Days out with the kids in Holmes Chapel

Holmes Chapel is a village with a station, a couple of bakeries and a UNESCO World Heritage Site ten minutes down the lanes. Jodrell Bank's Lovell Telescope is 76 metres of moving steel you can see from half of Cheshire, and the Discovery Centre underneath pitches space science at primary age without dumbing it down. Children who will not stand still for anything go quiet when the dish turns.

That is the day, and it earns the trip on its own. For the rest, the village points outwards: Tatton Park's deer and playground are twenty minutes north through Knutsford, Quarry Bank Mill's clattering looms half an hour up the road at Styal, and the hills above Macclesfield about the same to the east. An honest base, one extraordinary neighbour, and everything else within thirty minutes.

Places in Holmes Chapel

Holmes Chapel Zoo

Holmes Chapel~35 min

★★★★★4.6(291)

A small family-run zoo off the M6 at Twemlow, with meerkats, skunks, wallabies, owls and reptiles, keeper talks and handling sessions in the ticket. Kids £6, picnics allowed, but the nearest toilets are at the dairy cafe next door.

Adults £8.50, kids £6Ages 2-11

Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre

Holmes Chapel~35 min

★★★★★4.6(3,246)

The Lovell Telescope is one of the largest steerable radio telescopes on Earth and it silences children on arrival. The First Light Pavilion and its Space Dome do the explaining; the arboretum and the playground do the running about. Open Tuesday to Sunday.

TicketedIndoorsAges 6-11

Just Kidding Holmes Chapel

Holmes Chapel~30 min

★★★★★4.7(280)

Holmes Chapel's soft play, on the business park by the village, with a multi-level frame, a separate toddler area and a baby area. No time limit on term-time weekdays; weekends and holidays run in two-hour sessions that need booking.

£9.70 a child in term time, £12.20 at peakIndoorsAges 1-12

What’s on in Holmes Chapel

3 dated events coming up, 1 of them this weekend.

Also worth the drive

Not in Holmes Chapel, but close enough for a day out.

Walton Hall & Gardens

Warrington~10 min

★★★★★4.7(6,537)

The reliable default: gardens, a children's zoo, a big playground and plenty of room to run. Pay for parking, nothing else.

Free entry, parking £4 to £5Ages 4-11

Jungle Parc

Warrington~10 min

★★★★★4.5(10)

Treetop rope courses in the woods at Walton Hall Gardens. The Warrington site runs the Adventurer course, built for children from age 4 with a minimum height of 1.05m, with over 60 activities at different heights. Children £19; supervising adults walking below go free.

Children £19, supervising adults freeAges 4-11

Gulliver's World

Warrington~15 min

★★★★☆4.0(9,643)

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.

Full day ticketAges 4-9

Apple Jacks Adventure Farm

Warrington~15 min

★★★★☆4.0(593)

An adventure farm off Stretton Road built for 4 to 12s: tractor trailer rides, zip wires, drop slides, jumping pillows, roller skating and a tent full of inflatables. Despite the name there are no animals to see, and in October it turns into Spooky World's daytime Fun-By-Day.

Day ticketWeekends and school holidays in season; October is Spooky World Fun-By-DayAges 4-12

Giggles Play Mill

Warrington~10 min

★★★★☆4.2(164)

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.

£6.75 a child, adults freeIndoorsAges 4-8

Jellybeans Play Centre

Warrington~15 min

★★★★☆4.3(504)

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.

£6 off-peak, £12 at weekends and half termsIndoorsAges 4-9

Fun2b

Warrington~10 min

★★★★☆4.2(200)

Straightforward multi-level soft play with a café that adults can actually sit in. Nothing fancy, reliably works.

Session priceIndoorsAges 4-8

Tenpin Warrington

Warrington~10 min

★★★★☆4.2(1,663)

Soft play plus bowling under one roof, which solves the two-different-ages problem in a single trip. Ask for the barriers if anyone is under about six.

Per game / sessionIndoorsAges 4-11