Days out with the kids in Oldham

Oldham has four parks on the site so far, all free to get into and all with free parking, which you cannot say for much of Greater Manchester. Alexandra Park is the Victorian one with the lake and the cafe, Tandle Hill is the beech wood above Royton, Chadderton Hall is flat and has toilets, and Dunwood is close enough to a tram stop to do without a car.

Places in Oldham

Alexandra Park

Oldham~45 min

★★★★★4.6(3,484)

Oldham's Victorian showpiece, 72 acres built by out-of-work cotton spinners. Lake, duck pond, cafe on the water, seven free tennis courts and a playground with a proper accessible section.

Free, free car parksAges 1-11

Chadderton Hall Park

Oldham~45 min

★★★★★4.6(1,886)

The Chadderton park with the cafe, and therefore the toilets. Play area with a sand pit and accessible swings, free tennis, a river walk and ornamental gardens, all on a flat site with parking.

Free, free parkingAges 1-10

Daisy Nook Country Park

Oldham~40 min

★★★★★4.6(3,030)

Canal, lake and woodland in the Medlock Valley between Failsworth and Ashton, with a cafe, toilets and a sandy play area by the car park. The short walk goes through a 'dark tunnel', which is the whole selling point for a four year old.

Free entryAges 2-11

Dove Stone Reservoir (RSPB)

Oldham~55 min

A reservoir walk on the edge of the Peak District above Greenfield: 2.5 miles round the water with moorland crags on every side. Free to walk, pay to park, and no cafe, so bring the flask.

Free - pay for parkingAges 3-11

Dunwood Park

Oldham~50 min

★★★★★4.5(598)

Small, tidy and 300 metres from a tram stop, which makes Dunwood the one you can do without a car. Playground, three tennis courts, a bowling green and free parking if you do drive.

Free, free car parkAges 2-10

Gallery Oldham

Oldham~40 min

★★★★★4.5(211)

Oldham's free museum and gallery, now with Our Beautiful Oldham, a hands-on nature gallery built with local early years families. Two minutes from the tram, closed Sundays, Mondays and bank holidays.

Free entryIndoorsAges 0-11

Northern Roots

Oldham~45 min

★★★★☆4.1(98)

A brand new free eco park in Oldham, with a free play area (water play and a big sand pit), a café, a shop and an urban farm. The buildings and play area open Thursday to Sunday only, 9am to 4pm.

Free entry, free parkingAges 1-12

Tandle Hill Country Park

Oldham~50 min

★★★★★4.7(2,609)

Beech wood and open grass above Royton, with a play area, an orienteering course and a hilltop war memorial you can see Manchester from. The car park is at the entrance and the toilets are shut until further notice.

Free entryCafe opens weekends and school holidaysAges 3-11

Lancaster Park & Animal Farm

Oldham~40 min

★★★★☆4.4(1,600)

A small, old-fashioned petting farm opposite Mills Hill station in Chadderton: hold the rabbits, feed the donkeys and alpacas, bath a tortoise. £8.50 a head, no booking on normal days, and bring cash because there is no card machine.

£8.50 each, cash onlyClosed from Christmas Day to mid-FebruaryAges 1-8

Play! Oldham

Oldham~40 min

★★★★☆4.1(503)

Oldham's big soft play: a three storey junior frame and a separate toddler and baby area. Term-time weekdays are £5 for unlimited play.

£5 term-time weekdaysIndoorsAges 0-11

What’s on in Oldham

33 dated events coming up, 16 of them this weekend.

Also worth the drive

Not in Oldham, but close enough for a day out.

Zip World Manchester

Manchester~35 min

★★★★★4.7(752)

Treetop nets, high ropes and forest tubing in the woods of Heaton Park, and it is outdoors, not indoors. The cheap one is Treetot Nets: an hour bouncing on nets in the trees for ages 1 to 5, from £5, with a grown-up joining in.

Treetot Nets from £5, Treetop Nets from £25Ages 1-11

Pennington Flash

Leigh~20 min

★★★★★4.5(294)

A big lake with easy flat paths, bird hides and a decent play area. Free, close, and a good one for scooters and a picnic.

Free, parking £2.50 all dayAges 4-11

Science and Industry Museum

Manchester~30 min

★★★★☆4.4(20,615)

Working steam engines, the story of Cottonopolis, and hands-on galleries in the world's oldest surviving passenger railway station. Free, and the live demonstrations are the bit kids actually remember.

Free entryIndoorsAges 4-11

Manchester Museum

Manchester~30 min

★★★★★4.7(10,653)

A T. rex skeleton cast, live frogs in the vivarium, Egyptian mummies and a genuinely good natural history floor. Free, university-run, and less overwhelming than the big London equivalents.

Free entryIndoorsAges 4-11

National Football Museum

Manchester~30 min

★★★★☆4.3(7,724)

Shirts, trophies and match footage across four gallery floors, with a penalty shootout and skills games that football-mad kids refuse to leave. If yours do not care about football, skip it: it is exactly what it says.

Adults £16, children £10 onlineIndoorsAges 6-11

Imperial War Museum North

Trafford~25 min

★★★★★4.5(8,332)

War told through people's stories in a building designed to feel like a shattered globe. The hourly Big Picture Show projections fill the whole gallery and stop everyone mid-step. Heavy themes, handled well, and better for the top end of primary.

Free entryIndoorsAges 7-11

RHS Garden Bridgewater

Salford~25 min

★★★★★4.6(5,903)

One of the biggest garden projects in Europe, and more fun for kids than a flower garden has any right to be: a huge walled kitchen garden, lake walks, and space to run that feels endless.

Ticketed - RHS members freeAges 4-11

Legoland Discovery Centre

Trafford~25 min

★★★★☆4.0(4,657)

Two rides, a 4D cinema, build zones and Manchester's skyline done in miniature bricks. Squarely aimed at 3 to 10, and it knows it: adults can only visit with a child.

Book online - walk-up costs moreIndoorsAges 4-9