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.
Museum of Liverpool
Liverpool, Merseyside
The city's story told with a carriage from the old Overhead Railway to climb into and Little Liverpool - a dedicated hands-on gallery for under-6s that most museums would charge for. Free, on the Pier Head, with ferries passing the windows.
Little Liverpool runs timed sessions when busy - claim a slot on arrival, do the big galleries between. The window seats at the top are the city's best free view.
It earns its place on the waterfront walk: free, pram-friendly, and the big windows framing the Three Graces are half the museum's point. The Overhead Railway carriage downstairs is the exhibit that lands hardest with under-tens, partly because you can climb aboard it, and partly because the film beside it shows the city from a line that no longer exists.
Families posting about it this month keep saying the same two things: they came in for an hour because it was free, and stayed the morning. Little Liverpool, the under-sixes gallery, is the reason. Treat its timed tickets like gold on wet days.
Looking for more museums & science near Liverpool?
What visitors say
★★★★★ 4.6 across 11,856 Google reviews.
Read all 11,856 reviews on Google - filter by star rating thereThe word this month
What people are actually posting about this place. Checked 2 August; videos play from the creator’s own account.
@familydaydiaries Looking for things to do in Liverpool with the kids? From the Museum of Liverpool to Splash Tours and the LFC Stadium Tour - these are always a hit with us.
“Visited the Museum of Liverpool and I loved it. It's free and worth it.”
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.
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.
Croxteth Hall & Home Farm
A working Edwardian estate farm with rare breeds, a walled garden and 500 acres of free country park around it. The farm entry is cheap and the pigs are enormous.
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