World Museum, Liverpool
Five floors, free, and it covers three things small children reliably love: giant dinosaurs, an aquarium and a space gallery. The best wet-weather day within half an hour.
Liverpool Aquatics Centre
Liverpool, Merseyside
The 50m tank converts into 25m deep and 25m shallow via a moveable floor, which is clever until the floor breaks. Alongside it sits a 20m pool kept at 30 degrees, three degrees warmer than the big one, and that is the difference between a nice hour and a shivering child. Depths run 0.9m to 1.5m in the small pool, so a confident seven-year-old can stand in most of it.
The money is unusually good. Under-8s swim free, a junior is £2.30 and an adult £4.60, so a parent with two small children pays £4.60 all in. A family swim covering two adults and three children is £10. You need a free Lifestyles online account to book anything, but public and adult swim sessions are turn-up-and-go within the published hours.
Two things to plan around. The moveable floor on the big pool has been faulty and the 50m/25m shallow pool has been closed until further notice, which pushes everyone into the 20m pool and its 50-swimmer cap. And the weekend hours are short: the centre runs 8am to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday, against 6.15am to 10pm on most weekdays. Check the centre page the morning you go, because individual sessions get cancelled at a day's notice.
Know before you go
- There are no flumes, no wave machine and no inflatables on a normal public session. This is a fifty metre competition tank with a small warm pool beside it. Promise a slide somewhere else.
- Check the service updates on the centre page the morning you go. The 50m/25m shallow pool has been closed with a moveable floor fault, individual public swims have been cancelled at short notice, and the 20m pool is limited to 50 swimmers per session.
- The ratios are enforced: one adult in the water per child under 4, and one adult per two children aged 4 to 7. Three under-8s and one parent will not get in.
Worth knowing: Strict ratios: one adult per child under 4, one adult per two children aged 4 to 7.
Looking for more water & swimming near Liverpool?
Also in Liverpool
Speke Hall
A Tudor hall with woodland walks, a maze and a natural play area in the grounds. Free if you have National Trust membership, and the indoor house is a good rain fallback.
Museum of Liverpool
The city's story with an overhead railway carriage to climb aboard and Little Liverpool, a dedicated hands-on gallery for under-6s. Free, on the waterfront, and the window views are half the fun.
Merseyside Maritime Museum
Closed until 2028. The Maritime and International Slavery Museums shut in early 2025 for a full redevelopment. The Albert Dock around them is still worth the walk, and the city's other national museums remain free and open.
Mersey Ferries River Explorer
The famous ferry across the Mersey run as a 50-minute sightseeing loop with commentary, and the honest truth is kids love the boat more than any museum. Hop off at Seacombe for Eureka! next door.
Calderstones Park
South Liverpool's favourite park: lake, playground, ancient trees and the Storybarn, The Reader's hands-on storytelling space in the old coach house. The neolithic Calder Stones are older than Stonehenge, which is a good fact to deploy.