The building sits over a Victorian graving dock, which gives it an unusual shape and a very deep hole at its centre.
The collections run from the Oldest Northerner and Viking and Roman finds through the railways to the shipbuilding that defined Barrow, and the galleries are laid out with families in mind instead of as a chronology to be endured.
Everything about the pricing is easy. Entry is free, parking is free for three hours, the wifi is free, and there are quizzes for children as they go round. The Bridge Cafe handles food and drink, there is a shop, and the baby changing is described as spacious, which is not a phrase museums usually bother with.
Outside there is an adventure playground, picnic tables and a walk along the historic dock where you can watch the fishing boats. Opening is Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm, closed Mondays and Tuesdays, with variations at Christmas. For a free day out in a part of Cumbria with very little else on offer, it is a good one.
What it costs: Free. The museum's own wording is that admission to the museum is free. Car parking is free for three hours. No charges are published for the playground or the cafe beyond normal cafe prices.
Tiddlers at the Dock Museum in Barrow, a free hands on group for toddlers from 18 months on the first Thursday of the month. No need to book, just turn up.
Seasonal: Closed Mondays and Tuesdays all year. Check before travelling.
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Forty-five acres of Victorian park in the middle of Barrow, with a boating lake, a miniature railway on Sunday afternoons, putting, a glasshouse and a play area. Free, and next door to the swimming pool.
Barrow's main pool has a proper leisure pool beside the 25m lanes, with a wave machine, a water slide and a Pirate Cove water play area. Pay as you go, no membership needed.
The ruins of what was England's second richest Cistercian abbey, in a wooded valley on the edge of Barrow, with a small exhibition of knights' effigies and a build-your-own-city trail for children. Book by the night before and it is 15% cheaper.
A child-sized pretend village in Barrow with eight themed pods, from a supermarket and a vets to a salon, a building site and a sensory snug. For under-8s, booked sessions only, and small on purpose.
The southern tip of Walney Island, where Cumbria's only grey seal colony hauls out and about 250 bird species have been recorded. Cheap, wild and memorable, as long as you check the tide first.
National Trust dunes and a big sandy beach at Roanhead on the Duddon estuary, with new boardwalks down to the sand and fell views. Free to walk in, small pay car park, toilets in summer only, and keep off the tidal channels.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.