Museums in Nottingham

Abbey 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

Creswell Crags

Worksop

A limestone gorge, Ice Age caves and rock art to hunt out, with a museum and lakeside walk to fill the rest of the day.

Accessible toiletBaby changeBirthday partiesBlue badge parking+19 more

D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum

Eastwood

Explore Lawrence's childhood rooms on a self-guided visit - kids free, adults from £7.50.

Derby 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

Derby 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

Framework Knitters Museum

Ruddington · ages 0+

Real Victorian knitting frames still working, a go at a vintage knitting machine, and a free-to-enter café even on closed days.

Birthday partiesCaféGift shopGroup bookings+5 more

Great 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

Jewry 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

King 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

Leicester Guildhall

Leicester

Free 600-year-old timber Guildhall with medieval galleries and a family quest - open daily near the Cathedral.

ToiletsWheelchair accessibleGift shop

Leicester 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

Museum 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

National Gas Museum

Leicester

Free gas-history museum with 500+ exhibits - temporarily closed until 13 October 2026 for maintenance works.

ToiletsFree parkingBike parking

National Justice Museum

Nottingham

A Georgian gaol and Victorian courtroom where actors re-enact real trials and executions, daily.

Accessible toiletBirthday partiesBooking requiredCafé+6 more

National 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

National Tramway Museum

Matlock

Ride vintage trams down a rebuilt period street, then loose the kids in a woodland sculpture trail while you eat into a free return visit.

Free parkingParkingGift shopFood on site+6 more

Newark Air Museum

Newark · ages 5+

76 real aircraft to walk round and sometimes climb into, on the old Winthorpe airfield outside Newark.

Accessible toiletBaby changeCaféDog friendly+12 more

Newarke 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

Nottingham 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

Papplewick Pumping Station

Nottingham · ages 0+

Victorian beam engines and a wooded play area near Nottingham, with steam days when the engines actually run.

Booking requiredCaféCard onlyDog friendly+12 more

Pickford'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

Retro 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

Snibston 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

Thoresby Park

Newark

Newark - Thoresby Park estate with play park, courtyard cafe, woodland walks and a free military museum.

Booking requiredCaféGift shopIndoor play+6 more

Watermead 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

Wollaton 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

Woolsthorpe 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