Dunham Massey
A Georgian house in a deer park where the fallow deer wander right past you. This summer's Play Hub adds giant games and den building in the North Park, and the winter garden is the area's best cold-day walk.
National Trust
The strongest all-rounder for a North West family, and it is not close. Eight of the places on this site are National Trust, spread across Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cumbria, and free parking is the bit people underestimate: at Formby the car park is essentially the whole cost of the day. Lancashire is the gap - nothing of ours there is National Trust.
8 places on kidzdaysacross 4 countiesprices checked 2 August 2026
What it costs
| Option | A year | A month |
|---|---|---|
| Family (2 adults + their children) | £176.40 | £14.70 |
| Family (1 adult + their children) | £109.20 | £9.10 |
| Joint (2 adults) | £120 | £10 |
Two adults and two children: £176.40 a year. Family membership, 2 adults and their children.
Checked 2 August 2026. Nearly all of these go up in the spring, so if you are reading this much later, treat the figures as the shape of the thing rather than the price.
What it gets you into up here
8 of the places on kidzdays. Not the national count, the North West one.
Formby Beach & Pinewoods
Huge sand dunes, a proper beach and red squirrels in the pinewoods behind it. The dunes alone will occupy them for an hour. Free entry if you have National Trust membership.
Hill Top
Beatrix Potter's tiny farmhouse, kept exactly as she left it, with the garden where Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddle-Duck were dreamt up. Magical for a book-loving seven-year-old, over in an hour, and you must book a timed slot in advance.
Quarry Bank Mill
A working cotton mill where the looms still clatter and the Apprentice House tells the children's side of the industrial revolution straight. A new Play Hub inside the mill and river walks outside round it off.
Sizergh Castle & Garden
A medieval tower house with proper gardens and a wild play trail in the woods just off the car park - climbing wall, rope swing, stepping stones. For National Trust members it is the easiest Lakes stop off the M6; for everyone else the garden ticket is the sensible buy.
Speke Hall
A Tudor hall with woodland walks, a maze and a natural play area in the grounds. Free if you have National Trust membership, and the indoor house is a good rain fallback.
Summer of Play, Hare Hill
Water play and outdoor games in a walled garden setting through the holidays. Free if you already have National Trust membership.
Lyme Park
A proper deer park on the edge of the Peaks: 1,400 acres, a herd of red deer, the Crow Wood adventure playground, and the house from the BBC's Pride and Prejudice.
Also covers: Around 500 places across the UK, so it keeps working on holiday as well as at home.
The catch
Several North West properties are grounds-only in winter, and Hare Hill and Hill Top are small. Two or three visits a year and you have not covered the family price.
Would it actually pay for itself?
We are not going to pretend to know. It turns entirely on how often you would really go, and the honest answer for most families is fewer times than they imagine in the shop. Count the trips you genuinely made last year, not the ones you meant to.
Worth saying plainly: more than half the days out on this site cost nothing at all, and no annual pass beats free. Have a look at those first.