Winning tip: the new Birmingham Library
Europe's biggest and most beautiful civic library opened earlier this month. Iniside it is so bright and open, inviting you to explore every corner – the huge cushions in the kids' area, the reading pods and pianos. And wandering through the roof gardens upstairs, you can take full stock of Birmingham's truly inspired/mad architecture all around. I'm so proud to have this place in my hometown.
libraryofbirmingham.com
Richard P J Lambert
Natural History Museum at Tring, in London and Hertfordshire
The wonderful galleries of this beautiful Victorian museum is home to everything from tiny dressed circus fleas to a grinning polar bear and array of domestic dogs. The exhibits were collected by Lionel Walter Rothschild, a remarkable character who kept an astonishing variety of live animals in the grounds around the museum and in Tring Park. Lionel Walter was a familiar sight in Tring, riding around town in his zebra-drawn carriage. Enjoy the experience of coming nose-to-nose with some really impressive specimens in this much-loved museum. And its better-known branch, in London's Kensington, opens late on the last Friday of the month. There is live music and you get to wander around the exhibits with refreshment in hand (the latter are not free, but not that expensive).
nhm.ac.uk/tring
MaryTebje, Fi_Bee
Hull's Museum quarter
Forget The Deep. Hull has an abundance of excellent free museums. On High Street there's the Hull and East Riding Museum for archaeology and local history; the Streetlife Museum, with reconstructed streets, businesses and an old signal box; Wilberforce House, charting the history of slavery and its eventual abolition, detailing William Wilberforce's role in this. There's also a renovated trawler, the Arctic Corsair, to visit, not forgetting the excellent Ferens Art Gallery (www.hullcc.gov.uk/ferens), the Maritime Museum and Hands-on History Museum in the old Grammar School. You'll need more than a day to visit them all!
ID1125133
The People's History Museum, Manchester
As Parliament debates measures which could restrict the right to free speech, what better time to visit the fascinating (and free) People's History Museum in Manchester? Housed in the Pump House, which used to supply the hydraulic power that ran the lifts in warehouses across Manchester, the museum charts the struggle for democracy from Peterloo to the present day – showing how far we have come, and what we stand to lose. Interesting for all ages, no matter how well you think you know your British history.
Bridge Street, Spinningfields, phm.org.uk
Alechale
Cliffe Castle museum, Keighley, West Yorkshire
Cliffe Castle is a neo-gothic Victorian hall with gardens, aviary and play area. There's Victoriana galore, early William Morris stained glass, Egyptian artefacts, a Henpeck'd Club "peace box" (claiming to be the cure for a cross wife), archaeology and natural history exhibits. There are also bees: their faint drone fills the air and the display case allows you to observe them at work. Recently refurbished, it is a remarkable, family-friendly local museum.
Spring Gardens Lane, bradfordmuseums.org
indoorfireworks
Coldstones Cut, Nidderdale, North Yorkshire
The Coldstones Cut is a landscape sculpture overlooking a huge quarry. You approach it on a tarmac footpath with double yellow lines and bollards, and go up a curly path to the spectacular vantage point. You don't know that a quarry is here until it suddenly appears, and you don't know what the artwork depicts – a phallus harking back to the Cerne Abbas giant – until you see it the aerial shots. You will be discussing your interpretations of the sculpture all the way home – via the tea rooms of picturesque Pateley Bridge.
thecoldstonescut.org
Paul Kirkwood
Bold Street presents the One World Festival, Liverpool
The historic, community-spirited Bold Street will come alive with Japanese dance, Colombian theatre and Tanzanian acrobatics as it hosts this year's annual free festival (on 29 September), with the theme of One World.
Family fun includes co-operative games, seed-sowing activities, communal poem-making, puppet walkabouts and street stalls from the eclectic shops and cafes. There's a Hobo Bazaar, Bolshie Bargain Bookstall and music from five continents.
citycentralbid.com, 11.30am-6.30pm
marcov
The Photographers' Gallery, London
The Photographers' Gallery reopened in a redeveloped space in Ramillies Street, Soho, just over a year ago. There are original, innovative exhibitions, and a fab cafe and bookshop. It is a great place to see works by contemporary photographers such as Mark Neville, or contribute to citizens' photography project This is your Photo, which runs until 9 October 2013. It is also home to the annual Deutsche Börse Photography Prize.
thephotographersgallery.org.uk
Fi_Bee
This Rhino is a Work of Art, Southampton
A herd of 97 wonderfully painted rhino has stampeded through Southampton. This mass public sculptures exhibition is sprinkled across the city. Decorated by local schoolchildren, artists and community groups, each one is unique, and the little babies are adorable. Download a map or an app to find them while exploring the city. Many are near popular landmarks. Nautical, floral, animal or abstract, there's sure to be a rhino you'll love. The exhibition ends on 22 September and the sculptures will be auctioned in October.
gorhinos.co.uk
FarawayVisions
Art Across the City 2013, Swansea
Visual arts charity Locws International has curated a new series of public commissions, including works from Juneau Projects and Matthew Houlding. On until 6 October, it is an ambitious programme bringing contemporary, site-specific art to Swansea – it's a culturally rich excuse to explore Swansea and its seafront.
locwsinternational.com
robermingham
