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
- Cost
- Family ticket £40.90 on the day, less booked ahead
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Where
- Carlisle, Cumbria
- Weather
- Mostly outdoors
- Booking
- Book online - 15% cheaper
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 is currently open daily 10am to 5pm, last entry 4.30pm. On the day an adult is £16.30 and a child £8.10, which stings a bit for what is half a morning, so book online by midnight the day before for the 15% saving, or come by train or bus for 20% off at the gate. 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. The World Builder family trail runs round the site, and the walls give you the best view in Carlisle.
What it costs: On the day, without donation: adult £16.30, child (5 to 17) £8.10, family (two adults and up to three children) £40.90; with donation £18, £9 and £45. Booked online by midnight the day before: adult £13.85, child £6.88, family £34.76 without donation. Under 5s and English Heritage members free. Prices change with the season, so check the booking calendar. Includes Cumbria's Museum of Military Life. Arriving by train, bus or bike gets 20% off a walk-up ticket.
Know before you go
- Opening days can change in winter, so check the booking calendar on the English Heritage page before setting off between November and 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.
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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. The Vulcan shuts for the November Sunday openings; the Canberra, Sea Prince and Trident stay open.
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.
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