Blakemere Village
A shopping village in the Delamere woods with free entry, free parking and a genuinely good free adventure playground, plus a long menu of pay-as-you-go extras from crazy golf to falconry.
Days out with the kids in Northwich
7 places in Northwich, Cheshire, 2 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
7 in Northwich2 free4 indoor
Salt made Northwich, and salt left it the strangest set of attractions in Cheshire. The Anderton Boat Lift hoists entire canal boats fifty feet between river and canal, and you can ride it, which children file under machinery rather than history and enjoy accordingly. The Lion Salt Works is an old open-pan works turned museum, oddball, cheap and considerably better than it sounds.
Marbury Country Park is the free green option, parkland and woods running down to Budworth Mere, close enough to Anderton to combine the two. Arley Hall's gardens and Blakemere Village cover the gentler days out. Days out in Northwich with kids come with an industrial history lesson smuggled inside them, and the children never seem to notice the teaching.
Places in Northwich
Marbury Country Park
An arboretum running down to Budworth Mere with flat paths, a community orchard and swimming swans. Quietly lovely, and minutes from the Anderton Boat Lift for a combined afternoon.
Anderton Boat Lift
A Victorian lift that hoists whole canal boats fifty feet in the air, and you can ride it. Genuinely impressive to a small child, with a visitor centre and café on site.
Arley Hall & Gardens
Proper grand gardens 20 minutes from Warrington, with a woodland Grove to explore, sculptures to find and an adventure play zone with a zip wire and den building. Adults £13, kids £6.50, and booking online is cheaper.
Brio Northwich
The small pool runs at 30 degrees, which decides whether a three year old lasts forty minutes or eight. Two pools, a water slide and a jacuzzi, inside the Memorial Court in the middle of town.
Lion Salt Works
The last open-pan salt works in Britain, kept exactly as the salt men left it, with interactive galleries that explain why Cheshire is full of holes. Genuinely interesting, and next to Marbury for a run afterwards.
Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse
Northwich's old Union Workhouse on London Road, now the museum of West Cheshire's history and the salt that built the town. Under-16s free, adults £4.30, fully accessible, and the car park is large and free.
Also worth the drive
Not in Northwich, but close enough for a day out.
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.
Jungle Parc
High ropes and treetop courses in the grounds at Walton Hall. Reviewers rate the value, but frame it as one for the bigger, braver kids.
Gulliver's World
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.
Apple Jacks Adventure Farm
Farm animals, outdoor play and indoor barns, so a wet forecast doesn't cancel the day. Well matched to the 3-8 age range.
Giggles Play Mill
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.
Jellybeans Play Centre
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.
Fun2b
Straightforward multi-level soft play with a café that adults can actually sit in. Nothing fancy, reliably works.
Tenpin Warrington
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.
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.