Bolton Museum, Art Gallery and Aquarium

Bolton Museum is surprisingly great. You imagine that a town like Bolton would have little more than a big turning steam powered wheel, with locals simply stood around cooing at it.

That's because some people have got the wrong idea entirely about this fine town.

The truth of the matter is that Bolton Museum has some really wonderful exhibits. One area of expertise surrounds Egyptology. You are advised to go see the stones, pottery and real life mummy.

Serious.

Elsewhere, there's dinosaur skulls (bloody massive things), a nod to the industrial revolution and stuffed animals. If I remember rightly, there's a snarling fox which could well give you nightmares.

And it is all completely free.

The art gallery is just as impressive and the exhibitions they've had have been astonishing. In recent years, they've embraced pop-culture with a great look at the '60s as well as focusing on the masters like Da Vinci and Picasso.

The aquarium however, is a bit crap.

This is such a great place to go for a free day out. It is perfect for young and old but particularly a great place to take the kids on school holidays or at weekends. The museum has different sections in it such as a section for Egyptology. This part is really interesting because it has allsorts of Egyptian artefacts including real mummies and coffins. They usually have some fact sheet type questionnaires that your kids can go find the various information and fill them in which gives them something to do. There are other sections of the museum with exhibits on industrial type things and animal and environmental things. There is even an aquarium at the bottom of the museum which is completely free. There is a good well stocked library with free internet access available. Overall it is a great place to entertain you and your family on a day out for free.

This is a fantastic place to visit,especially for families. We visit regularly,especially in school holidays. The museum regularly hold free fun themed days in the holidays and weekends. We went to one this year about faces and they had put on lots of different activities. My daughters had their portraits done by a cartoonist…all free!! It is in the centre of town on Le Mans crescent,itself a beautiful part of town. Highly recommended.