Set on a huge complex on the southern shore of Lake Windermere, this excellent attraction lets you climb into a virtual dive bell to meet hippos, bull sharks and crocodiles, watch diving ducks plunge from an underwater tunnel and meet googly-eyed baby cod and infant lobsters in the Leven Estuary sea creatures’ nursery. Outside, you can catch a steam train through lush Lakeland scenery to pretty the hamlet of Haverthwaite.
Newby Bridge, Cumbria (01539 530153; www.lakesaquarium.co.uk)
Adults £8.95, 3-15s £5.95
You can beat your phobia with a snake-handling session or hand-feed a giraffe at South Lakes, but our personal stand-out favourite was watching an Amur tiger race up a six-foot pole to grab a chunk of meat. Other highlights include apes, rhinos, bears, vultures, lions and other animals you wouldn’t expect to see in the Lakes.
Broughton Road, Dalton-in-Furness (01229 466086; www.wildanimalpark.co.uk)
Adults £11.50, 3-15 £8. From May 29-June 6, kids bringing teddy bears get in free (but bears pay £2) and can join in the Teddy Bear’s Picnic event to raise money for the Spectacled Bear Conservation Project.
How could we resist an attraction which invites you to SEE THE WORLD’S LARGEST PENCIL? We entered the museum through a pretend graphite mine, and once inside, we also found it boasted a “Secret Wartime Pencil”, which was clandestinely manufactured by the British government with a hidden compass and map inside it to help Allied pilots in the Second World War. There’s also a monthly drawing competition. A quirky hit.
Southey Works, Main Street, Keswick, Cumbria (017687 73626, www.pencilmuseum.co.uk)
Adults £3.25, under-16s £1.75
Lift a Mini with your little finger, hold your nose through a Victorian sewer and blow your kids’ minds showing them the world’s first (enormous) computer. This hugely hands-on museum imaginatively charts the industrial and scientific progress that put Manchester at the vanguard of the industrial revolution. Great fun for all ages.
Liverpool Road, Castlefield, Manchester (0161 8322244; www.mosi.org.uk)
Free entry
Kids get their own audio guides and wander through 18 Fab Four scenes including a Hamburg stage, the Abbey Road studio and The Cavern (cue our two children crazy-dancing to “Twist and Shout”). Halfway through, a black and white TV screen depicts tearful, pubescent girls screaming as John and co get off a plane, at which our cynical 21st century teenage nephew snorted in amazement. The final space, John’s White Room, with just his ivory baby grand piano in it, shows a sign saying “This is not here”. Try explaining that to the younger members of your party.
Jump into this bright yellow amphibious landing craft and take a one-hour guided tour around Liverpool centre and the waterfront before splashing down into the Salthouse Dock. (Don’t make the mistake, though, of absentmindedly assuming that it is a submarine, and then panicking when you realise the windows are canvas flaps held down with Velcro). The child-friendly commentary makes this a must-do.
Anchor Courtyard, Britannia Pavillion, Albert Dock, Liverpool (0151 7087799; www.theyellowduckmarine.co.uk)
Adults £9.95-£11.95 (depending on season), children £7.95-£9.95
Some of the exhibits here were so mind-bending (a six-legged lamb, a flute made from human bones, etc) that we were still fielding questions about them from five-year-old Phoebe hours later on the M6. See a replica of the tallest man in the world, watch someone write in different languages simultaneously with their fingers and toes and study the two-headed calf. What’s not to like?
Ocean Boulevard, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool (01253 341 033; www.ripleysblackpool.com)
Adults £8, children £5
Yes, the views from the top of the Tower over the Lakes and Wales are great, but the main reason for coming here is the circus nestling between its ornate feet – it's the best we’ve seen. The act is a tribute to the circus’ 115 years existence and incorporates old school high-wire, juggling and clown acts through to BMX and skate boarding stunts, a flying space rocket act and a fabulous finale that sees the ring transformed James Bond style into a pool. Really, really good fun.
Promenade, Blackpool (01253 622242; www.blackpooltower.co.uk)
Adults £15.20 (online-only price) £17 on door, children £14.
The whimsical tales of the famous children’s author are brought to life here in an indoor recreation of her Lakeland world. Kids meet Mrs Tiggiewinkle in her kitchen, Peter Rabbit scampering through Mr Macgregor’s garden and Jemima Puddleduck in her woodland glade. Go early as it’s often very busy.
The Old Laundry, Crag Brow, Bowness-on-Windermere (01539 488444; www.hop-skip-jump.com)
Adults £6.75, children £3.50
Small Liverpool fans will love the hugely entertaining Scouse guides who lead visitors around one of England’s most famous football grounds. Highlights include posing for snaps in the changing rooms next to Fernando Torres’s shirt, sitting in manager Rafa Benitez’s seat in the dugout and hearing about trade secrets such as playing the sound of the Liverpool crowd roaring in the tunnel ten minutes before every game to spook the opposition. A bonding extravaganza for dads and sons.
Liverpool Football Club, Anfield Road, Liverpool (0151 263 2361; www.anfield-online.co.uk)
Adults £10 (museum and tour), children £6
England With Your Family” by Ben Hatch and Dinah Hatch, published by John Wiley & Sons, is available from Telegraph Books for £11.99 plus £1.25 p&p. ISBN: 9780470721681
