Zip World Manchester
The cheapest real activity anyone is recommending this summer, and it's indoors. An hour of play for a fiver a head, with picnic benches for when you need to sit down.
Sea Life Manchester
Trafford, Greater Manchester
A compact aquarium with an ocean tunnel, rays, seahorses and touch-pool sessions, scaled so smaller children finish it before fatigue sets in.
It shares a wall with Legoland Discovery and the combo ticket is cheaper than two singles - the obvious double-header for a wet Trafford day.
Know before you go
- The rockpool touch sessions run through the day - ask for times at the desk.
Looking for more water & swimming near Trafford?
Also in Trafford
Legoland Discovery Centre
Two rides, a 4D cinema, build zones and Manchester's skyline done in miniature bricks. Squarely aimed at 3 to 10, and it knows it: adults can only visit with a child.
The Snow Centre Manchester
Real snow all year round at the venue Manchester still calls Chill Factore. Little ones get the Snow Park with sledging and slides; older kids can learn to ski or board on the UK's longest indoor slope.
Play Factore
One of the biggest soft play arenas in Europe: a vast frame, go-karts, laser tag and a zip wire that crosses the entire building. Older primary kids do not age out of this one.
Dunham Massey
A Georgian house in a deer park where the fallow deer wander right past you. This summer's Play Hub adds giant games and den building in the North Park, and the winter garden is the area's best cold-day walk.
Manchester United Museum & Stadium Tour
The full Old Trafford works: three floors of museum, then the players' tunnel, both dressing rooms and the dugouts on a 70 minute guided tour. Plan around the fixture list, because it all shuts on home match days.