Ashton Gardens
St Annes' restored Victorian gardens a street back from the seafront: rose beds, a galleon climbing frame in the play area and the Pavilion tea room. The calm half of a beach day.
Parks & outdoors Lytham St Annes
Parks & outdoors in Lytham St Annes
Playgrounds, country parks, woodland trails and nature reserves. Most of these cost nothing.
5 in Lytham St Annes5 free5 suit under-5s
Five parks within a few miles of each other, and they do genuinely different jobs. Ashton Gardens in St Annes is the calm one, restored Victorian gardens a street back from the seafront with a galleon climbing frame and a tea room. Fairhaven Lake is the one with things to do on it: rowing boats, pedalos, crazy golf and a skate park, free to walk into and costing only if you get on the water.
Lytham has the other three. Lytham Hall is 78 acres of free parkland round a Georgian house where the only compulsory cost is parking, though the events calendar can close it for a concert weekend, so check first. Lowther Gardens beside the Green adds a play area, crazy golf and an aviary, with £3.50 all-day parking. Park View 4U is the charity-run one with the most kit: a toddler playground, sand and water play, a mud kitchen, a skate park and a BMX track, all free.
Parks & outdoors in Lytham St Annes
Fairhaven Lake and Gardens
A saltwater lake with rowing boats, a playground, crazy golf and a skate park, sat between Lytham and St Annes with the estuary on the other side of the sea wall. Free to walk in, and everything fun on it costs.
Lowther Gardens
Lytham's oldest park, next to the Green: a children's play area, crazy golf, an aviary and a very good cafe, with the Lowther Pavilion theatre in the middle. Easy to fold into a Lytham seafront walk.
Lytham Hall
78 acres of free parkland and woodland around a Georgian hall, with a cafe, seasonal trails and cheap pay-and-display parking. The hall tour is the only ticketed bit, and with kids in tow you can happily skip it.
Park View 4U
A charity-run park in Lytham with the lot: toddler playground, sand and water play, a mud kitchen, skate park, BMX track and a woodland sculpture trail. Free to use, with donations welcome.
Parks & outdoors elsewhere in the North West
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.
Risley Moss
A raised peat bog nature reserve at Birchwood with woodland trails, bird hides and a visitor centre with toilets. Free, close and short enough for little legs, but closed on Fridays.
Sherdley Park
St Helens' biggest park. Play areas, open space and a walled garden, and it costs nothing.
Dream, Sutton Manor
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.
Sankey Valley Park
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.
Speke Hall
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.
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.