Category × County
13 Best Museums In Cumbria
When the tops vanish into cloud, several thousand families in this county have the same thought within the same half hour, and museums are where they all arrive. Cumbria has thirteen recorded, twelve carrying an indoor flag, so the shelter is genuine. What catches people out is that six of those thirteen also record outdoor space. Solway Aviation Museum keeps aircraft you walk around in the open. Eskdale Mill is a working watermill built over a beck. Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery and The Dock Museum both list outside areas alongside the galleries. Turn up at any of them in sideways drizzle and a slice of the visit is a dash between doors. Four of the thirteen carry no outdoor flag whatsoever, and on a truly foul day those are the safe bets.
Top museums in Cumbria
Showing 1–12 of 13
MuseumsEskdale Mill
MuseumsSolway Aviation Museum
MuseumsCumbrias Museum of Military Life
MuseumsLakeland Motor Museum
MuseumsTullie House Museum and Art Gallery
MuseumsThe Beacon
MuseumsThe Dock Museum
MuseumsMillom Discovery Centre
SightseeingFurness Abbey
MuseumsWordsworth Grasmere
MuseumsThe Rum Story
MuseumsThe World of Beatrix Potter
Two things follow. Go early on a properly foul day, because a small museum fills the moment the fells shut down, and the tail end of the afternoon is calmer than the middle. And if the cloud lifts, change the plan without guilt. Sites with outdoor space listed against them repay being able to stand about outside with your hood down.
Museums in Cumbria: FAQs
Which of these hold up when it is really coming down?
Four names show nothing outdoors against them: Lakeland Motor Museum, Cumbrias Museum of Military Life, Millom Discovery Centre and The Beacon. Nobody gets marched back into the rain halfway round, which counts for far more with a five-year-old than with an older child, who will shrug off a soaking if what waits at the end of it is interesting enough.
Does it matter which part of the county we head for?
It can. The coastal strip and the central high ground rarely hand you the same afternoon, and a write-off on one side of Cumbria is sometimes only grey on the other. Look up the forecast for the town you would actually be driving to, not for Cumbria at large, and let that choose the museum for you.
Is a watermill worth seeing in bad weather?
Water is the whole point of Eskdale Mill, and rain does nothing to spoil a wheel turning. The ground around it is the problem rather than the machinery. Boots rather than trainers, and think twice about a buggy on wet stone and steps, because that combination turns a short visit into a wrestling match nobody enjoys.
What goes in the bag for a day like that?
A carrier bag for wet coats, so they are not dripping over a gallery floor or steaming on the back seat afterwards. Spare socks for children who find the one puddle. And something to eat, since a wet-weather rush can empty a small cafe quickly and a hungry child in a queue undoes a good morning in short order.