Chester Zoo
Excellent, but it is a lot of walking. Reviews rate 5 to 10 as the ideal age and still recommend a pushchair at four. Climbing frames, water play and sand pits break up the distance.
Every day out in the North West, town by town
623 places worth taking children, across Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria. 244 of them cost nothing, and 318 work when it rains.
623 places244 free318 indoor543 suit under 5s
By what you want to do
Merseyside
Greater Manchester
Cheshire
Lancashire
Cumbria
The ones parents rate highest
Twelve places with a Google rating of 4.6 or more from at least 500 reviews, spread across the region. Everything else is a tap away by town or by type.
Blackpool Zoo
Elephants, gorillas, giraffes and sea lions in 37 acres that are actually walkable with primary-age legs - big enough to feel like a full day, small enough that nobody ends up carried.
Heaton Park
One of the biggest municipal parks in Europe: a free animal centre, a boating lake, playgrounds and enough space to lose a whole day in. You will not do all of it in one visit.
World Museum, Liverpool
Five floors, free, and it covers three things small children reliably love: giant dinosaurs, an aquarium and a space gallery. The best wet-weather day within half an hour.
Dunham Massey
A Georgian house in a deer park where the fallow deer wander right past you, with one of the UK's largest winter gardens for the cold months. The house shuts for the winter after 1 November; the park and gardens stay open.
Museum of Liverpool
The city's story with an overhead railway carriage to climb aboard and Little Liverpool, a dedicated hands-on gallery for under-6s. Free, on the waterfront, and the window views are half the fun.
Manchester Art Gallery
Free, right in the city centre, and properly set up for children: the Lion's Den family gallery has its own play space and the family activity programme costs nothing. Closed Mondays.
Chester Cathedral
Nearly a thousand years of history in the middle of Chester, free to walk into for most of the year and dry when the Walls are not. The tower tour costs extra, and its age rules only show up in the booking system.
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.
Castlerigg Stone Circle
Thirty-eight standing stones in a field above Keswick with the fells all round. Free, open any time in daylight, and exactly the right size for children to count, run between and not get bored.
Stanley Park
Blackpool's grand free option: Italian gardens, a big boating lake, one of the best playgrounds on the coast and model boats on the lake. The antidote to a wristband day.
Lakeland Motor Museum
Thousands of vehicles and period pieces packed into a riverside mill, with the Campbell Bluebird story told properly in its own gallery. One for kids who like machines; a surprisingly good wet-weather card.