Budget friendly ideas

Visit our parks! We’re not short on green spaces in Peterborough! Some of our biggest parks include Central Park, which has tennis courts, a café for hungry visitors, sunken gardens and shaded walks, and Itter Park, with ponds, playground, and raised beds with beautiful flowers. For expansive space next to our city centre, look no further than Peterborough Embankment which is less than a five minute walk from our cathedral. You might even come across one of the many festivals we play host to there – including the annual Beer Festival – the largest one outside of London!

Green Wheel – Take a tour of the city by bike on this 45 mile route that circles Peterborough. Connected to the National Cycleway Network, you’ll be taken through nature reserves, picturesque villages, and even along the embankment by our city centre. On the wheel you’ll pass attractions like the millennium bridge, Peterborough sculpture park, Railworld Wildlife Haven, and Nene Park.

Tuesdays Till Two Concerts – These lunchtime concerts at St John the Baptist Church in Peterborough city centre are open to anyone who wants to hear classical music played by professionals in a perfect venue for music. It’s free to attend but donations to the church are welcomed. The events team also have a selection of sweet and savoury home-made refreshments available for visitors.

Thorpe Hall Gardens – Thorpe Hall is a Grade I listed building that is also a fantastic hospice run by the charity, Sue Ryder. Their manicured gardens and parkland are open to the public year round. It’s free to visit but a visit to their gift shop and enjoying tasty refreshments at their coffee shop are encouraged.

Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery – It’s always free to visit the city’s core historical exhibits at Peterborough Museum. And this summer they've got two more free exhibitions open to all - "Proud to be POSH", which celebrates the 88 year history of our beloved football team, and "Extinction", which asks whether we're now in the sixth period of mass extinction.  There are family activities for all ages with Five Weeks of Fun  too, ranging from football challenges and fossil hunts to wild crafts!

You can go on hidden heritage tours on Saturdays and explore the vaults under the museum every Tuesday and Thursday for a small fee. Carers can join free of charge and children under 16 can join for £3.00 each, adults for £5.00.

The historic building also regularly hosts special exhibitions, and this summer they're free of charge! Peterborough Museum is celebrating our football history with Proud to be POSH, and uncovering the mysteries of long-lost wildlife in the Extinction exhibition. Plus, their five weeks of fun season includes family friendly activities ranging from football and crafts, to fossil hunting!

The Key Theatre is running Family Films where you can buy tickets to major blocklbuster releases from just £3.00! Films will include Jurassic World: Dominion on 14 August at 11am and 11.30am,  Thor: Love and Thunder on 21 August at 11.30am, and DC League of Super-Pets on 28 August at 11.30am and 2.00pm

Take a tour of Peterborough Sculpture Trail at Thorpe Meadows – The trail includes 13 permanent pieces of artwork by artists like Miles Davies, Elizabeth Cooke, Jane Ackroyd and Simon Perry. All by our rowing lake, it’s a tranquil spot enjoyed by amblers and art lovers alike.

Peterborough has another 12 sculptures across the city including works by Stephen Broadbent, Anthony Caro, Robert Erskine, Renn & Thacker, and Antony Gough – the latter’s work you’ll found along the skyline of our city centre!

Peterborough Lido – Another one of our city’s most popular summer attractions, this Grade II listed building is one of the finest examples of historic outdoor swimming in the country! Children under 5 can get in all day for just £1.00, and all-day adult tickets to visit between 9.30am – 6.00pm costs a maximum of £10.00.

Nene Park and Ferry Meadows – one of our best known parks, a day out in the expansive grounds of Nene Park can be free of charge if you’re walking or on your own bike. If you’re travelling by car, your only cost could be parking! Their six weeks of summer events offer fun for families with archery, wall climbing, bike hire, pedalo and canoe hire, and more! Plus you can explore nature trails, try your hands at outdoor crafts, and discover a whole lot of wildlife in the waterways, hedges, trees, and open spaces!

Peterborough Cathedral – One of our best loved attractions, Peterborough Cathedral is best known for its beautiful West Front. You can also wander onto the green and wander that grounds, including the cloisters.

This summer, the cathedral is hosting the Natural History Museum’s “T Rex: The Killer Question” exhibition and you’ll need a ticket to go further than the main entrance. Tickets cost from £6 per child (aged 3-16 years), £8 per adult and £25 for a family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children aged 3-16 years, or 1 adult and up to 4 children aged 3-16 years). A booking fee applies.

Flag Fen – Thanks to our marshy land, 3,000 year old artefacts have been amazingly preserved, earning Flag Fen the nickname of the British Pompeii.

Just 15 minutes’ drive from our city centre it’s a great outdoor space where the team regularly hosts family friendly activities that take you back to the Roman, Viking, and Bronze Ages. The team is putting on an Unbaalievable Bank Holiday  of ewe-nique events at the end of August where visitors can meet the new Soay lambs plus, a ram-packed range of activities, crafts and stalls.

Normal admission is £6 for adults, £3 for children, or £15 for a family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children). But, you can buy an annual pass for not much more – an adult pass costs £10, £5 for children, and £25 for a family pass.

Sacrewell – free entry for under 2s!

Experience food, farming and the beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside on a visit to Sacrewell. There are animals to meet, great outdoor spaces to explore, a fully restored 18th century watermill, an Artisan Courtyard – with independent businesses making gins, cheese, chocolate, fabric gifts – interesting and unique presents!

Outdoor play areas include the award winning natural play and a large indoor soft play centre. Adult entry is from £7.93, and under 2s can enter free of charge. Frequent visitors can get annual passes to take full advantage of all that Sacrewell has to offer.

Longthorpe Tower - free entry for under 5s and English Heritage Members!

Longthorpe Tower is one of Peterborough's historic gems just outside Nene Park. Its spectacular wall paintings added about 1330 are among the most impressive examples of medieval domestic wall painting in northern Europe. Richly decorated scenes show people from every walk of life, from kings to animals, saints to knights and musicians. The Tower is open for pre-booked 1 hour guided tours on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 April until the 30 October, 10am – 4.30pm (last admission is 3.30pm).

Under 5s and English Heritage Members can enter free of charge. Admission for children aged 5-17 costs £3.30 each, adults £5.50, and family tickets for two adults and up to three children are available for £14.30. More prices are available – please check the booking site for details.

Elton Hall – The Hall has been home to the Proby family since 1660 and the house and grounds open to the public every spring and summer. The family’s magnificent collection includes paintings that date back to the 15^th century to 10,000 books in three libraries which include Henry VIII’s prayer book with inscriptions by him and his three children. The garden has been lovingly restored over the last 35 years with mature topiary, a Gothic Orangery and billowing flower borders set between immaculately cut hedges.

Children aged under 17 accompanied by an adult enter for free. Entrance to the gardens is £9.00 for an adult. To visit the house and gardens is £14.