For families

Family attractions in West Pomerania: water parks, rope courses, an oceanarium and play centres. Dozens of places for children, by the sea and in Szczecin.

This list is for parents who want a plan for a weekend or a holiday day with children and need to know at once what works when it rains. Most of the places are indoors or can be visited whatever the weather. There are also seasonal amusement parks and playgrounds, so when planning check when each venue is open. For single towns see Dla rodzin: Szczecin and Dla rodzin: Kołobrzeg.

What can you do with children in West Pomerania on a rainy day?

The great majority of family places have covered attractions, so rain does not ruin the plan. The safest choices are water parks and swimming pools, play centres, interactive exhibitions, the oceanarium and climbing centres. The region has more than fifty of them, with the largest numbers in Szczecin and Kołobrzeg.

Most suggestions cluster in a few towns. Szczecin and Kołobrzeg have several places each, Międzyzdroje and Koszalin a few, and Jarosławiec, Szczecinek and Dziwnów offer some ideas too. For a family with a single place to stay, it means that practically every seaside resort has something to do when the beach is ruled out.

Matching an attraction to the children's age is worth doing before you travel. Play centres such as Bosco speak of children aged one to nine, and Bajeczny Namiot in Sarbinowo caters for children up to twelve. Rope courses and the climbing wall need somewhat older children.

Which water park or pool should a family choose?

Water parks are the classic answer to a wet day, and the region has about a dozen. They differ in scale, from large hotel complexes to municipal pools with a single slide. When choosing, go by the distance from where you are staying and by whether you want an hour in the water or the whole day.

In Szczecin there is Fabryka Wody in the Drzetowo-Grabowo district, with a water area, an outdoor zone, saunas, a sports zone and an education centre. In summer you can also use Arkonka in Osów, a set of pools that open from June to September, alongside sports pitches and courts. Near Szczecin, Gryfino is worth a look: Laguna has a tourist information point inside and is the finish of cycle routes.

On the coast the biggest water parks belong to hotels and admit outside guests. Międzyzdroje Aquapark is part of the Aqua Resort hotel and offers slides, an artificial rapid river and saunas. In Jarosławiec Panorama Morska has several pools covering roughly seventeen hundred square metres, slides, and a steam-bath grotto. In Mrzeżyno Zalewski Aquapark has six pools, slides and a wellness zone, and in Darłówko JAN Water Park adds a bowling alley and a swimming school.

Municipal pools are smaller but convenient: Milenium Pool in Kołobrzeg has a 25 m sports pool and recreational pools, Koszalin Water Park combines pools, slides and a sauna, and Fala Swimming Pool in Goleniów has a pool for learning to swim and slides for children. In Świdwin RELAX Water Park adds a hydromassage, a sauna and the Figloland area. Koszalin also has a wake park with a wakeboard cable and equipment hire.

What play centres and amusement parks are there on the coast?

Seaside holidays are rescued by play centres that work regardless of the beach. In Kołobrzeg Klockowisko is built around millions of building bricks and has five zones, slides and pools filled with foam, while the Upside-Down House in the same town amuses with inverted rooms and photos on the ceiling. Mielno has a similar attraction: the Upside-Down House on ulica Kościuszki is a biscuit-themed version with optical illusions for photos.

In Jarosławiec Funky Plaza has an animator and creative workshops, plus a ball pit and birthday parties and sleepovers. In Dziwnów Letti Lili Inflatable World is a seasonal playground with bouncy castles and trampolines, and in Sarbinowo Gigapark offers inflatables and the Wild Safari track under a big tent, while Bajeczny Namiot adds dry ball pools and a pontoon slide.

A bigger outing is Hossoland in Brojce: a seasonal amusement park with four themed zones, twenty-five attractions and stage shows, some ten-odd kilometres from the coast. In Białogard Neon Shot Park is an arena for Nerf-gun battles for children aged six and over and for adults, so it suits families with teenagers.

Where can children see animals and butterflies?

Animals are the surest way to a happy child. In Międzyzdroje the Bison Show Reserve displays bison in Wolin National Park, with wolves, deer and white-tailed eagles beside them; the herd has been kept since 1976. Near Kołobrzeg Al-pako in Kolonia Charzyno is a family farm where alpacas, capybaras and camels live, and visitors come for picnics and feed the animals.

In Kołobrzeg the Oceanarium shows tanks with piranhas, moray eels, rays and sharks. In Niechorze the Butterfly House keeps exotic butterflies flying freely in tropical warmth, and a few kilometres on, in Rogozina, Donkey Szot is a small zoo with over two hundred animals, plus a place to play. At Wrzosowo near Kamień Pomorski the Baltic Dinosaur Park mixes dinosaur models with a mini zoo and a mineral exhibition.

What exhibitions and educational places are there for children?

If a child likes to learn while playing, choose an interactive exhibition. The Maritime Science Centre Nautica Park in Dziwnów deals with lifesaving at sea, fishing, Cold War history and amber, and the 6D Museum in Kołobrzeg shows 3D paintings and special effects about the fishermen of old.

In Międzyzdroje the Baltic Miniature Park presents scale models of landmarks and lighthouses from the Baltic states at one twenty-fifth of full size, plus a miniature of the Baltic Sea and toy railways. In Krupy near Darłowo Leonardia blends learning with play and has gathered nearly a hundred wooden games, and near Smolne the Hortulus Spectabilis Gardens have a hornbeam maze and a viewing tower twenty metres tall.

Where can children run, climb and jump?

Active children and their parents have several tried places. Rope courses operate in Koszalin (Na Linie on Chełmska Hill, with routes up to twelve metres high and a Big Swing), in Świnoujście (Bluszcz Rope Park has ten routes of varying difficulty) and in Czaplinek (Linolandia on Lake Drawsko, with six routes, a barbecue and a campfire spot).

In Szczecin Big Wall is a climbing hall where the wall reaches fifteen metres and there is also a bouldering room and a cafe, while Fun Jump in Pomorzany is a trampoline park inside the Hit2Fit complex, where laser tag, a VR zone, go-karts and a monkey grove wait beside the jumping. For smaller children Królestwo Zabawy in Dąbie has a cafe for parents, slides and trampolines, and Bosco in Wołczkowo outside the city has a monkey grove, a ball pool and an obstacle course.

Also notable is Wolf Fort in Kołobrzeg, a fort of 1807 converted into an amphitheatre in 1925. It sometimes hosts festivals, so time your visit by the events calendar.

How to combine the beach with attractions in case the weather changes?

The most practical approach is a plan in two parts: beach or a walk in the morning, an indoor place in the afternoon. For a stay of several days by the sea, keep one water park, one play centre and one exhibition in reserve, so that every wet day looks different. Families touring several resorts can pair neighbouring ones: Kołobrzeg with Sarbinowo and Mrzeżyno, Niechorze with Jarosławiec and Dziwnów, and Międzyzdroje with Wrzosowo and Kamień Pomorski.

Szczecin works as a base for a longer stay, because the city and its surroundings have a pool, a play centre and a climbing wall, and Gryfino or Wołczkowo are not far. For families with a car, a day outside the city is a good idea: several attractions lie in the villages and small towns around, for example Hossoland in Brojce, Leonardia in Krupy or Donkey Szot in Rogozina.

How to plan a day with children?

The best plan is one main place plus one simpler attraction nearby. In Kołobrzeg you can join the Oceanarium, Klockowisko and the 6D Museum, and in Niechorze the Butterfly House with a trip to Donkey Szot. In Międzyzdroje further ideas are the miniature park and the bison reserve, and in Szczecin a water park paired with a play centre.

• With toddlers: play centres, animal farms, the Butterfly House and the Oceanarium;
• With school-age children: water parks, interactive exhibitions, rope courses and the miniature park;
• With teenagers: climbing, Big Wall, the wake park and Neon Shot Park;
• On cool days: pools and play rooms, on warm days rope courses and amphitheatres.

With a larger group, for example with grandparents, choose places with a cafe: Big Wall, Królestwo Zabawy and Bosco have one, so adults can rest while the children play.

Bear seasons in mind. Hossoland, Bajeczny Namiot, Letti Lili Inflatable World and the Arkonka pools operate in summer, so outside the season their offer is limited, and several other places set their rules on their own sites.

Frequently asked questions

What to do with children in West Pomerania on a rainy day?

Choose a water park, a play centre, the oceanarium or an interactive exhibition. More than fifty places on this list carry the "Na deszcz" (rainy day) label, with the most ideas in Kołobrzeg and Szczecin.

Which water parks are by the sea?

The largest are in Międzyzdroje, Jarosławiec, Mrzeżyno and Darłówko, usually at hotels, and outside guests are admitted too. Kołobrzeg and Koszalin offer municipal water parks.

Where to go with a small child?

Bosco play centre in Wołczkowo is aimed at children from one to nine. In Sarbinowo Bajeczny Namiot takes children up to twelve, and Al-pako in Kolonia Charzyno offers a meeting with animals.

What to do with teenagers?

Try climbing at Big Wall in Szczecin, rope courses in Koszalin, Świnoujście and Czaplinek, or the wake park in Koszalin. Neon Shot Park in Białogard takes children from six and adults.

Where to see animals?

At the bison reserve in Międzyzdroje, in the oceanarium in Kołobrzeg, in the butterfly house in Niechorze and at Donkey Szot in Rogozina with over two hundred animals.

Do all attractions work all year round?

No. Some, such as Hossoland or Letti Lili Inflatable World, are seasonal. Before you travel, check availability on the venue's site or on its listing.

Where to go with children in Szczecin?

Szczecin has the Fabryka Wody water park, the Big Wall climbing centre, the Fun Jump trampoline park and play rooms such as Królestwo Zabawy in Dąbie and Bosco in Wołczkowo. The full list is at Dla rodzin: Szczecin, and places in Koszalin are at Dla rodzin: Koszalin.