Parks & outdoors in Northwich

Marbury Country Park is the free one and the one to start with: an arboretum running down to Budworth Mere, flat paths, a community orchard, and you pay only to park. It is twenty minutes from Warrington and it absorbs a whole morning without asking for anything.

Arley Hall is the grand day out, a family ticket around £36 plus parking, and the woodland Grove is what makes it worth it with children rather than the borders. Blakemere Village sits in the Delamere woods with free entry and free parking and takes its money through the activities, which is either good value or a slow leak depending on how firmly you can say no.

Parks & outdoors in Northwich

Blakemere Village

Northwich~25 min

★★★★☆4.3(4,095)

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.

Free entry - activities costAges 2-10

Marbury Country Park

Northwich~20 min

★★★★★4.7(2,819)

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.

Free, paid parkingAges 4-11

Arley Hall & Gardens

Northwich~20 min

★★★★★4.6(2,883)

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.

Family ticket £36 plus £4 parkingAges 4-11

Parks & outdoors elsewhere in the North West

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 entryAges 4-11

Risley Moss

Warrington~10 min

★★★★★4.6(745)

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.

FreeAges 4-11

Sherdley Park

St HelensIn town

St Helens' biggest park. Play areas, open space and a walled garden, and it costs nothing.

FreeAges 4-11

Dream, Sutton Manor

St Helens~10 min

★★★★☆4.4(1,301)

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.

FreeAges 4-11

Sankey Valley Park

St HelensIn town

★★★★★4.5(611)

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.

FreeAges 4-11

Speke Hall

Liverpool~30 min

★★★★★4.7(4,896)

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.

National TrustIndoorsAges 4-11