The summer holidays are coming to an end, but you make the most of your child’s last week with a range of free family days out available in the UK.
It’s no wonder searches for ‘free days out for kids’ have increased by 2850% since January.
New research by Clarks analysed 5* TripAdvisor reviews to reveal the UK’s best free days out for kids – and to make life even easier they have categorised their findings into cultural, nature, historical, educational and animal themed days out – so there’s something for everyone in the family.
Top 15 free cultural days out for kids
Rank |
Town |
Name of Attraction |
No. of 5* reviews |
1 |
London |
National Gallery |
29373 |
2 |
London |
Camden Market |
17611 |
3 |
Edinburgh |
Royal Mile |
14964 |
4 |
London |
Covent Garden |
14193 |
5 |
London |
Borough Market |
9100 |
6 |
London |
Wallace Collection |
4994 |
7 |
Manchester |
The John Rylands Library |
4123 |
8 |
London |
National Portrait Gallery |
3643 |
9 |
Edinburgh |
Scottish National Gallery |
3259 |
10 |
Glasgow |
Buchanan Street |
2974 |
11 |
London |
British Library |
2587 |
12 |
London |
Tate Britain |
2463 |
13 |
Edinburgh |
Scottish National Portrait Gallery |
1712 |
14 |
Liverpool |
Walker Art Gallery |
1616 |
15 |
Liverpool |
Liverpool Central Library |
1612 |
Top 15 free nature days out for kids
Rank |
Town |
Name of Attraction |
No. of 5* reviews |
1 |
Bournemouth |
Bournemouth Beach |
5844 |
2 |
Edinburgh |
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh |
5451 |
3 |
Edinburgh |
Princes Street Gardens |
4515 |
4 |
Cardiff |
Cardiff Bay |
3599 |
5 |
London |
Kensington Gardens |
2874 |
6 |
Lincoln |
Steep Hill |
2154 |
7 |
Swansea |
Gower Peninsula |
1820 |
8 |
Bournemouth |
Hengistbury Head Beach |
1689 |
9 |
Hastings |
Old Town Hastings |
1586 |
10 |
Bournemouth |
Lower Gardens |
1313 |
11 |
Glasgow |
Glasgow Botanic Gardens |
1299 |
12 |
Poole |
Sandbanks Beach |
1257 |
13 |
Sheffield |
The Botanical Gardens |
1148 |
14 |
Sheffield |
Sheffield Winter Garden |
999 |
15 |
Belfast |
Botanic Gardens |
955 |
Top 15 free historical days out for kids
Rank |
Town |
Name of Attraction |
No. of 5* reviews |
1 |
Edinburgh |
Edinburgh Old Town |
11620 |
2 |
York |
Shambles |
9552 |
3 |
Liverpool |
Liverpool Cathedral |
6616 |
4 |
York |
York City Walls |
5811 |
5 |
Chester |
Chester City Walls |
3807 |
6 |
Edinburgh |
St Giles’ Cathedral |
3557 |
7 |
Chester |
Chester Cathedral |
3495 |
8 |
Norwich |
Norwich Cathedral |
2921 |
9 |
Gloucester |
Gloucester Cathedral |
2724 |
10 |
Worcester |
Worcester Cathedral |
2156 |
11 |
Liverpool |
Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King Liverpool |
2028 |
12 |
Glasgow |
Glasgow Cathedral |
1679 |
13 |
St. Albans |
St Albans Cathedral |
1634 |
14 |
Peterborough |
Peterborough Cathedral |
1517 |
15 |
Cambridge |
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial |
995 |
Top 15 free educational days out for kids
Rank |
Town |
Name of Attraction |
No. of 5* reviews |
1 |
London |
The British Museum |
52753 |
2 |
London |
Natural History Museum |
24540 |
3 |
London |
V&A – Victoria and Albert Museum |
23507 |
4 |
Edinburgh |
National Museum of Scotland |
15890 |
5 |
York |
National Railway Museum |
13280 |
6 |
Glasgow |
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum |
11143 |
7 |
London |
Imperial War Museums |
6650 |
8 |
Glasgow |
The Riverside Museum of Transport and Travel |
6205 |
9 |
Cardiff |
St Fagans National Museum of History |
5350 |
10 |
Manchester |
Science and Industry Museum |
4834 |
11 |
Liverpool |
Museum of Liverpool |
4605 |
12 |
Manchester |
The John Rylands Library |
4123 |
13 |
Oxford |
Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology |
4110 |
14 |
Liverpool |
Merseyside Maritime Museum |
3843 |
15 |
London |
Museum of London |
3392 |
Top 13 free animal days out for kids
Rank |
Town |
Name of Attraction |
Number of 5* reviews |
1 |
Brighton |
Devil’s Dyke National Trust |
586 |
2 |
Sutton Coldfield |
Sutton Park National Nature Reserve |
573 |
3 |
Sheffield |
Our Cow Molly Dairy Farm & Ice Cream Shop |
316 |
4 |
Lincoln |
The Natural World Centre, Whisby |
145 |
5 |
Birkenhead |
Tam O’Shanter Urban Farm |
138 |
6 |
Nottingham |
Stonebridge City Farm |
127 |
7 |
Newcastle Upon Tyne |
Ouseburn Farm |
119 |
8 |
Belfast |
Black Mountain |
116 |
9 |
Bristol |
Windmill Hill City Farm |
66 |
10 |
Weston Super Mare |
Uphill Local Nature Reserve |
66 |
11 |
Sheffield |
Heeley City Farm |
65 |
12 |
Bath |
Bath City Farm |
58 |
13 |
Bristol |
St Werburghs City Farm |
58 |
You can find supporting imagery and further data breakdowns here, including:
-
indoor and outdoor activities
-
age appropriate activities (over and under 10s)
If you would like a regional (region, county, city) breakdown, please let me know and I’d be happy to help.
Credit research by Clarks
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