89 places across Cheshire, 34 of which cost nothing. Every one written up honestly, with dated events from the venues that run them.
Cheshire is where the big-ticket days live: Chester Zoo, BeWILDerwood, Gulliver's World, all worth the money and all a proper spend. The quieter half of the county is the bargain. Walton Hall has a free children's zoo and one of the best playgrounds in the borough, Delamere Forest costs nothing beyond parking, and Lymm Dam is a free walk that feels further from a motorway than it is. The Ice Cream Farm near Chester is free to walk in, which is a trap, but a pleasant one.
Rain does not have to mean soft play. Catalyst in Widnes does proper hands-on science for a few pounds, Blue Planet at Ellesmere Port fills a wet afternoon, and Jodrell Bank is worth the ticket the first time the Lovell telescope moves. Our approach to days out in Cheshire is to alternate: one paid big day, then two or three free ones. Nobody notices the difference by bedtime.
16 dated events coming up across the county.
A wolf-pack sculpture trail around the wonkiest Tudor house in England. Cross the moat, count the wolves, and let the hall's crooked floors do the entertaining.
Starts at 10.30am. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Sponsored 5k or 10k run through Chester Zoo before the gates open to the public on Sunday 20 September. Finishers get a medal, free zoo entry that day and discounted entry for family and friends who join in. No registration fee is given in the email.
Pick your own out of the field at the farm, four pounds a pumpkin on top of normal entry. You choose it yourself rather than lifting one off a pallet, so expect muddy hands.
Starts at 11am. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Runs on 4 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Everything on10 more not shown here
Twelve to start with. Each area above has the full list.
A flooded sand quarry ten minutes' walk from Congleton town centre, now fourteen hectares of water, woodland and wildflower meadow with a flat mile long path round it. There is no playground.
A shopping village in the Delamere woods with free entry, free parking and a genuinely good free adventure playground, plus a long menu of pay-as-you-go extras from crazy golf to falconry.
Fifty odd acres of birch and oak wrapped round a fifteen acre lake, out between Congleton and Holmes Chapel. Give the children the permanent orienteering map and it stops being a walk.
Nine hectares of Green Flag park in the middle of Frodsham, with two trails that give a walk a point: a story sculpture trail following Matilda the bee, and a tree trail of nineteen trees.
The largest Roman amphitheatre uncovered in Britain, sitting in the open just outside the city walls. Only about half of it has been dug out and the rest is still under the buildings behind.
The free outdoor paddling pool is the summer draw, run for under elevens with an attendant always on duty. The rest is twenty five acres of Victorian park along the River Dane.
Twenty nine hectares on the north edge of Chester, with five waymarked routes. The paths and kissing gates were designed for wheelchairs, which makes it easy going with a pushchair. No playground.
Cheshire's biggest forest, set up properly for families: the Gruffalo sculptures still stand along the trail, 2026's new Room on the Broom activity trail runs from the visitor centre, and the whole loop is pram-friendly. Go Ape overhead for older kids.
Chester's Roman story done properly: real tombstones from the fortress walls, a hands-on natural history gallery, and a walk-through period house at the back. Free, central, and the right size.
Chester's Victorian park above the river, with a miniature railway looping the lawns, a good playground and open-air theatre in summer. Pair with a boat trip from the Groves below.
Seven and a quarter inch gauge, a loop of nearly a mile through Runcorn Town Park, a ride of about ten minutes and no charge. It has run since 1979, and only when a volunteer turns up to drive.
Thirteen hectares of open mere, fen and wet woodland at the north end of Delamere Forest, free and open at any hour. Grebes, reed buntings and a dozen dragonfly species. No toilets, no cafe, roadside parking only.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.