Chorlton Water Park
A flat mile around a lake, swans included, plus a genuinely good playground with a zip line, sand play and sensory equipment. Free entry, free parking, and south Manchester knows it, so go early on sunny days.
Parks & outdoors Manchester
Parks & outdoors in Manchester
Playgrounds, country parks, woodland trails and nature reserves. Most of these cost nothing.
3 in Manchester3 free3 suit under-5s
Heaton Park is one of the biggest municipal parks in Europe and it is free, with an animal centre, boating lake and a vintage tram running on summer days. If you only do one Manchester park, that is the one, and you will not see all of it.
The other two are for when you want something smaller. Chorlton Water Park is a flat mile around a lake with free parking and a genuinely good playground, which makes it the easy option with a scooter or a buggy. Platt Fields in Fallowfield has a lake with a boathouse, play areas and a skate park, and it is the one that suits older children who want to be left alone for an hour.
Parks & outdoors in Manchester
Heaton Park
One of the biggest municipal parks in Europe: a free animal centre, boating lake, adventure playgrounds and an actual vintage tram running on summer days. You will not do all of it in one visit.
Platt Fields Park
Fallowfield's big Victorian park: a lake with a boathouse, play areas, a skatepark and BMX track, and enough flat grass to wear anyone out. Free, and better than its student-land reputation suggests.
Parks & outdoors elsewhere in the North West
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.
Risley Moss
A peat bog nature reserve with woodland trails, a visitor centre and an observation tower the kids can climb. Free, close and short enough for little legs.
Sherdley Park
St Helens' biggest park. Play areas, open space and a walled garden, and it costs nothing.
Dream, Sutton Manor
A 20-metre white head rising out of a reclaimed colliery, with woodland trails around it. Genuinely strange and memorable for kids, and a short walk rather than a hike.
Sankey Valley Park
A green corridor of canal towpath and parkland running from St Helens down towards Warrington. Flat, traffic-free and ideal if the bikes or scooters are coming.
Speke Hall
A Tudor hall with woodland walks, a maze and a natural play area in the grounds. Free if you have National Trust membership, and the indoor house is a good rain fallback.
What’s on near you, every Friday
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.