Williamson Park
The Ashton Memorial dome you can see from the M6, with views across Morecambe Bay, a butterfly house, mini beasts and a good playground below it. Lancaster's best free afternoon.
Lancaster Maritime Museum
Lancaster, Lancashire
The Maritime Museum is in the old Custom House on St George's Quay, beside the Lune, plus the upper floor of the warehouse next door. You can sit in a packet boat from the Lancaster Canal, hear local fisherfolk talk about life on Morecambe Bay and learn about crossing the sands. The displays also cover the port's part in the transatlantic slave trade, which older children may have questions about.
Children are free, as are adults from the district, and everyone else pays £5. It opens from 12 to 4 on Friday to Monday and is closed Tuesday to Thursday. There is a free sensory backpack for children on the autism spectrum, with ear defenders and fiddle toys, which is worth asking for at the desk. Toilets and baby change are on the ground floor.
The Galley gift shop and grab-and-go cafe does tea, coffee, cold drinks and snacks, with seats inside and picnic tables outside in the boatyard, where dogs are welcome. Pair it with the City Museum on Market Square, which shares the free-for-children policy and opens on the same Fridays to Mondays.
What it costs: Free for under 18s, Lancaster district residents, full-time students and carers. Other adults £5 for a day ticket, £8 for a weekly multipass or £10 for an annual multipass.
Know before you go
- Opening is 12 to 4 on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday only. Arrive before noon and you will be standing on the quay.
- There is free on-street parking for up to three hours right in front of the museum, which is more than most city museums manage.
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Salt Ayre Leisure Centre
Lancaster's council leisure centre doing triple duty: Energy soft play, XHeight climbing walls and a 33m pool with a waterslide and inflatable sessions. Cheaper than the private soft play chains, and everything is under one roof for a wet day.
Crook O' Lune Picnic Site
Turner painted this view, which is worth nothing to a seven year old but does explain the crowds. A picnic site on the horseshoe bend of the Lune with tables, toilets and easy riverside walking.
Giggles Play and Adventure
Adults go in free and you only pay for the children who actually play. Giggles takes birth to ten in Lancaster Leisure Park, with the frames split by size so the crawlers are not flattened.
Ryelands Park
Forty-six acres north of the Lune with an accessible play area for under twelves, outdoor gym kit and five football pitches. Free parking, and a free junior parkrun every Sunday morning.
The Little Cobbled Village
A pretend village for under 8s on the Lune Business Park: fire station, vets, supermarket, ice cream parlour and seven more wooden play shops. Booked sessions, calm by design, and very little climbing.
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