Leeds is an easy city to do on foot from the station, and its best family attraction, the Royal Armouries, is free and about ten minutes' walk away.
Beyond that, the city museum and art gallery are both free, and the parks on the edges of the city are genuinely worth the bus fare.
Free things to do in Leeds with children
- Royal Armouries Museum — The national collection of arms and armour. Five floors of swords, jousting armour, elephant armour and live demonstrations most days. Free, and completely gripping for children who are into knights.
- Leeds City Museum — A mummy, a tiger, a life-sized rhino and a dedicated Life on Earth gallery. Central and free.
- Leeds Art Gallery — Free, with the Henry Moore Institute next door. Family trails available at the desk.
- Kirkstall Abbey — Substantial ruined abbey in parkland by the river. Free to walk around the grounds and the ruins, and children can climb over a good deal of it.
- Roundhay Park — Huge park with lakes, woods and playgrounds. Tropical World is inside it and does charge, but the park itself does not.
Worth paying for
Not free, but cheap enough to be worth it, and all reachable without a car:
- Tropical World — Rainforest house, meerkats, butterflies. A modest admission charge, and cheaper for children.
- Middleton Railway — The world's oldest continuously working railway, run by volunteers. Cheap return fares on steam trains.
Getting to Leeds by train
Leeds station is in the middle of everything, and the Royal Armouries is a signposted walk along the river from the southern exit.
Going by train also means nobody has to find a parking space, and children can move about, look out of the window and eat crisps for the whole journey.
Click here to book train tickets to Leeds
Opening hours, admission prices and booking requirements change, and some attractions close on certain days or for refurbishment. Always check the attraction’s own website before you set off. This page was written in August 2026.
Disclosure: the train ticket link on this page is an affiliate link. If you book through it I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
