Quick answer
On a wet day in Hull, four Hull Museums venues are free: the Maritime Museum, Streetlife, the Hull and East Riding Museum and the Ferens Art Gallery. Paid choices include The Deep aquarium and Little Astronauts soft play. Near Hull, Champney Treasure House in Beverley is free too. Check the day first: Champney’s records list Sundays and bank holidays as closed.
Each place links to its own VisitKids page. For more ideas, see every place in Hull.
Before you set off: closed days
- Hull Museums (Maritime, Streetlife, Hull and East Riding Museum, Ferens): open daily, and on bank holidays except Good Friday. All four are closed from 24 to 28 December and on 1 January.
- The Deep: open every day except 24 and 25 December.
- Little Astronauts: closed on 25 and 26 December and 1 January.
- Champney Treasure House: its records list Sundays and bank holidays as closed.
Free museums in Hull
- Hull Maritime Museum, Queen Victoria Square. Free entry, with whale skeletons and hands-on interactives. It opens Monday to Saturday 10am to 4.30pm, and Sunday 11am to 4pm. Hull Museums advises booking a free timed ticket to avoid queues, although walk-up entry is available daily. Groups of 10 or more must book. The booking page says late visitors, or those without a ticket, may not be let in. On 13 November 2026 the booking calendar showed no slots from 23 to 27 November. The 8-minute planetarium show costs £2 for adults and £1.50 for under 16s. The venue page says paid activities are sold during your visit, subject to availability. Galleries cover whaling, life on Hull’s trawlers and the Merchant Navy in wartime. The visual story expects it to be quite noisy from 10am to 2pm at busy periods. A lift reaches the basement, first and second floors, but a spiral staircase leads up to a turret room.
- Streetlife Museum, High Street, in the Old Town. A free transport museum with a 1940s street scene, a static tram and a retro arcade. No booking is needed for a normal visit, though groups of 15 or more should book. The hours match the Maritime Museum’s, with last admission 30 minutes before closing. Bring £1 for the car ride and 20p or 50p coins for the arcade. There is no café, and you cannot eat or drink in the museum. The signal box and the platform above the train are reached by steps only, and parts of the street scene are cobbled. The upstairs carriage and bicycle galleries are darker. On 13 November 2026 a banner said the Streetlife entrance to the Museums Quarter was closed for Hull Heat Network works. It asked visitors to use the main entrance opposite Chapel Lane.
- Hull and East Riding Museum, 36 High Street. Free entry, with the same hours, last admission and booking rule as Streetlife. Children meet a life-size woolly mammoth and walk through an Iron Age settlement. Several galleries are quite dark, and the visual story says some people might find the skeletons or mannequins scary. Some walkways are a bit narrow, and once you start it can be hard to go back if other visitors are there. The first displays are up 6 steps or a platform lift. There is no café. Hull Museums suggests the Museums Quarter Garden picnic area if the weather is good, or an independent café across High Street.
- Ferens Art Gallery, Queen Victoria Square. Free entry, with the same hours, last admission and booking rule as Streetlife. Explore Art on the ground floor is designed for children aged 0 to 5. It also holds real paintings, so stay close. The visual story says only one artwork may be touched, a sculpture called Large Frog. Gallery 1 and the Studio are darker. The café is at the back, but the official pages give two different closing times.
Free near Hull: Champney Treasure House, Beverley
Champney Treasure House Museum, Champney Road, Beverley. Free admission to the museum and art gallery. Children can dress up in historical costumes and try interactive exhibits. The museum record lists Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.45pm and Saturday 9am to 3.45pm. The museum and art gallery records list Sundays and bank holidays as closed. East Riding Museums does list one Sunday event there: Christmas in the Collections on 13 December 2026, 11am to 3pm. A lift links the floors, and there is a Changing Places toilet. The first-floor café closes earlier than the museum. The parking behind the building is pay and display, for visitors on Saturdays only. The official pages we saved do not mention baby changing.
Paid indoor days out
- The Deep, Tower Street. An aquarium with sharks, jellyfish and Gentoo penguins. It opens 10am to 6pm, last entry 5pm, every day except 24 and 25 December. On 13 November 2026 adults paid £24 and children aged 3 to 15 paid £18. Under 3s go free. Each standard paid ticket is an Annual Pass, giving the people pictured on it free returns for 12 months. The terms allow up to five days a year when the pass is not valid. Under 16s must be with an adult at all times. Booking is highly recommended at weekends, in school holidays and on bank holidays. There is no pram or luggage storage. Several zones are dark, and noise echoes in open areas.
- Little Astronauts, top floor of the Prospect Shopping Centre. Space-themed soft play with an under 4s zone, an over 4s zone and a sensory spaceship. It opens Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 6pm and Sunday 10.30am to 4.30pm. On 13 November 2026 the booking shop showed a first play slot of 11.30am on Saturdays 5, 12 and 19 December. Its last slot on 24 December was 2pm. The prices page on 13 November 2026 showed over 2s at £9.95 off-peak or £11.95 peak, and adults at £2.50 or £3.75. Babies under 6 months go free. Socks must be worn at all times, and an adult aged 16 or over must supervise. It often reaches capacity at weekends and in school holidays, so book online. SEND sessions for ages 1 to 12 run every Tuesday from 4pm to 6pm.
Frequently asked questions
What is free to do in Hull on a rainy day?
Hull Maritime Museum, Streetlife Museum, the Hull and East Riding Museum and the Ferens Art Gallery are all free. Champney Treasure House in Beverley is free too, but its records list Sundays and bank holidays as closed.
Do you need to book Hull museums?
Streetlife, the Hull and East Riding Museum and the Ferens need no booking for a normal visit. Groups of 15 or more should book. The Maritime Museum advises a free timed ticket, although walk-up entry is available daily. Groups of 10 or more must book there.
Where can toddlers play indoors in Hull?
Try Explore Art at the Ferens, for ages 0 to 5. Little Astronauts has an under 4s zone with ball pools, tunnels and toys.
Are Hull museums open at Christmas?
The four Hull Museums venues are closed from 24 to 28 December and on 1 January. The Deep is closed on 24 and 25 December.
Which indoor places suit sensitive children?
Little Astronauts runs SEND sessions for ages 1 to 12 every Tuesday from 4pm to 6pm, and The Deep lends sensory packs. Hull Museums offers visual stories and ear defenders to borrow. Some galleries and zones are dark or noisy.
Checked on 13 November 2026 against the official websites, through our Hull venue pages, which were checked on 13 November 2026. Prices and opening times change, so check before you travel.
Photo: Hullian111, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).