Whinlatter Forest
England's only true mountain forest: Gruffalo sculptures on the trail, the WildPlay adventure area, red squirrels if you are lucky, and Go Ape for older kids. Views over Derwentwater thrown in.
Lake District Wildlife Park
Keswick, Cumbria
A wildlife park just north of Keswick with meerkats, bush dogs, alpacas and a strong line in birds of prey, plus keeper talks running through the day. The flying displays are the anchor, so check the times on arrival and plan around them. Animal feed is £1 at the entrance and gets used.
Open daily 10am to 5pm with no booking needed. Adults £15.95, children £13.95, under threes free, £56 for a family of four, so it is a committed spend, with 12.5% off through summer 2026. There is indoor soft play and undercover animal feeding for wet days, which in this corner of Cumbria is not a hypothetical. Dogs are not allowed.
Paid extras run from alpaca walks to hawk walks and keeper experiences if someone is having a birthday. The osprey webcam is a quiet bonus: Bassenthwaite's ospreys nest close by.
What it costs: Adults £15.95, children £13.95, under 3s free, family of four £56. Animal feed £1.
Know before you go
- Check the bird of prey display times as you walk in and build the visit round them.
- Buy the £1 animal feed at the gate - it is the best pound of the day.
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The Puzzling Place
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.
Honister Slate Mine
A working slate mine at the top of Honister Pass with guided tours deep into the mountain, and via ferrata routes up the crag for the brave. Tours take all ages; the climbing starts at ten.
Derwent Pencil Museum
Keswick made the world's first pencils and the museum sits on the works. About an hour indoors: secret wartime pencils with maps hidden inside, and a coloured pencil close to eight metres long.
Go Ape Whinlatter
Two courses strung through England's only genuine mountain forest, above Keswick. Height is the gate here, not age: one metre for Treetop Adventure, 1.2m and a sixth birthday for Plus, which finishes on a 130 metre zip wire.
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.