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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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
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
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
