World Museum Liverpool: A Visitor’s Guide for Families
The World Museum Liverpool is a great museum to take the kids to. It’s a beautiful building with 5 floors of different galleries to explore. Find more Family days out North West England here.
Where is World Museum Liverpool?
The World Museum is located on William Brown Street in Liverpool city centre. The postcode is L3 8EN.
It’s a short walk from Liverpool Lime Street train station. It doesn’t have it’s own car park but there are many located around Liverpool City Centre. There is a pay and display car park on William Brown Street and behind the museum on Hunter Street.
How much does it cost to visit the World Museum?
Visiting the World Museum is free for everyone. They do sometimes run exhibitions and other events that have a small cost. Donations are of course welcome.
What age is World Museum suitable for?
I would say there is something at the World Museum for all ages. The aquarium is a big hit with toddlers but older kids will still enjoy it and they might find the museum useful to visit whilst learning about space or Ancient Egypt.
How Long do families typically spend at the World Museum?
This really depends how many of the galleries you want to explore and how quickly your kids get through museums! You might be here for a couple of hours or up to half a day.
What facilities are their at the World Museum?
For the ultimate free day out you can bring a picnic to the World museum as there is picnic area on floor 4. There is also a cafe on the ground floor as well as a gift shop.
There is a locker area and even buggy lockers. You can take a buggy around the museum if you need to as there are 2 lifts. We have always found the lifts very busy on our visits so if you can take the stairs it is quicker on busy days.
There are toilets on most floors of the museum which are all wheelchair accessible. There is a changing places toilet on the first floor too.
The exhibitions at World Museum Liverpool
There are lots of permanent exhibitions at the World museum and spaces that host changing special exhibitions.
Aquarium
Get up close to lots of UK sea life. You’ll find projections and various tanks of different sizes with different species. I love seeing the jelly fish and crabs as well as the Nemo fish. You can also expect rays, starfish and skates among others.
The viewing bubble is popular with kids. They run regular behind the scenes tours which you can book on for a small fee.
Bug house
As you might expect from the name, here you can see insects. These are live spiders and other bugs such as ants, beetles and other creepy crawlies. This is another popular area for kids. There are some interactive activities for kids.
Clore Natural History Centre
When we visited in November this was a newly renovated area! We really enjoyed how hands on and interactive this gallery is. There is lots of natural history to explore in this area including lots of bones, fossils and skulls, many that you can touch.
There are also microscopes to interact with and digital screens showing short educational films.
Ancient Egypt
This is a great gallery to visit with kids who are learning about Egypt in school. In this gallery you can learn about ancient burial practices and learn about Egyptian civilisations.
There is lots of information here to read if you have kids with that much patience (I don’t). There are also some interactive elements and lots of objects on display including many mummies.
World Cultures
Here you’ll find huge collections of objects from Africa, The Americas, Asia and Oceania. When we visited there was a fun immersive Chinese ceramics display.
This area is 15 years old and they are currently consulting on how to transform the gallery.
Dinosaurs and Natural World
The perfect area to take your little dinosaur fan! There are several full size dinosaur skeletons on display. You can also learn more about different habitats and ecosystems.
This area was redeveloped and reopened in February 2026. We visited soon after it opened (it was so busy which did make taking photos hard but we had a lovely visit).
There are lots of skeletons and taxidermy too about dinosaurs and animals. There is a new large screen which was showing information about dinosaurs in cartoon form. This was particularly popular with families on our visit.
Space and time galleries
This area is great for kids that are interested in space and you can see telescopes and rockets on display. There are also loads of watches on display. There’s also a planetarium.
Our Verdict
We have visited the World Museum in Liverpool over the years we have been parents. No matter what age our kids were at the time of our visit, there has been something their to entertain our kids.
I think this is a great free place to take kids in Liverpool city centre. Our most recent visit was February 2026 as the Dinosaur and wild world exhibit reopened.
Our Top Tips for visiting the World Museum
The World Museum is a great place to visit with the family. Here are our top tips for making the most of your visit.
- If you can visit during term time on a weekday you will hopefully find it quieter than on the Saturdays that we have visited on.
- You can take a picnic and enjoy it in the picnic area inside the museum for a really low cost trip.
- Check their website for events and current opening days and times.
- If you don’t need to take a buggy then leave it in the buggy lockers as the queues for lifts can be long. Perhaps get a lift to the top of the museum and then work your way back down by the stairs, enjoying the galleries in reverse.
- If you have limited time for a visit think about which galleries you want to see most. It’s free so you absolutely can just pop into the aquarium or to see the dinosaurs.
More Liverpool attractions for families
Find more Things to do with toddlers in Liverpool here.
And if you have older kids then you’ll love my guide to Things to do in Liverpool for teenagers.
