CATEGORY · RAINY DAY APPROVED

Caves, Mines & Underground in Coventry

Nothing underground sits inside Coventry itself, so this is a spread of longer trips depending on what your family fancies. Lapworth Museum of Geology in Birmingham is free, indoor and needs no booking, a solid wet-day choice with fossils and rocks laid out on the university campus. A longer trip out to Coalville gets you Snibston Colliery, where former miners run surface tours and the Into the Dark coalface simulation gives a feel for the pit without going properly underground. Out at Dudley, Wren's Nest has free trails where you might spot the Dudley Bug on a guided fossil hunt. For toddlers and pushchairs, Lapworth and Wren's Nest are both step-free and easy going. For older children keen on something more atmospheric, Glenfield Tunnel in Leicester runs seasonal guided walks into a real 1829 railway tunnel, free with a donation, though you do need to book through LIHS. Drakelow Tunnels Museum, a longer trip out to Kidderminster, takes you through genuine WWII and Cold War tunnels and rock houses, also booking required. Free options are easy to find here; it is the booked, guided ones that need planning ahead.

✓ 5 places✦ 4 free to visit