Rheged sits on the A66 a short drive from junction 40 of the M6, which makes it the obvious halfway stop on the way to Keswick or the northern Lakes. For children the draw is the indoor play: three racing slides, climbing walls, ladders, a nest-like den on the top level and a separate area for smaller ones, all for £5 a child. It is aimed at under 8s, or anyone up to 4ft 6in.
Beyond the play there is a giant-screen cinema showing new releases, a cafe open 9 to 5 with a children's menu, a toy shop and the Making Space workshop, where children from two can decopatch a papier mache model. The 250-space car park is free for five hours. It is open every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and the regular Penrith to Keswick buses stop outside. The old outdoor play area has closed for good, so this is an indoor visit.
What it costs: Indoor play £5 for children 1 to 8, £2.50 for under 1s. Decopatch at Making Space is bookable separately, age 2+. Trick or Treat Cartoon Circus on 25 October 2026 is £10 a person.
A one-hour live Cinderella from Gary Starr Creative in the dead days between Christmas and New Year: Ugly Sisters, Buttons, a Fairy Godmother and plenty of shouting back. Short enough for small children.
Worth knowing: Indoor play up to age 8 or 4ft 6in.
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Come for the playground. The Lost Castle is turrets, tunnels, drop slides and zip wires, built in the grounds of a vast roofless ruin near Penrith and billed as one of the UK's largest adventure playgrounds.
A free park opposite Penrith station with a genuine castle ruin in it, plus a play area, tennis, bowls, a putting green and an obstacle golf course at a pound or two an hour. Toilets on site, and a kiosk in the summer months.
A 65ft waterfall in National Trust woodland above Ullswater, about a mile there and back from the car park. Tea room, toilets and a picnic area. Parking is £7 for two hours and free for members.
Penrith's leisure centre does the full rainy-day stack under one roof: Jungle Jacks soft play, a 25m pool and learner pool, a climbing wall and a Saturday inflatable. Not glamorous, very useful.
Heritage boats on Ullswater between Glenridding, Howtown and Pooley Bridge, running 363 days a year. A full lap is dear for a family; a single leg plus the lakeshore walk back is the better deal.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.