CATEGORY · RAINY DAY APPROVED

Science & Discovery Centres in Nottingham

Nottingham has this covered close to home. Green's Windmill and Science Centre is free to get into, about two kilometres out, with experiments and a garden to run round. Nottingham Industrial Museum, in Wollaton Hall's stables, is also free for accompanied kids and runs Steaming Days once a month when the engines actually work. For dinosaurs under a Grade I roof, Wollaton Hall & Deer Park charges from £18 and gives you 500 acres of deer park afterwards to walk it all off. If you want telescopes and a planetarium, Sherwood Observatory out at Sutton-in-Ashfield runs open events from £50, so it suits a special trip more than a casual one. Papplewick Pumping Station, nearer at around twelve kilometres, is from £4 and has steam days plus a wooded play area. For a longer trip, Conkers at Moira has rope trails and a splash park from £7.25, and the National Space Centre in Leicester (from £20) has rockets to climb through. Toddlers do well at the free windmill and museum; older kids get more from the ticketed days.

✓ 12 places✦ 6 free to visit