Holker is a Victorian-rebuilt stately home on the Cartmel peninsula, with 25 acres of formal and woodland gardens and a deer park where fallow deer graze across the grounds towards Morecambe Bay. The reason it earns its place here is simple: children under 12 get in free, so a garden day costs two adult tickets.
This is not a playground day, and the house rules are firm about ball games and bikes, so this is a walking, deer-spotting, duck-watching sort of day. The East Indian Cayuga ducks by the fountain are reliable. The deer park is open March to October, and the hall itself opens 11am to 3.30pm if you want to see the rooms. Parking is free.
The estate runs a full seasonal calendar, from Halloween crafts and a ghostly garden trail at the end of October to a winter market in early November and a Christmas grotto in December.
What it costs: Hall and gardens: adult £15.95. Gardens only: adult £11.95. Children under 12 free. Free parking. Seasonal events such as Halloween and the Christmas grotto are ticketed separately.
Storyteller Laureate Taffy Thomas tells winter tales in the library at Holker Hall, folk stories and Christmas traditions for all ages. Two days only. Session times are given when you book.
An elf welcome, festive crafts, a treasure hunt round the formal gardens and Father Christmas in the library with a gift, plus free hot chocolate and mulled wine and 10% off in the Courtyard Cafe. Only five dates and limited tickets, which Holker says are likely to sell out, and they are not on sale yet.
Seasonal: March to December, Wednesday to Sunday. Check before travelling.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.