Leeds with kids: six places that work for a family day out

Leeds is good at the sort of family day out that does not need a second mortgage. Plenty of the best places are free or pay what you can, and most of them are a short bus or train ride from the centre. Here are six that work, with the street, the price where we have one, and what the kids will actually want to see.

Royal Armouries, Leeds Dock

Armouries Drive, Leeds Dock, LS10 1LT. Entry is free. It is the national museum of arms and armour, with five floors of displays and daily live performances including combat demonstrations, object handling and talks. Look out for the elephant in armour and Henry VIII's armour.

The museum suggests two to three hours. Hours are 10am to 5pm, and in term time it is open Tuesday to Sunday, so a Thursday is fine. Booking online is recommended, especially at weekends and in school holidays, though walk-ins are still possible. It is usually quieter during the week and after 2pm.

It is a 20 to 25 minute walk from Leeds railway station, and there is a water taxi too. The Escape Room (ages 8 and over, tickets from £10) runs at weekends and school holidays. The café is called The Masters. Royal Armouries has the details.

Thackray Museum of Medicine, Beckett Street

141 Beckett Street, LS9 7LN, next to St James's Hospital. It is hands-on and a bit gruesome in the way children love: a recreated Victorian Leeds street, a 19th-century operating theatre and more. One warning: the 1970s sexual health clinic is not suitable for very young children.

The museum uses pay-what-you-can style pricing, with tickets at £9 lower-cost, £12 recommended and £16 pay-it-forward. Its own page says open daily 10am to 4pm, last admission 3.15pm, and suggests at least two hours. Some listings show a Tuesday closure, so check before going on a Tuesday. It is an independent museum and a registered charity. See the Thackray visit page.

Temple Newsam Home Farm and Play Barn

On the Temple Newsam estate, about four miles from the city centre in east Leeds. It is a traditional working farm with craft demonstrations such as butter-making and blacksmithing, plus the Play Barn. Allow two to three hours.

The Play Barn is £9.00 per person, and under-3s are free. Leeds Ticket Hub lists a family ticket (two adults and up to three children) at £28.75. Summer hours are 9am to 5pm, with last entry to the farm at 4.15pm. At weekends, bank holidays and school holidays, play sessions are limited to 90 minutes, but there are no timed sessions on term-time weekdays. Details are on the Leeds Museums and Galleries page.

Kirkstall Abbey, Abbey Road

Abbey Road, Kirkstall, LS5 3EH, about three miles from the centre. This is a medieval Cistercian ruin, one of the most complete of its kind, and children can run about the cloisters and grounds. Plan one to two hours.

It is a Give What You Can site, so entry to the ruins and grounds is free or pay what you can. It is closed on Mondays but open on bank holidays, and from April to September it runs Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4.30pm, with last entry 30 minutes before closing. Most people arrive by train to Kirkstall Forge, by bus or by car. Check the official visit page before you set off.

Leeds City Museum, Millennium Square

Millennium Square, LS2 8BH, right in the city centre. The museum says it has won the Family Friendly Museum Award in the past. Your kids can meet the 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy Nesaymun and the Leeds Tiger. There is a café on site.

Entry is listed as free, and Creative Tourist gives hours of Tuesday to Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturday to Sunday 11am to 5pm, though other listings differ, so check the council page first. It is the easy option if the weather turns. See the family guide.

Leeds Industrial Museum, Armley Mills

Canal Road, Armley, LS12 2QF. Production at the mill ended in 1969 and it reopened as a museum in 1982. The Grade II listed building has a working spinning mule, as the Yorkshire Evening Post has reported. Right now there is no access to the engine shed and locomotives because of building work, so do not promise the trains to anyone under ten. The council page has the latest.

Planning the day

• Pair the Royal Armouries with a water taxi or the walk along the Dock.
• Pair Kirkstall Abbey with the Abbey House Museum opposite, which has a Victorian street recreation. Check its hours first.
• Roundhay Park in north-east Leeds is free to enter, open 24 hours, with lakes, woodland and playgrounds.

Check opening times on the day, particularly in school holidays when hours shift.