Days out with the kids in Nantwich

Nantwich is the good-looking one, all black-and-white Tudor timber, and its days out sit around the edges. Reaseheath's mini zoo on the college campus and the Cold War bunker hidden at Hack Green are the local outings, and the two big south Cheshire days, BeWILDerwood and Cholmondeley Castle Gardens, sit about twenty minutes south near Malpas.

In town, Nantwich Lake does the free afternoon: ducks, a flat circuit made for scooters, and space to spread out. And no south Cheshire childhood is complete without Snugburys on the A51, the ice cream farm that builds a giant straw sculpture in its field every year. The ice cream justifies the queue. The Tudor centre is really for the adults; an ice cream buys you twenty minutes of it.

Places in Nantwich

Nantwich Museum

Nantwich~45 min

★★★★★4.5(202)

A small, free, volunteer-run museum in Nantwich's old Victorian library covering salt, shoes and the Civil War. An hour at most, best paired with the riverside, and the half-term craft days are the time to make a special trip.

Free entryIndoorsAges 4-11

Nantwich Riverside & Nantwich Lake

Nantwich~45 min

★★★★★4.8(43)

A flat, buggy friendly loop round a lake full of ducks and swans, a snack kiosk, a play area along the riverside path, and one of Cheshire's prettiest market towns a few minutes' walk away. All free, parking included.

Free, including parkingAges 1-10

Reaseheath Mini Zoo

Nantwich~45 min

★★★★★4.5(103)

The teaching zoo at Reaseheath College, with meerkats, otters, lemurs, a porcupine, wallabies and warm indoor reptile and fish rooms. Open to the public only at weekends and in college holidays, which is exactly when you need it, and £7 a child.

£7 a child, £8 an adult, under 4s freeWeekends and college holidays only; closed in DecemberAges 2-11

Snugburys Ice Cream (Park Farm)

Nantwich~40 min

★★★★★4.7(5,130)

The famous ice cream farm on the A51 with 35-plus flavours made on site and a 50ft straw Paddington in the field. Be clear what it is: an ice cream stop with room to wander, not a day out, and it is very good at being exactly that.

Free to visit - pay for the ice creamAges 2-11

Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker

Nantwich~45 min

★★★★★4.5(1,479)

A real Cold War government bunker in the Cheshire fields south of Nantwich, with most of the kit still in the rooms it was used in. There is a NAAFI canteen, a cinema and a Soviet Spy Mouse Trail. Every ticket is an annual pass.

Adults £17.50, children £11.50, family £48IndoorsAges 7-14

What’s on in Nantwich

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

Also worth the drive

Not in Nantwich, 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