Farms & animals in Chester

Chester Zoo is the reason most people come and it deserves it, but it is also a full day and a proper spend, and the other four here exist for the days you cannot face either. The Ice Cream Farm at Tattenhall now charges a couple of pounds on the door and runs everything inside on a pay-per-play card, and with a toddler and a sand-and-water quarry it is still a fair trade.

Hayrack Church Farm, ten minutes north of the city, is the cheap one and the easy one: six pounds a head on a weekday, open pens you can feed by hand, soft play included in the ticket and no booking to make. Cotebrook near Tarporley is the opposite, £13.50 an adult to stand next to thirty shire horses, and the trick there is that the ticket converts to a month of free return visits. RSPB Burton Mere out on the Dee has den building, backpacks of kit to borrow and free parking, and the first child goes in free.

Farms & animals in Chester

Hayrack Church Farm

Chester~30 min

★★★★☆4.4(513)

A working farm ten minutes north of Chester where the pens are open, the feed bags cost a pound and the soft play is included in the ticket. No booking, which is half the appeal.

£6 weekdays, £7 peak, under 1s freeAges 1-8

RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands

Chester~45 min

★★★★★4.7(1,097)

A big Dee estuary reserve with a den-building area, hides you can actually get a pushchair into and free parking. The first child goes free and under-5s always do.

£7 adults, £3.50 a child, first child freeAges 3-11

The Ice Cream Farm

Chester~35 min

★★★★☆4.4(9,956)

A small entry fee now, then a pay-per-play card for the attractions: a giant sand and water quarry, mini golf, go-karts and play areas, funded by a world-record ice cream shop. Cheap after 3.30pm, glorious in any weather.

Small entry fee, then pay per playIndoorsAges 4-8

Chester Zoo

Chester~45 min

★★★★★4.6(48,294)

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.

Day ticketAges 4-11

Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre

Chester~35 min

★★★★★4.6(1,105)

The only shire horse stud in the country open to the public, with up to thirty of them in season. The ticket turns into a free return pass for a month, which changes the maths completely.

£13.50 adults, £11.50 children, family £46Ages 3-11

Farms & animals elsewhere in the North West

Apple Jacks Adventure Farm

Warrington~15 min

★★★★☆4.0(593)

Farm animals, outdoor play and indoor barns, so a wet forecast doesn't cancel the day. Well matched to the 3-8 age range.

Day ticketIndoorsAges 4-9

Knowsley Safari

Prescot~20 min

★★★★★4.5(14,246)

Drive through the reserve from the car, then the sea lion and birds of prey shows. Reviews are split on value, and several warn that families expect a full zoo and find fewer headline animals, so set expectations first.

Around £60 a familyAges 4-11

Smithills Open Farm

Bolton~35 min

★★★★★4.7(5,055)

A proper hands-on farm day: bottle feeding, donkey rides, a tractor trailer tour and small animal handling, with enough under cover to survive drizzle. Built for the under-9s.

Day ticketIndoorsAges 4-8

Blackpool Zoo

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★★4.6(17,786)

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.

Book online - cheaperAges 4-11

WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre

Burscough~40 min

★★★★★4.7(3,181)

Otters at feeding time, flamingos, pond dipping and a canoe safari through the reeds in season. One of those places that quietly turns a nature-indifferent child into a nature child.

Day ticket - WWT members freeAges 4-11

Windmill Animal Farm

Burscough~40 min

★★★★★4.7(1,883)

A friendly hands-on farm whose star turn is the miniature railway running out across the fields. Animal handling sessions, indoor play for wet spells, and it never feels too big.

Day ticketIndoorsAges 4-8