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Museums in Leicester
Leicester does museums properly, and most of the good ones are within walking distance of each other. The King Richard III Visitor Centre on the Greyfriars dig site is right in the centre, adults from £12.50 with under-4s free, and Jewry Wall Museum next door has Roman bathhouse ruins with kids going free until October 2026. For something free, Leicester Museum & Art Gallery on New Walk still has dinosaurs and Ancient Egypt open even with some galleries shut for redevelopment, and the National Space Centre a short way out has a planetarium and rockets to climb through from £20. For toddlers, Watermead Country Park's Jurassic play trail and lake costs nothing. Older kids who like hands-on stuff should try the Retro Computer Museum, where they actually play the old arcade machines rather than just look. Abbey Pumping Station and Newarke Houses are free but only open limited days, so plan around that. If you fancy a longer trip out, Wollaton Hall in Nottingham pairs a dinosaur gallery with 500 acres of deer park to walk off museum legs.
26 places 2 upcoming events 13 free to visit
What's on: museums
Places for museums
FreeAbbey Pumping Station
Leicester
Industrial museum with beam engines and vintage vehicles - free entry, but only open on holiday Mondays and special event days.
ToiletsWheelchair accessibleOutdoor playPicnic area+3 more
from £12Armourgeddon Military Museum
Lutterworth · ages 8-80
A field full of tanks and military vehicles, some you can climb into, with real tank rides and driving experiences on selected days.
Accessible toiletCaféFree parkingGroup bookings+6 more
from £3Coventry Music Museum
Coventry · up to age 15
A small, music-mad museum where kids can compose in the studio and sit in a Ghost Town car, not just look at cases of guitars.
Accessible toiletCaféCard onlyCash only+2 more
from £5Derby Computer Museum
Derby · ages 4+
Kids get their hands on actual 1970s to 90s computers, from a BBC Micro they can code to a Sinclair loading games off tape.
Birthday partiesBooking required
FreeDerby Museum and Art Gallery
Derby · ages 0+
Free city museum on The Strand - Joseph Wright gallery, Royal Lancers displays and a Coffee House.
Bike parkingCaféGift shopFood on site+3 more
FreeGreat Central Railway (Nottingham)
Nottingham
Free site entry, £3 parking and a flat, buggy-friendly 25-acre site with steam trains, old buses, mini railway rides and a dog-friendly café.
Baby changeBike parkingBlue badge parkingCafé+13 more
from £12.50Jewry Wall Museum
Leicester
Roman bathhouse ruins and interactive museum on St Nicholas Circle - adults from £12.50, kids free through Oct 2026.
ToiletsWheelchair accessibleGift shopBooking required+3 more
from £12.50King Richard III Visitor Centre
Leicester
Museum on the Greyfriars dig site telling Richard III's story - adults from £12.50, under-4s free.
CaféGift shopWheelchair accessibleToilets+1 more
Lakeside Arts
Nottingham
Family theatre shows with puppetry, live music and storytelling at the University of Nottingham's arts centre by the lake.
Birthday partiesCaféFree parkingGift shop+11 more
FreeLeicester Guildhall
Leicester
Free 600-year-old timber Guildhall with medieval galleries and a family quest - open daily near the Cathedral.
ToiletsWheelchair accessibleGift shop
FreeLeicester Museum & Art Gallery
Leicester
Free museum on New Walk with dinosaurs, Ancient Egypt and Leicester Stories - some galleries shut for redevelopment.
Blue badge parkingGroup bookingsLockersPicnic area+4 more
from £5.95Midland Air Museum
Coventry · ages 5-15
Wander among historic aircraft outdoors and climb into cockpits like the Vulcan bomber's.
Blue badge parkingCaféDog friendlyFree parking+1 more
FreeMuseum of Making
Derby · ages 0+
Free entry to a museum built on Derby's 300 years of making, with workshops and maker spaces to poke around in.
Bike parkingBlue badge parkingCaféGift shop+3 more
from £5National Fairground Museum Statfold
Tamworth
Vintage fairground rides, a heritage railway and a soft play barn on one site near Tamworth, plus mini golf outdoors.
Accessible toiletAllergy awareBaby changeBirthday parties+12 more
Coming soonNational Gas Museum
Leicester
Free gas-history museum with 500+ exhibits - temporarily closed until 13 October 2026 for maintenance works.
ToiletsFree parkingBike parking
from £11.50National Justice Museum
Nottingham
A Georgian gaol and Victorian courtroom where actors re-enact real trials and executions, daily.
Accessible toiletBirthday partiesBooking requiredCafé+6 more
from £20National Space Centre
Leicester · ages 0+
A planetarium show, rockets to climb through and hands-on galleries about space, all under one roof in Leicester.
Booking requiredCaféGift shopParking+8 more
FreeNewarke Houses Museum
Leicester
Free social-history museum with toys, a 1950s street and gardens - limited Saturday and holiday opening, so check dates.
School visitsGroup bookingsPicnic areaLockers
FreeNottingham Industrial Museum
Nottingham
Volunteer-run heritage museum in Wollaton Hall's stables, free entry for accompanied kids, five hands-on galleries, and monthly Steaming Days when the engines actually run.
CaféGift shopGroup bookingsFood on site+2 more
FreePickford's House
Derby · ages 0+
Free Georgian townhouse museum on Friar Gate - rooms, toys and a garden shop, Tue-Sat 10-5.
Bike parkingFree parkingGift shopParking+2 more
from £5Retro Computer Museum
Leicester
A hands-on trip through gaming history where the kids actually play the old Spectrums, Commodores and arcade machines rather than just look at them.
Booking requiredFree parkingGift shopFood on site+2 more
FreeSnibston Colliery
Coalville
Former-miner surface tours plus the Into the Dark coalface simulation - no real underground, but a proper Leicestershire pit day out.
ParkingBlue badge parkingEV chargingCafé+7 more
FreeTriumph Factory Visitor Experience
Hinckley
A free 90-minute tour round a working motorcycle factory, plus an exhibition on Triumph's history.
Booking requiredCafé
FreeWatermead Country Park
Leicester
Free country park with a Jurassic play trail, a lake full of birds and meadows thick with dragonflies.
Accessible toiletBlue badge parkingDog friendlyOutdoor play+3 more
from £18Wollaton Hall & Deer Park
Nottingham · ages 0-15
A dinosaur gallery inside a Grade I mansion, plus 500 acres of deer park to walk off the museum legs.
Baby changeBlue badge parkingBottle warmingBreastfeeding friendly+13 more
from £7.13Woolsthorpe Manor
Grantham · ages 5-17
The actual house where Newton watched an apple fall and split light with a prism, plus a hands-on science centre in the grounds.
ToiletsCaféGift shopParking
Good to know: museums in Leicester
Are any of them free?
Yes, Abbey Pumping Station, Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Great Central Railway (Nottingham), Leicester Guildhall and 9 more are free to visit.
What does a paid visit cost?
Paid entry starts from £3 at Coventry Music Museum. Prices, ages and facilities are listed on every place page, taken from each venue's own published price list.
Whereabouts are they?
You'll find museums in Leicester, Lutterworth, Coventry, Derby, Nottingham and 4 more. Every place we list is in or around Leicester, and each listing has the full address and directions.
More ways to plan a day out
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