If it’s looking like a wet weekend and you still need to keep the kids amused there’s a whole variety of indoor attractions within one hour’s drive of Huddersfield.
You could spend a rain-soaked Sunday shivering in a park as your children bawl and your sandwiches go soggy.
Or you could duck inside one of these top indoor attractions and keep everyone happy.
1) Jorvik Viking Centre
Famous throughout the UK time this capsule into 10th century Viking Britain needs little introduction.
Flooding in 2015 closed the centre but it reopened last month and contains its famous ride through Viking York – or Jorvik – as well as plenty of Dark Age artefacts.
Address: 19 Coppergate, York, YO1 9WT
Drive time from Huddersfield: 55 minutes
Open: 10am-5pm
Web: www.jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk
Tel: 01904 615 505
2) Eureka
Eureka! The National Children’s Museum combines learning and play through hundreds of interactive, hands on exhibits, covering everything from the human body to eco-systems around the world. The museum’s child-sized Town Square – complete with a Halifax bank, Marks and Spencer’s store and the Eureka! house – lets youngsters play cashier, discover where food comes from and use a working cash machine that dispenses Eureka bank notes.
Address: Discovery Rd, Halifax HX1 2NE
Drive time from Huddersfield: 25 minutes
Open: 10am-5pm
Web: www.eureka.org.uk
Tel: 01422 330069
3) Tropical Butterfly House
The Tropical Butterfly House, Wildlife and Falconry Centre offers visitors an opportunity to meet meerkats, owls, otters, snakes and other amazing animals in shows that allow interaction with visitors. There are a number of other facilities to occupy the active child – a Realm of Camelot adventure playground, indoor activity and craft centre, and Dinosaur Trail.
Address: Woodsetts Rd, North Anston, Sheffield, S25 4EQ
Drive time from Huddersfield: One hour
Open: 10am-5.30pm
Tel: 01422 330069
4) Tolson Museum
Set in the leafy surrounds of Ravensknowle Park in Wakefield Road, Tolson Museum offers a history of Huddersfield and its people through a series of curious collections. Roman artefacts, textile exhibits, birds, transport and more can be found in the grand museum, offering a picture of the town and its characters from prehistory through to present day.
Address: Ravensknowle Park, Wakefield Road, HD5 8DJ
Open: 11am-5pm
Web: www.kirklees.gov.uk/tolsonmuseum
Tel: 01484 223240
5) The Jungle Experience
Step into the glass houses to explore the Jungle Experience’s botanic gardens and exotic habitats. A huge variety of plants, butterflies, fish and animals including quails and terrapins can be found across the attraction’s different zones, including the Savage Garden, Butterfly World and the Lily Pond.
Address: Manor Heath Rd, Halifax, HX3 0EB
Drive time from Huddersfield: 20 minutes
Open: 10am-4pm
Tel: 01422 365631
6) Playworld
Roller skating, a four-storey soft play gym, food and drink all under one roof at Play World in Marsh. The centre offers a roller skating rink for up to 120 skaters, a soft play gym will ball pool and slides, and when you’re worn out, you can relax with a bite to eat from its world street kitchen!
Address: 152 Westbourne Rd, HD1 4LF
Open: 10am-8pm (Sat), 10-6pm (Sun)
Web: www.kirklees.gov.uk/tolsonmuseum
Tel: 01484 223240
7) National Coal Mining Museum
The National Coal Mining Museum for England, near Grange Moor, is full of buried treasures.
There are nearly 900 objects on permanent public display at the popular museum.
Address: Caphouse Colliery, New Road, Overton, WF4 4RH
Drive time from Huddersfield: 25 minutes
Open: 10am-5pm
Web: www.ncm.org.uk
Tel: 01924 848806
8) Shibden Hall
This 15th century hall with 17th century extensions has been the home of legends past and present.
Indeed it will unsurprisingly be the setting for the BBC drama ‘Shibden Hall’ written by Sally Wainwright of the Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax fame.
The show is due to screen next year but you can explore this splendidly preserved relic which includes a recreated brewhouse and inn.
Address: Lister’s Road, Halifax, HX3 6XG
Drive time from Huddersfield: 30 minutes
Open: 11am-5pm
Web: http://museums.calderdale.gov.uk/visit/shibden-hall
Tel: 01422 352246 / 321455