Walton Park
Go on a Sunday. A volunteer-run miniature railway takes passengers round a quarter mile of track for 30p a ride, there are two age-split playgrounds, and the cafe is a narrowboat on the canal.
Days out with the kids in Sale
3 places in Sale, Greater Manchester, 3 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
3 in Sale3 free
Sale's three parks are all free, though two of them charge small change for the bit that makes them worth going to. Walton Park runs a miniature railway at 30p a ride and Woodheys hires out clubs for an 18-hole pitch and putt, seven days a week, no booking. Worthington, the Green Flag one by the Metrolink, costs nothing throughout and has two age-split playgrounds, but no cafe and no car park.
Places in Sale
Woodheys Park
An 18-hole pitch and putt open seven days a week, clubs hired on the spot, no booking. That is the reason to come. The playground here is under 7s only, so the golf is what occupies the older ones.
Worthington Park
Sale's Green Flag town park, a five minute walk from the Metrolink. Two age-split playgrounds, a skate park and an outdoor gym. No cafe and no car park, so it is a walk-in park.
Also worth the drive
Not in Sale, but close enough for a day out.
Zip World Manchester
The cheapest real activity anyone is recommending this summer, and it's indoors. An hour of play for a fiver a head, with picnic benches for when you need to sit down.
Pennington Flash
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.
Science and Industry Museum
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.
Manchester Museum
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.
National Football Museum
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.
Imperial War Museum North
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.
RHS Garden Bridgewater
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.
Legoland Discovery Centre
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.