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

★★★★★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

★★★★★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

Dunwood Park

Oldham

★★★★★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

Tandle Hill Country Park

Oldham

★★★★★4.7(2,609)

110 acres of beech wood and open grass above Royton, with a play area, an orienteering course and a hilltop war memorial you can see Manchester from. Free car park, small.

Free, free car parkCafe opens weekends and school holidaysAges 3-11

What’s on in Oldham

23 dated events coming up, 15 of them this weekend.

Also worth the drive

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

Zip World Manchester

Trafford~35 min

★★★★★4.7(752)

The cheapest real activity anyone is recommending, and it's indoors. An hour of play for a fiver a head, with picnic benches for when you need to sit down.

£5.25 eachIndoorsAges 4-11

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.

FreeAges 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 six floors, with 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.

TicketedIndoorsAges 6-11

Imperial War Museum North

Salford~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 - 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