Whinlatter Forest
England's only true mountain forest: the Room on the Broom trail, Gruffalo orienteering, the WildPlay trail, red squirrels if you are lucky, and Go Ape for older kids. Views over Derwentwater thrown in.
The Puzzling Place
- Cost
- Attraction tickets
- Ages
- 5 to 11
- Where
- Keswick, Cumbria
- Weather
- Works in the rain
- Booking
- Just turn up
An anti-gravity room where water runs uphill, an Ames room that shrinks the grown-ups, and a hologram gallery - cheap, indoor, and precisely one hour long, which in Keswick rain is worth its weight.
Photograph the Ames room illusions; the effect lands hardest on screen. Then back out into the town for cake, mission accomplished.
Know before you go
- Take photos in the Ames room - the size illusion only fully lands when you see it on screen.
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What visitors say
★★★★★ 4.4 across 2,039 Google reviews.
Read all 2,039 reviews on Google - filter by star rating thereFrom The Puzzling Place’s own Instagram
Short videos the venue posted itself, newest first. Each one plays from Instagram only when you tap it.
Plays from Instagram, which can set its own cookies once it loads. Or watch it on Instagram.
Also in Keswick
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.
Lake District Wildlife Park
A proper zoo day near Bassenthwaite: birds of prey flying displays, meerkats, a hand feeding zone, and indoor soft play for when the Lakes weather does its thing. No booking needed.
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.
Castlerigg Stone Circle
Thirty-eight standing stones in a field above Keswick with the fells all round. Free, open any time in daylight, and exactly the right size for children to count, run between and not get bored.
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.