Haigh Woodland Park
Woodland trails, big playgrounds and a hall lawn made for picnics, with a miniature railway, high ropes and crazy golf as the paid extras. The free bits alone fill an afternoon.
Days out with the kids in Wigan
3 places in Wigan, Greater Manchester, 3 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
3 in Wigan3 free
One park does most of the work in Wigan, and it does it well. Haigh Woodland Park stacks woodland trails, big playgrounds and a hall lawn made for picnics, with a miniature railway, high ropes and crazy golf as the paid extras - the free bits alone fill an afternoon, which is the right way round. Go on a dry morning, let them run, and pay for the little train only when you need a sit down.
The Three Sisters is the local oddity worth knowing: three hills reclaimed from colliery spoil, now a country park with trails and a racing circuit alongside, so karts occasionally scream past your nature walk. Wet weather is the borough's weak spot, so save Haigh's paid extras for a drizzly morning and keep Bolton's free museum, twenty-odd minutes east, in reserve. Wigan with kids is short on museums and long on space, and the trade works.
Places in Wigan
Mesnes Park
Wigan's grand Victorian park after a £6.1m restoration: playground, bandstand, waterfall, formal gardens and an ornate iron pavilion with a Frederick's ice cream cafe inside. Free and right on the edge of the town centre.
Three Sisters Recreation Area
Three colliery spoil heaps turned into a proper nature reserve: a lake with swans and kingfishers, 3km of flat pram-friendly paths, a playground and a woodland trail with a xylophone in it. Free parking, free everything.
What’s on in Wigan
31 dated events coming up.
Baby Hub - Standish Library (opens on Wigan Libraries)
Wigan Libraries
3 Aug to 7 Sept. Every Monday, 1.45pm
Runs on 6 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by Wigan Libraries · collected 2 Aug
Little possibilities baby sensory (opens on Wigan Libraries)
Wigan Libraries
3 Aug to 7 Sept. Every Monday, 10.30am
Runs on 6 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by Wigan Libraries · collected 2 Aug
Rhyme Time at Golborne Library (opens on Wigan Libraries)
Golborne Library · Wigan
3 Aug to 7 Sept. Every Monday, 9.30am
Songs and stories for children under 5 and parents/carers.
Listed by Wigan Libraries · collected 2 Aug
Soft play - booking needed (opens on Wigan Libraries)
Standish Library · Wigan
3 Aug to 7 Sept. Every Monday, 9am
Runs on 6 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by Wigan Libraries · collected 2 Aug
Stay and Play - Wigan Library (opens on Wigan Libraries)
Wigan Library
3 Aug to 7 Sept. Every Monday, 9am
Relaxed and informal Stay and Play at Wigan Library.
Listed by Wigan Libraries · collected 2 Aug
Story time - drop in (opens on Wigan Libraries)
Wigan Libraries
3 Aug to 7 Sept. Every Monday, 10am
Runs on 6 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by Wigan Libraries · collected 2 Aug
Everything on in Wigan25 more not shown here
Also worth the drive
Not in Wigan, 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.