Days out with the kids in Macclesfield

Macclesfield is where the Cheshire plain runs out and the hills start, and the hills are the offer. Tegg's Nose Country Park sits above the town with quarry-edge views back across the plain, trails short enough for primary-age legs, and the sort of wind that guarantees everyone sleeps that night. It is free, it is proper walking without being a mountain, and it is the thing here worth driving for.

For the rest, the town borrows from its neighbours, and the neighbours are generous. Quarry Bank Mill at Styal is a working cotton mill where the looms still clatter and the Apprentice House tells the children's side of the industrial story. Jodrell Bank's Lovell Telescope silences children on arrival, which you cannot say of many attractions, and Tatton Park's deer and playground cover the classic run-around day. Days out in Macclesfield with kids start with a hill; everything else is twenty minutes in some direction.

Places in Macclesfield

Blaze Farm

Macclesfield~55 min

★★★★★4.7(1,064)

Free-entry hill farm on the A54 above Wildboarclough, with ice cream made from its own Peak District milk, a tea room and nature trails through meadow and woodland. Picnics are banned, which is how entry stays free.

Free entry, pay for ice cream and cakeLambing shed at Easter onlyAges 1-12

Macclesfield Forest and Trentabank Reservoir

Macclesfield~45 min

Conifer forest and four reservoirs in the hills east of Macclesfield, with miles of forestry track between them. Herons nest at Trentabank and are visible from the path, so there is something to point at when the legs go.

Free, pay and display parkingAges 2-11

Silk Museum and Paradise Mill

Macclesfield~45 min

★★★★★4.6(323)

A free museum of Macclesfield's silk trade in the old School of Art, with a paid add-on at Paradise Mill, where the Jacquard handlooms still stand where the weavers left them. Children get a Victorian millworker trail in the mill.

Museum free; Paradise Mill £4.50 a childIndoorsAges 5-11

Tegg's Nose Country Park

Macclesfield~50 min

★★★★★4.7(2,303)

A gritstone hill above Macclesfield with old quarry machinery to clamber round, a summit view across the whole Cheshire Plain and a good coffee shop at the bottom. Free apart from the pay and display car park.

Free - pay and display parkingAges 5-11

West Park

Macclesfield~40 min

★★★★★4.5(923)

One of Britain's oldest public parks, opened in 1854 and part-paid for by Macclesfield's own workers: playground, toddler area, skatepark, gardens and a daily cafe. The little museum on the park edge is currently closed.

Free entryAges 0-11

Substation Macclesfield

Macclesfield~45 min

★★★★★4.9(440)

A bouldering centre in Hurdsfield with family day passes, a 30 minute family introduction with an instructor, kids clubs from age 5 and a cafe doing pizza at weekends. One adult has to supervise every two children.

Family day pass £50, under-18s £12.50IndoorsAges 5-17

Fun4All Macclesfield

Macclesfield~45 min

Macclesfield's big soft play on the Hurdsfield estate: a three-level frame with a 10 metre wave slide, a separate toddler frame, a sports pitch and a trampoline zone called Boost. The website's price list is old, so check when you book.

Price not listedIndoorsAges 1-11

Superbowl UK Macclesfield

Macclesfield~45 min

★★★★☆4.0(1,084)

Bowling, Laser Quest and the Crazy Club soft play under one roof on the London Road, on the southern edge of Macclesfield. The early-morning and after-school bowling deals are properly cheap.

Price not listedIndoorsAges 1-12

What’s on in Macclesfield

5 dated events coming up.

Also worth the drive

Not in Macclesfield, 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