Kenyon Hall Farm
A working fruit farm with a farm shop, cafe and a free play area, plus pick your own from June to August. The strawberry tickets sell out fast and the fruit costs more than the supermarket, but nobody is here for the economics.
Days out with the kids in Warrington
26 places in Warrington, Cheshire, 5 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
26 in Warrington5 free13 indoor
Warrington is not a glamour destination and does not pretend to be, but for actually raising children it is quietly well supplied. Walton Hall & Gardens has been the default family day for a century: free gardens, a free children's zoo, a big playground, and Jungle Parc's high ropes in the same grounds. In the summer holidays the council runs a free programme, inflatables in Old Market Square and park events that rotate each week, and it is the most generous in the region.
Wet days are the real strength. The town has more decent soft play per square mile than anywhere nearby - Jellybeans' mini bowling solves the toddler-plus-seven-year-old problem - plus Tenpin and cheap family swimming with inflatable sessions. Locals pad the calendar with Risley Moss for its boardwalks and bird hides, Lymm Dam for the classic duck-and-woodland loop, and Kenyon Hall Farm for pick-your-own. Gulliver's World is the full-day treat, built for ages 2 to 13 so nobody watches from the fence.
Places in Warrington
Lymm Dam
A 2km woodland loop round a Victorian dam on the edge of Lymm village: flat enough for a pushchair in dry weather, with a coffee van at the top and ducks all the way round. The classic short local walk, done properly.
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.
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.
Warrington Museum & Art Gallery
Free, and a proper old municipal collection of more than 200,000 objects off Bold Street, heavy on archaeology and natural science. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Bates Farm
A working beef and sheep farm at Risley, run by two sisters, that opens for booked events: a 7-acre pumpkin patch with 40-odd varieties in October, Deck the Barn at Christmas and lambing in spring. Pumpkin entry is £15 a car.
Bewsey & Dallam Community Hub
One pool, a gym and a library on Longshaw Street, ten minutes from Warrington town centre. Nobody pretends there is a flume, but a child swims for £3.50, the same rate as the big LiveWire hubs.
Discobowl Warrington
Bowling, Scrapyard crazy golf, an arcade and a toddler soft play inside Golden Square, open from 9am daily. Bowl for £3 a game before 11am; after that it's £8, and the arcade will want feeding too.
Fun2b
Straightforward multi-level soft play with a café that adults can actually sit in. Nothing fancy, reliably works.
Giggles Play Mill
Two-tier soft play frame, low climbing wall, pirate ship, crawl tubes and a bouncy slide, plus Messy Monday and sensory sessions during the week.
Great Sankey Neighbourhood Hub
No flume, no wave machine. Two pools in a building on the west side of Warrington that also holds a library, tennis courts and 3G pitches. It does have pool hoists and a dedicated accessible swim session, which is rarer than it should be.
Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf at Bents
Eighteen holes of outdoor crazy golf behind the Bents garden centre in Glazebury. It starts among life-sized dinosaurs, some of which move, and finishes round pirate shipwrecks. A family of four plays for £21.
Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub
Warrington's biggest LiveWire hub, with two pools under one roof. The one that matters is the small teaching pool, shallow enough for a three year old to stand up in. There is a library and a Subway on site.
Tenpin Warrington
Soft play plus bowling under one roof, which solves the two-different-ages problem in a single trip. Ask for the barriers if anyone is under about six.
Apple Jacks Adventure Farm
An adventure farm off Stretton Road built for 4 to 12s: tractor trailer rides, zip wires, drop slides, jumping pillows, roller skating and a tent full of inflatables. Despite the name there are no animals to see, and in October it turns into Spooky World's daytime Fun-By-Day.
Gulliver's World
A theme park deliberately built for ages 2 to 13 rather than teenagers, so both of them can ride most of it. The classic full-day option on your doorstep.
Jellybeans Play Centre
Bigger than the average soft play: multi-level frame, a spooky room, an astro slide, a climbing wall, two mini bowling lanes and a slot racing track. The bowling is what makes it work when you have a toddler and a seven-year-old to keep happy at once.
Jungle Parc
Treetop rope courses in the woods at Walton Hall Gardens. The Warrington site runs the Adventurer course, built for children from age 4 with a minimum height of 1.05m, with over 60 activities at different heights. Children £19; supervising adults walking below go free.
The Northwest Face
A climbing centre in a Victorian church on Winwick Road since 1996, with fifty four lines, eight auto belays and a 100 square metre bouldering area. You are climbing too: under 12s need a registered adult alongside them.
Bents Garden & Home
A big garden centre in Glazebury with more for children than you would guess: an adventure play area by the cafe decking, an undercover sand beach, a flat 3-mile woodland walk and the dinosaur golf out the back. Free parking, but the car park closes when the shop does.
Farmer Bertie's
A family farm opposite Bents in Glazebury that opens its fields three times a year: tulips in spring, pick-your-own strawberries in early summer and a 22-acre pumpkin patch in October. Out of season it is a milk and egg vending hut, which is still worth knowing about.
Parr Hall
Warrington's town-centre hall runs a panto that starts after Christmas, just as most others are winding down, plus a handful of Sunday-afternoon children's shows through the year.
Partridge Lakes
A family-run coarse fishery in Culcheth that has grown a lakeside cafe, a 1km pram-friendly path round a lake and pedalos on selected weekends. Most families will know it for the autumn: Halloweenville in October and a very low-noise fireworks show in November.
Play & Sensory Centre
A council-run play centre in Woolston built for disabled children and adults and anyone with additional needs, with a sea-themed soft play, a calm zone, a pre-school area and a full sensory room with a hoist. Sessions are booked in advance.
TeamSport Go Karting Warrington
The biggest purpose built indoor karting track in the country, a kilometre of circuit with 22 corners and a tunnel, behind Bank Quay station. Inside leg catches people out: drivers must be eight and measure 25 inches.
Woodlands Alpaca Farm
Alpaca walks and hands-on animal sessions at Thelwall, ten minutes from town, with donkeys, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens alongside the main event. Small, booked sessions rather than a turn-up farm park.
What’s on in Warrington
14 dated events coming up, 4 of them this weekend.
Halloweenville at Partridge Lakes
Partridge Lakes, Glaziers Lane, Culcheth · Warrington
until 1 Nov. Timed slots, 2 October to 1 November
A Halloween storybook trail through the woods round the lakes at Culcheth, billed as spooky, not scary, and made for families and 'little adventurers': help Victor the Skeleton and Luna the Witch break the Skeleton King's curse. Pram and wheelchair friendly. Early bird tickets are £2 off, infants need a ticket too, parking is £5 booked ahead, and the cheaper early dusk slots from 5.20pm suit small children best.
Written by us
Fright Fiesta at Gulliver's World
Gulliver's World, Warrington
until 1 Nov. Park open days, 10 October to 1 November
Halloween at the theme park built for the under 12s: a fancy dress street parade, Gilly's Spooky Dance Party, the Monster Mansion Mine and character meet and greets on top of the usual rides. Costumes and colour rather than jump scares, which is the right way round at that age.
Written by us
Fun By Day: Spooky World at Apple Jacks Farm
Apple Jacks Farm (WA4 4NW) · Warrington
until 1 Nov. 17, 18 and 24 October, then daily 25 October to 1 November, 10am to 4pm
Spooky World's daytime version at Apple Jacks Farm, aimed at younger children with no scare attractions. Open 10am to 4pm on selected October dates and daily in half term. £15.50 over 90cm, with a free pumpkin each.
Written by us
Land of Lights lantern festival, Warrington
Gulliver's World, Warrington
until 30 Jan. Selected evenings, 24 October to 30 January: every night 24 to 30 October, Fridays to Sundays in November, most nights in December, Saturdays in January
A lantern trail at Gulliver's with monuments, dinosaurs and dreamworlds lit up, back for 2026 with new displays. Sunday and Wednesday nights are mostly dog-friendly, so pick another night if you have a child who is wary of dogs. Parking is free. It opens for October half term, so it doubles as a Halloween outing.
Written by us
Laser and Low Noise Fireworks at Partridge Lakes
Partridge Lakes, Glaziers Lane, Culcheth · Warrington
5 Nov to 7 Nov. Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 November: entry from 5pm, display at 7pm
A laser show and a very low-noise firework display synchronised to music, redesigned so it is fine for pets and young children. There is undercover seating with fire pits under a big tent, which helps if the weather turns.
Written by us
Fireworks Spectacular at Gulliver's World
Gulliver's World, Old Hall, Warrington
7 Nov. Saturday 7 November: park open 12pm to 8pm, fireworks about 8pm
A late-season theme park day with selected rides open to 7.30pm and fireworks at about 8pm, included in the park ticket. The display is the last thing on a very long day, so it works best for children who already love Gulliver's and can make it to eight.
Written by us
Everything on in Warrington8 more not shown here
Also worth the drive
Not in Warrington, but close enough for a day out.
BeWILDerwood Cheshire
The best age match of anything on this list. Reviewers put the sweet spot at 2 to 10 and say a 4-year-old can do essentially the whole park; the map colour-codes areas by age and puts mini zipwires beside the full-size ones. Budget four to six hours.
Delamere Forest
Cheshire's biggest forest, set up properly for families: the Gruffalo sculptures still stand along the trail, 2026's new Room on the Broom activity trail runs from the visitor centre, and the whole loop is pram-friendly. Go Ape overhead for older kids.
Chester Zoo
Excellent, but it is a lot of walking. Reviews rate 5 to 10 as the ideal age and still recommend a pushchair at four. Climbing frames, water play and sand pits break up the distance.
Catalyst Science Centre
Hands-on science galleries and a glass rooftop observatory over the Mersey. Small, indoors and close, with one gallery shut for a rebuild until early 2027.
Blue Planet Aquarium
Sharks over a moving walkway tunnel, all under cover. A dependable answer to a washout forecast that still feels like a proper day out.
Anderton Boat Lift
A Victorian lift built to hoist canal boats fifty feet between the Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal. The lift itself is closed for repairs through 2026, with reopening planned for the 2027 season, but the free visitor centre, the play area and hour-long river cruises from its foot are all running.
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
The Lovell Telescope is one of the largest steerable radio telescopes on Earth and it silences children on arrival. The First Light Pavilion and its Space Dome do the explaining; the arboretum and the playground do the running about. Open Tuesday to Sunday.
Quarry Bank Mill
A working cotton mill where the looms still clatter and the Apprentice House tells the children's side of the industrial revolution straight. A new Play Hub inside the mill and river walks outside round it off.
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.