Museums & heritage in Stoke-on-Trent

Anderton Boat Lift Visitor Centre

Northwich

Free to visit engineering landmark with a boat trip, a play area and a maze made from the lift's old counterweights.

Accessible toiletBaby changeCaféDog friendly+2 more

Apedale Heritage Centre

Newcastle-under-Lyme · ages 5+

A real drift mine you go down with a guide, plus a museum, a light railway and mining kit you can actually get close to.

Accessible toiletCaféDog friendlyFood on site+3 more

Barewall Art Gallery

Stoke-on-Trent

Free gallery visit with colouring books inspired by local artist Arthur Berry to keep kids busy while you look round.

Gift shop

Black Prince Holidays

Stoke-on-Trent

Hire a narrowboat and let the kids work the locks and take a turn at the tiller under supervision.

Indoor seatingToilets

Boscobel House

Stafford

A hands-on hide-and-seek history trail where Charles II once dodged Cromwell's men, with a willow tunnel and tree-themed playground.

Gift shopFood on siteOutdoor playParking+1 more

Cheddleton Flint Mill

Leek

Two watermill wheels still turning to grind flint for the pottery industry, with free entry and grounds you can wander all week.

Booking requiredFree parkingFood on siteParking

Churnet Valley Railway - Leek Brook station

Leek · ages 0-16

Steam trains through the Staffordshire Moorlands, with up to four kids travelling free per paying adult.

Accessible toiletBaby changeBlue badge parkingCafé+7 more

Clay College Stoke

Stoke-on-Trent

A small gallery space showing work from Stoke's clay makers, an easy browse rather than a big day out.

Cris Cohen - HIDDEN

Stoke-on-Trent

Seasonal tasting menus in a studio kitchen setting, with a changing series of themed dining experiences to book into.

Booking requiredCafé

Dudley Zoo & Castle

Dudley · ages 0+

Zoo and castle in Dudley - animals for Birmingham day-trips. Soft Play N.

ParkingToiletsBaby changeCafé+15 more

Dudson Museum

Stoke-on-Trent

Free ceramics museum in Stoke-on-Trent with two centuries of pottery history and a café, open weekday mornings and early afternoons.

Accessible toiletCaféWheelchair accessible

Emma Bridgewater Factory

Stoke-on-Trent

Tour a working Victorian pottery factory, then paint your own piece in the decorating studio.

CaféGift shopOutdoor play

Etruria Industrial Museum

Stoke-on-Trent · ages 0-16

A working Victorian steam mill you can walk round most Fridays, with the engine actually turning on special weekends.

Accessible toiletCaféParkingPicnics allowed+1 more

First Light Pavilion

Macclesfield

A planetarium film about Jodrell Bank, a working orrery and a whispering dish outside to shout across the lawn at.

Accessible toiletBaby changeBike parkingBottle warming+13 more

Flamsteed Observatory

Brailsford

Peer through the society telescopes on a public observing night - check the date before you set off.

Parking

Floating Holidays

Middlewich

A self-drive canal boat holiday where you learn to sail the boat yourself and fish straight from the deck.

Parking

Ford Green Hall

Stoke-on-Trent · ages 5-16

A timber-framed Tudor house where kids try period toys, games and hands-on history workshops in real 17th-century rooms.

Accessible toiletBaby changeCaféFree parking+2 more

Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker

Lane

A genuine Cold War nuclear bunker 40ft underground, packed with authentic equipment and a spy mouse trail for the kids to follow.

CaféGift shopGroup bookingsSchool visits

Heights of Abraham

Matlock Bath · ages 4-15

A cable car ride over the valley, two cavern tours underground, then a hilltop park of play areas and views.

ToiletsCaféRestaurantGift shop+12 more

Heritage Narrow Boats Ltd

Stoke-on-Trent

Take the tiller yourself on a hired day boat, or head off for days at a time along the Four Counties, Cheshire or Llangollen canals.

Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre

Macclesfield

UNESCO radio telescope day out near Macclesfield - Space Dome films, trails and cafes.

ParkingFree parkingCaféGift shop+5 more

Jones Family Cruising

Penkridge

Hire a narrowboat for the week and let the kids take turns steering and working the locks on the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal.

Booking requiredFood on siteToilets

Lancashire Mining Museum CIO

Manchester

Wander round a real colliery site with a 98ft headgear to gawp at, colliery cottages and a miner's canteen to poke round, all free to get in.

Café

National Trust Shugborough Estate

Stafford

A working farm with Longhorn cows and Dorking chickens, a grand mansion, and acres of parkland to wander at Shugborough Estate.

Accessible toiletBaby changeBike parkingCafé+8 more

New Vic Theatre

Newcastle-under-Lyme

A working theatre with plays, concerts and exhibitions on stage, plus a café and bar to make an evening of it.

Blue badge parkingCaféGift shopGroup bookings+3 more

Peak Cavern

Castleton

Walk a guided showcave under the gorge with a rope-makers story - chilly low section, from £13.75 online for children.

Booking required

Peak District Mining Museum

Matlock · ages 4+

An underground guided tour through a real lead mine, plus a museum where kids climb mock tunnels and pan for minerals.

Birthday partiesBooking requiredGift shopGroup bookings+6 more

Runway Visitor Park

Altrincham

Climb aboard a retired Concorde and a DC10 parked up outside Manchester Airport, with runway views thrown in free.

Accessible toiletBlue badge parkingCaféGift shop+7 more

Silk Museum

Macclesfield

Free galleries on 300 years of silk history, plus a timed-entry mill tour with working Jacquard looms you have to book ahead for.

Accessible toiletBaby changeBlue badge parkingBooking required+6 more

Speedwell Cavern

Castleton · ages 5-15

A boat ride into a flooded lead mine to see the Bottomless Pit, down 106 steps in Castleton.

Booking requiredParking

Spode Museum

Stoke-on-Trent

Free gallery of Spode pottery history with hands-on digital models and a café tucked in a walled garden.

Baby changeCaféCard onlyGift shop+3 more

Stafford Castle

Stafford

Free ruined castle grounds with a woodland loop path, a hidden mouse trail in the Ancient High House, and explorer backpacks to borrow.

Accessible toiletFree parkingFood on siteToilets+1 more

The Children's Country House at Sudbury

Sudbury · ages 0+

National Trust kids-first country house near Sudbury - Museum of Childhood, gardens and cafe from £11 child.

Accessible toiletBike parkingBirthday partiesBlue badge parking+12 more

The Dudson Centre

Stoke-on-Trent

A pottery museum built around a real bottle oven, with a café doing soup and Fair Trade coffee on weekdays.

Accessible toiletCaféWheelchair accessibleWi-Fi

The Great Rutland Cavern

Matlock Bath · ages 4+

A cable car ride over the valley followed by two illuminated show caverns cut into the hillside.

CaféDog friendlyGift shopGroup bookings+7 more

The Potteries Centre

Stoke-on-Trent

A shopping centre in the middle of Stoke-on-Trent with quiet hours for anyone who finds it all a bit much.

Bike parkingCaféParkingPublic transport nearby+3 more

Treak Cliff Cavern

Castleton · ages 5-17

A 45-minute self-guided walk into a real cavern hung with Blue John stone, but it's steps and slopes, not a pram job.

ParkingToiletsCaféGift shop+1 more

Wren's Nest

Dudley

Fossil hunting on free geological trails where you might spot the Dudley Bug on a guided walk.

Blue badge parkingPushchair friendlyWheelchair accessible