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.
Days out with the kids in Alderley Edge
1 place in Alderley Edge, Cheshire. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
1 in Alderley Edge
The village is famous for footballers' cars and espresso, but the sandstone Edge above it is what you are actually here for. National Trust woodland runs along the escarpment, riddled with old copper mine entrances and the legend of a wizard guarding sleeping knights under the hill, which does half your entertaining for you. Views stretch across the plain to the Pennines, the paths suit primary-age legs, and it costs nothing beyond the car park.
Hare Hill, the quiet walled garden nearby, runs the Trust's Summer of Play through the holidays - water play and garden games, free with membership, finished by the end of August. After that, borrow from the neighbours: Quarry Bank Mill's clattering looms are ten minutes away at Styal, Tatton Park's deer about fifteen, and Tegg's Nose gives you a proper hill above Macclesfield.
Places in Alderley Edge
What’s on in Alderley Edge
1 dated event coming up, 1 of them this weekend.
Summer of Play at Hare Hill
Hare Hill, Over Alderley · Alderley Edge
until 31 Aug. Daily until 31 August
Water play and outdoor games in a walled garden. Free if you already have National Trust membership, which makes it one of the better value days out if you do.
Written by us
Also worth the drive
Not in Alderley Edge, but close enough for a day out.
Dinosaur Trail at Bents
A prehistoric trail winding through a garden centre, with interactive bits along the way. Under-2s free, and there's a café and indoor shelter if the weather turns.
Walton Hall & Gardens
The reliable default: gardens, a children's zoo, a big playground and plenty of room to run. Pay for parking, nothing else.
Jungle Parc
High ropes and treetop courses in the grounds at Walton Hall. Reviewers rate the value, but frame it as one for the bigger, braver kids.
Free Summer in Warrington
Inflatables in Old Market Square every day, plus a rotating Wednesday programme across the parks and a Thursday session in Time Square. No tickets, no booking, just turn up.
Gulliver's World
A theme park deliberately built for ages 2 to 13 rather than teenagers, so both of them can ride most of it. The classic full-day option on your doorstep.
Apple Jacks Adventure Farm
Farm animals, outdoor play and indoor barns, so a wet forecast doesn't cancel the day. Well matched to the 3-8 age range.
Giggles Play Mill
Two-tier soft play frame, low climbing wall, pirate ship, crawl tubes and a bouncy slide, plus Messy Monday and sensory sessions during the week.
Jellybeans Play Centre
Bigger than the average soft play: multi-level frame, a spooky room, an astro slide, a climbing wall, two mini bowling lanes and a slot racing track. The bowling is what makes it work when you have a toddler and a seven-year-old to keep happy at once.