Museums & Landmarks in Merseyside

Merseyside gives you two quite different museum days for children, one on each side of the river. World Museum in Liverpool is free to enter and runs across five floors, taking in ancient Egypt, marine life, space science and natural history. Eureka! Science + Discovery in Wallasey is a paid, interactive science centre where full-price entry is an annual pass, so it makes most sense for families planning to come back through the year.

World Museum suits school-age children best. Reviewers keep mentioning the Egyptian section with real mummies, which carries real educational weight for children aged seven and up, along with the planetarium and space shows. Toddlers tend to gravitate to the aquarium and the hands-on handling centre. Wikipedia's museum list summarises the collection as covering archaeology, ethnology, natural history, geology, Ancient Egypt, space, science and coins, and a family blog calls it the city's oldest museum and one of the best places to learn about natural history, citing its bug house, aquarium and planetarium. There is a cafe with a children's menu, a picnic area, and buggy parking, and no advance booking is needed. Most visitors only cover three of the five floors in one go, so plan for four hours or more.

Eureka! is the better fit for babies, toddlers and early primary children. Reviews praise the infant section and the interactive hands-on activities, though some found it less interactive than expected. VisitLiverpool recommends taking the Mersey Ferry across to it as a science-themed day out with waterfront views on the way. Practical points from reviewers: carers enter free, the toddler area can run cold so bring layers, and there is no full cafe on site.