Bubbles World of Play
Billed as the UK's biggest soft play. A long drive for soft play, but it's the one that turns a rainy day into an actual event, and the seafront is right there.
West Kirby Concourse Leisure Centre
Wirral, Merseyside
The Concourse is a straightforward municipal leisure centre on Grange Road. Pool, sports hall, gym, and a cafe called Bluebells for afterwards. Nobody is driving from Warrington for it on its own.
What makes it worth listing is that West Kirby is a day out anyway, and this is where you go when the wind coming off the Dee has beaten everybody.
Prices are the standard Active Wirral rates, which went up on 1 April 2026: £3.95 for a junior, £6.45 for an adult, £17.20 for a family of four. The annoyance is the timetable, which chops public swimming into short blocks around lessons and lane sessions, and which changes between term time and the holidays.
It also does the simplest thing well, which is being open. Guinea Gap in Wallasey has had its training pool shut since June 2026 and its leisure pool since July, and Europa's old fun pool went years ago. West Kirby Concourse has kept swimming through all of it, and Active Wirral have been pointing displaced Guinea Gap swimmers here. Ring first anyway.
Know before you go
- Public swim slots are short and scattered through the day and not continuous. Look at the timetable for the actual date, and note that term time and the holidays run different ones.
- Wirral's pools have had a rough 2026 for maintenance closures, with Guinea Gap's training and leisure pools both shut over the summer, so ring 0151 606 2010 on the day if you are driving any distance. West Kirby Marine Lake and the beach are five minutes away, which makes a morning swim and an afternoon on the prom the sensible shape.
Seasonal: Term-time and holiday timetables differ. Check before travelling.
Looking for more water & swimming near Wirral?
Also in Wirral
Eureka! Science + Discovery
A hands-on science centre built precisely for this age group - walk-through lungs and a supersize brain in the new Bodies gallery, inventions to test, and the ferry stop is literally outside. Entry converts to an annual pass, which changes the maths entirely.
New Brighton Seafront
Beach, marine lake, Fort Perch Rock at the river mouth, and the driftwood Black Pearl pirate ship built from beach findings that children treat as the best playground on Merseyside. Chips on the front to finish.
Ness Botanic Gardens
University of Liverpool's gardens above the Dee estuary: family trails, a wildflower meadow, a good playground and views across to Wales. Quieter than the National Trust circuit and better value.
Wirral Country Park, Thurstaston
Britain's first country park: a clifftop path above the Dee, a beach for fossicking below, and a visitor centre with bird hides. Wild-feeling without being remote.
Church Farm
A small, friendly Wirral farm park with animal handling most days, a maize maze in late summer, and Thurstaston Common and the beach five minutes away for a two-stop day.