CATEGORY · RAINY DAY APPROVED

Caves, Mines & Underground in Preston

None of these are on Preston's doorstep, so this is one for a proper day out rather than a quick wander. A drive out to Manchester gets you the Lancashire Mining Museum CIO, free to get in, where you can gawp at a 98ft headgear and poke round the colliery cottages and miner's canteen, plus a cafe if the walking round works up an appetite. Also in Manchester, Mount Sion Steam Crane runs free crafts and guided nature walks around its historic steam crane site on a Canal Fun Day. For something properly underground, Western Approaches in Liverpool is a real WWII bunker beneath the city streets, from £1, with wartime shop fronts and an Operations Room where the maps still sit. It has toilets, baby change and a gift shop, and takes card only. If it's a dry, dark day you fancy, that indoor bunker beats the outdoor sites. For older kids keen on the Brontës, there's a longer trip out to Keighley for Ponden Kirk & Fairy Cave, a rocky crevice on the moors above Haworth, free but exposed to the weather.

✓ 6 places✦ 3 free to visit