turrets prettiness, just a massive red sandstone fortress that spent 900 years being besieged, garrisoned and fought over on the Scottish border. Kids get a proper keep to climb, ramparts to patrol and Queen Mary's Tower, where Mary Queen of Scots was held. Cumbria's Museum of Military Life sits inside the walls and is included in the ticket.
It opens daily 10am to 5pm through the main season, dropping to weekends in winter. Adults are £14.50 and children £7.20, which stings a bit for what is half a morning, so book online the day before for the 15% saving, or treat it as the anchor of a Carlisle day with Tullie five minutes' walk away.
The bit that sticks: the carvings scratched into the keep's second floor in the 1480s, mermaids and beasts cut by bored medieval hands. There is usually a family trail running too, and the walls give you the best view in Carlisle.
What it costs: Adults £14.50, children 5 to 17 £7.20, under-5s free, with about 15% off if you book online by midnight the day before. English Heritage members free, including the Museum of Military Life.
Know before you go
- Winter opening drops to weekends only outside school holidays, so check days before setting off between November and late March.
- Do the keep first while legs are fresh - the 15th-century prisoners' carvings are on its second floor, and the spiral stairs are easier going up than down with tired children.
Looking for more museums & science near Carlisle?
What visitors say
★★★★★ 4.4 across 4,723 Google reviews.
Read all 4,723 reviews on Google - filter by star rating thereAlso in Carlisle
Tullie
Carlisle's museum, plain Tullie since the rebrand, mid-transformation and all the better for it: under-18s go free, the adult ticket is £8.50, and £16 buys an annual pass. New galleries opened in 2025, though some of the old favourites are shut for the next phase.
Bitts Park
Carlisle's big riverside park, right under the castle walls: a large play area for all ages, a free splash park in the warmer months, skate park and acres of grass where the Eden and Caldew meet. The obvious free half of a Carlisle day.
Solway Aviation Museum
A genuine Avro Vulcan and a line of Cold War aircraft parked on the apron at Carlisle Airport, with volunteers who open them up and let children climb inside. Canberra, Sea Prince and Trident stay open all year.
Hammond's Pond
Carlisle's south side park, with free parking on two sides, play zones, a brand new concrete skatepark, a games court and a seasonal cafe. A miniature railway runs Sunday afternoons from Easter to October.
Watchtree Nature Reserve
205 accessible acres on the Solway plain six miles out of Carlisle, free to enter and free to park, with a coffee shop, wildlife hides and over a hundred hire bikes suitable for all abilities.
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.