Rainy day ideas

Indoor activities

Find indoor activities for half term holidays, bank holiday weekends, seaside escapes and city breaks. Take your pick from indoor attractions and such as free museums and other indoor attractions such as aquariums and galleries, or if you’re feeling braver, there are climbing centres, underground caverns and cycle velodromes. You can tour television studios and explore living history heritage attractions, or even whet your whistle on a brewery tour. Whatever you fancy doing, England is packed with indoor activities and things to do on a rainy day.

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The domes of the Eden Project at night

Discover Cornwall's Eden Project

Five biomes nestled under five giant bubbles in the hills of Cornwall make for one of Britain's most impressive indoor eco-attractions.

Location: St Austell, Cornwall

Rainy Day Activities: Uncover underwater secrets at Blue Planet Aquarium

Discover clown fish, reef magic, giant octopus and plenty more indoor activities as you immerse in this underwater world.

Location: Ellesmere Port, Cheshire

Get on board at the National Railway Museum

The world's largest railway museum is home to a staggering collection of restored locomotives, including the fastest steam engine of all time.

Location: York, North Yorkshire

Rainy Day Activities: Step back in time at York Castle Museum

Travel back in time on a rainy day at this trend-setting museum, which transports visitors back through 300 years of history.

Location: York, North Yorkshire

Rainy Day Activities: Embark on an expedition into Cheddar Gorge

This ultimate indoor activity will have you venture deep into the famous caves at Cheddar to see where the Cheddar Man, Britain's oldest skeleton, was discovered.

Location: Cheddar, Somerset

Little girl inside astronaut costume at the National Space Centre

Blast off to the National Space Centre

From astronauts to rocket towers, satellites and meteorites, there is plenty of space to explore at this fun, family-friendly attraction.

Location: Leicester, Leicestershire

Rainy Day Activities: Explore history at Winchester’s Military Museums

Broaden your knowledge of the British Army and the various battles fought throughout history at Winchester’s six Military Museums.

Location: Winchester, Hampshire

Rainy Day Activities: Get spooked in the Blackpool Tower Dungeon

Tales of Lancashire's dark history and scary stories galore lay ready and waiting in Blackpool's spookiest indoor attraction, the Blackpool Tower Dungeon.

Location: Blackpool, Lancashire

Rainy Day Activities: Be an engine driver for the day at STEAM

Try your hand at changing the signals, drive a model steam engine and walk under an 80 ton train at STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway.

Location: Swindon, Wiltshire

Visit Europe's largest library

The Library of Birmingham houses a million printed volumes, the largest number held by any public library in the UK.

Location: Birmingham, West Midlands

Rainy Day Activities: Watch films in style at The Electric Birmingham

Lounge on a sofa with a drink in hand and watch the latest blockbusters at the UK's oldest working cinema.

Location: Birmingham, West Midlands

Rainy Day Activities: Find out what lies beneath Exeter

Escape the rain to explore Exeter’s Underground Passages and the Royal Albert Memorial Museum - ideal indoor attractions for a drizzly day.

Location: Exeter, Devon

Rainy Day Activities: Catch a show at award-winning kids’ theatre, the egg

Looking for something to do when it rains that'll keep the kids entertained and adults smiling? Try a show or creative workshop at the egg.

Location: Bath, Somerset

Rainy Day Activities: Scale the walls of Exeter’s Quay Climbing Centre

With over 200 climbing lines, training walls and an abseil tower, there are plenty of indoor activities to suit everyone.

Location: Exeter, Devon

Rainy Day Activities: Visit the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford

All the great civilizations of the world are represented in the Ashmolean Museum’s collections; escape the rain for a whole day, or pop in for five minutes for a quick browse.

Location: Oxford, Oxfordshire

Create your own goodies at The Chocolate Factory Hawkshead

Take the family on a sweet adventure with a hands-on experience at the Lake District's own Chocolate Factory.

Location: Hawkshead, Cumbria

Meet the Romans at Wroxeter Roman City

See the city that the Romans built for us - once the fourth largest city in Roman Britain.

Location: Wroxeter, Shropshire

Stand astride the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory Greenwich

Stand with one foot in the east and one in the west and feel on top of the world at this historic observatory.

Location: Greenwich, London

Rainy Day Activities: Sunderland Museum

Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens is a great place for the whole family to spend the day – and it’s free.

Location: Sunderland, Tyne and Wear

Rainy Day Activities: Uncover underwater life at the National Marine Aquarium

Need a rainy day idea? Visit the UK's largest aquarium to be amazed at its fascinating underwater world, and learn how we all play a part in conserving it.

Location: Plymouth, Devon

A family watching chocolate being made at Cadbury World, Birmingham.

Go chocolate crazy at Cadbury World

A must-visit destination for chocoholics of all ages, Cadbury World in Bourneville near Birmingham is full of fun indoor activities and things to do when it rains.

Location: Birmingham, West Midlands

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