The Dock Museum
Built over a Victorian graving dock, with collections running from Vikings and Romans to the shipbuilding that made Barrow. Free entry, free parking, and an adventure playground outside.
South Walney Nature Reserve
Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
South Walney is the southern tip of Walney Island and the only place in Cumbria where grey seals haul out. You watch them from the marked paths and the hides rather than the beach, which is closed to protect the pups, so a pair of binoculars turns a good trip into a great one.
It is a Cumbria Wildlife Trust reserve, open daily from 10am to 5pm (4pm in winter), with toilets, picnic areas and a visitor cabin open Friday to Monday. Non-members pay £3 an adult and £1 a child. Around 250 bird species have been recorded, from nesting eider ducks and terns in summer to big wader flocks in autumn and wildfowl in winter.
The one thing to plan round is the sea. On the highest tides the access road floods, so look at the tide times before you leave Barrow, not when you reach the water.
What it costs: Non-members £3 an adult and £1 a child; Cumbria Wildlife Trust members free. On-site car park.
Know before you go
- Check the tide table. On very high tides (above 10.5m) and in stormy weather the access road can flood and be impassable.
- Only assistance dogs are allowed, and the beach where the seals haul out is strictly off limits, so bring binoculars. The seals are easiest to see around high tide.
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Barrow Park
Forty-five acres of Victorian park in the middle of Barrow, with a boating lake, a miniature railway on Sunday afternoons, putting, a glasshouse and a play area. Free, and next door to the swimming pool.
Barrow Park Leisure Centre
Barrow's main pool has a proper leisure pool beside the 25m lanes, with a wave machine, a water slide and a Pirate Cove water play area. Pay as you go, no membership needed.
Furness Abbey
The ruins of what was England's second richest Cistercian abbey, in a wooded valley on the edge of Barrow, with a small exhibition of knights' effigies and a build-your-own-city trail for children. Book by the night before and it is 15% cheaper.
Mini and Me Role Play Village
A child-sized pretend village in Barrow with eight themed pods, from a supermarket and a vets to a salon, a building site and a sensory snug. For under-8s, booked sessions only, and small on purpose.
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.