Keswick recommendations

[Stripybasket]

Heading to Keswick next week with a 2,5 and 8 year old. Any recommendations? The weather forecast is atrocious. Thanks

Following as we are the same except we have four teenagers 😩

@Folkwhoredon’t know which is worse 😂

the puzzling place is pretty good.

https://www.puzzlingplace.co.uk/

Cinema
pencil museum

some mornings are dry and wet afternoons, so some walks might be possible - graspers to Ambleside and get bus back

Kong Adventure for indoor climbing
The theatre on the Lake.

Threlkeld quarry railway?

Take raincoats!

Puzzling Place

Winlatter Forest has walks / trails of various lengths and an excellent playground, as does Dodd Wood

Catbells for a decent, but family friendly, walk

Alhambra cinema

check events at Rheged

Kong for climbing, escape room and ‘hard play’

Ooh that does look a bit damp.
If the sun comes out or it stops raining for a bit, castlerigg stone circle is close by and v nice.
Threkeld mining museum is small and nice and there’s a train you can ride on. Also obv the pencil museum (so many wet childhood times in the lakes!). There’s a theatre down at the side of the lake by Keswick.

Also see if there are any things on at Honister Slate Mine

We really enjoyed the round for burgers, and the Royal Oak for Sunday lunch. We walked up Latrigg in the rain and enjoyed shopping in Keswick. We also went kayaking on derwent water and it doesn’t matter if it’s raining for that. The lingholm kitchen and walled garden is very nice too for all ages.

Love the puzzling place and the pencil museum was a surprise hit.

Rheged is also good - there is a cinema, small soft play and crafting (not sure if this changes but it was decoupage when we went)

The railway walk is good even in the rain, nice cafe and bus back.

The cinema is lovely,

but the thing with the lakes is it’s a series of little microclimates, if it is rubbish on Keswick it might be nice in coniston or Windermere I usually check the weather apps first thing and plan the day from there

we loved the pencil museum!

What weather forecast are you looking at? The met office forecast for the weekend and early part of next week isn't atrocious. Bit breezy and there will be some rain but pretty much par for the course for this time of the year. I don't think it should be bad enough to keep you stuck indoors all week or anything. Saturday looks a bit miserable but the rest of the bank holiday isn't too bad. I'm certainly planning to be out walking or on my bike. The BBC forecast always seems to be more pessimistic so I tend to ignore that one, and to be honest I don't take the forecast too seriously more than 24-48 hours ahead as it changes so often. Obviously it's not going to be wall to wall sunshine but I'll be surprised if there aren't at least some bright spells so don't imagine the worst just yet.
As well as the suggestions you have already had, the Lake District Wildlife Park near Bassenthwaite is quite nice. It's not big, but good for kids. Most of the National Trust properties opened last weekend and quite a few have Easter themed activities on. Not NT, but Mirehouse and Gardens on the far side of Bassenthwaite is a lovely place. It's a long time since I have been but I recall it had a good playground too.
Whinlatter has family friendly walking trails and your older DC might enjoy Go Ape there. You can hire bikes there too. Grizedale is similar but further away. The roads can get quite congested in the holidays and whilst it is lovely it's not worth the drive in my opinion when you have Whinlatter on your doorstep. If you are heading out towards Windermere though I would recommend Wray Castle for kids and Brockhole has a variety of activities throughout the season. Or heading in the other direction, Lowther Castle has an interesting history and what was my kids' favourite adventure playground when they were young.
Alpacas seem to be the in thing at the moment - there are lots of places offering alpaca walks. Basecamp North Lakes, just off the A66 between Penrith and Keswick, has loads of alpacas and I think they have indoor walking areas too if the weather is really bad. The cafe there is nice too.
On the subject of cafes, you'd need to book, but Bassenthwaite Station cafe has the train from the old Murder on the Orient Express film and they also do mobile afternoon teas on an old bus now which looks quite fun.
Plus of course there's always boat trips. The "steamers" on Derwentwater, Ullswater and Windermere have covered areas so you can enjoy them even on wet days. Or you could hire a small boat to yourself if the weather is nicer.
The weather is usually unpredictable at this time of year so just take a range of clothing and enjoy yourselves!

I lived near Keswick for about a year. Best thing there was Booths.

Keswick Museum is good fun - probably not for a 2 year old but for your older DC. Theres a xylophone made from slate they can play and a lovely stuffed badger as well as a huge 3 dimensional model of the Lake District.

Gentle walks:
Casterigg Stone Circle
St John in the Vale
circuit of Buttermere

If you go further west Muncaster castle has bird of prey demonstrations.

North, Carlisle Castle is fun.

Glava, the remains of a Roman fort me Ambleside.

If you want a bit of a sense of fell climbing, wandering around Loughrigg isn’t too steep. And a more ambitious but still easy walk from Grasmere to Easedale Tarn isn’t too hard.

Yhere are generally family friendly activities in Grizedale Forest. The climb isn’t particularly steep if you’re good walkers and you can look all the way down the length of Coniston Water and out to sea.

The ferry from Lakeside to Bowness on Windermere is fun, although crowded. There’s a steam train from Newbury Bridge to Lakeside so you can combine them. And in my experience, the enthusiasts who run the steam train love showing stuff to interested 5 year olds!

Of course nothing’s fun with 3 soaked children

Also, it's a bit of a drive but the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a good day out. It's narrow gauge with little steam trains that my DC used to love when they were little. Some of the carriages are covered. There are cafes and play areas at the stations at both ends. You could combine with Muncaster Castle and make a day of it.

Depends how much driving you want to do but we always check the weather forecast in the morning for where looks best and head there for the day. St Abbs beach on the coast is lovely if dry and great walk along the cliffs to Whitehaven or do part and turn back. There is an aquarium in Maryport which my son enjoyed when younger. There is a swimming pool in Penrith which has a soft play area (or it did when we were last there a few years ago). Puzzling Place is good to get out the rain for couple hours but will be busy if everyone has the same idea. Climbing and 'hard play' at Kong is great. Keswick Museum is worth a visit too and our 9 year old did actually enjoy the visit to the pencil museum.
We go to the lakes every year and have always been really lucky with the weather, can only think of one or two days where is has been too torrential to be out walking in. It usually doesn't last all day as the weather can be so changeable.
Have a lovely time!

The Tully House in Carlisle is excellent - so many interactive displays. You can ride a Roman pommel horse, grind corn, brass rubbing, fire a mini catapult. It's fab!

Personally I’d try and avoid driving too much, traffic in the lakes over Easter is something else…
Great wood and will be a bit more sheltered for walks.
friars crag is nice for a short walk and fairly sheltered
the railway line will be sheltered too.
Indoor climbing at a few places (it’s quite spendy compared to other indoor climbing)
Lots of nice cafes, lake road brunch is my favourite.

Personally I’d try and avoid driving too much, traffic in the lakes over Easter is something else…

Yes indeed!

The barely moving traffic jam between Windermere and Ambleside is terrible. I can walk faster.

The bus network is excellent however and the view from the top of the double decker going from Keswick into Borrowdale is one of the best in the world.

The forecast has got much better today than it was on Monday.

Coming on here to say pencil museum. A surprising hit that we visited more than once.