Arrowe Country Park
About 250 acres of parkland and woods in the middle of the Wirral with a toddler play area, an adventure playground, pitch and putt and a cafe that opens at 8am. The all-rounder for a Saturday morning.
Days out with the kids in Wirral
29 places in Wirral, Merseyside, 12 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
29 in Wirral12 free14 indoor
The Wirral crams more variety into one peninsula than anywhere else this site covers. New Brighton alone has a beach, a marine lake and Fort Perch Rock at the river mouth, with Bubbles World of Play and Eureka! Science + Discovery minutes away - Eureka's entry converts to an annual pass, which changes the maths for a second visit. Tam O'Shanter Urban Farm under Bidston Hill is free, does pigs, goats and alpacas, and the cafe's bacon butties are reason enough.
The Dee side is the quieter half. Wirral Country Park at Thurstaston, Britain's first country park, runs a clifftop path above a beach where children hunt fossils in the boulder clay, with Ness Botanic Gardens further down the estuary. Birkenhead Park, West Kirby Marine Lake and the soap-baron streets of Port Sunlight fill whatever gaps remain. Days out on the Wirral with kids mostly cost parking money, and the hard part is picking a coast.
Places in Wirral
Birkenhead Park
The park Central Park was copied from: two lakes, a covered Swiss Bridge, a playground with a climbing boulder and acres of flat grass, all free. The visitor centre has the cafe and the toilets.
Birkenhead Priory & St Mary's Tower
The oldest standing building on Merseyside, a twelfth century monastery hemmed in by the Cammell Laird shipyard. Ruined cloisters, a chapter house, and a tower you can climb for a view over the yard.
Eastham Country Park
Old woodland on the Wirral bank of the Mersey with views across the estuary, an old bear pit (empty, long since) and a tea garden in the warmer months. A short, easy woodland walk with a strange bit of history in the middle.
Hilbre Islands Local Nature Reserve
Walk across the sands from West Kirby to three tidal islands in the Dee estuary to see grey seals and wading birds. 45 minutes to an hour each way, only on the right tide. Toilets on the island, no cafe.
Lady Lever Art Gallery
William Lever built it for his wife and filled it with what he liked: Pre-Raphaelite paintings, Napoleon memorabilia and one of the most significant collections of Wedgwood jasperware in the UK. Free, and the Chinese ceramics cases sit low so children can see in.
New Brighton Seafront
Beach, marine lake and Fort Perch Rock at the river mouth, with the Liverpool skyline across the water. Sandcastles when the tide allows, chips on the front to finish.
Royden Park
A West Wirral country park of woods, heathland and a walled garden, with a volunteer-run miniature railway on most Sunday afternoons. Free to walk in, you pay to park, and the railway is the reason to go on a Sunday.
Tam O'Shanter Urban Farm
A free community farm under Bidston Hill: pigs, goats, alpacas and hens, a woodland on the doorstep, and a café doing proper bacon butties. One of Merseyside's best zero-cost mornings.
West Kirby Marine Lake & Beach
A mile-long flat promenade loop around a giant saltwater lake on the Dee estuary, with dinghies and paddleboards for hire from the council-run watersports centre and a sandy beach alongside. Free unless you get on the water.
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum
Birkenhead's big 1920s civic gallery on Slatey Road: free at the door, no ticket, no booking, all on one level, with a free car park and a cafe. It shuts on Sundays.
Wirral Country Park, Thurstaston
Britain's first country park: a clifftop path above the Dee, a beach for fossicking below, and a visitor centre with bird hides. Wild-feeling without being remote.
Active Zone and TAG Active, Bidston
The council's leisure centre in Bidston has a three-floor soft play for under 8s and, rarer, a TAG Active arena for 8s and over: climbing, running and scoring points round a three-storey game. Term-time weekday soft play is £4.
Europa Pools
The flumes and the wave machine are gone for good. What is left is Birkenhead's main council pool, 25 metres and kept at 28 degrees, plus a soft play area over three floors for nought to sixes.
Mini Monsters Funhouse
Somebody put a soft play inside a garden centre on the Chester High Road at Neston, which means free parking and a shed full of plants for any adult who has had enough. Frame, slides, nets, ball pond, separate nought to two area.
Monkey House
Adults go free, which is not universal. A small Wallasey soft play scaled for under fives: frames a toddler can actually get round, a baby area, and a cafe with proper coffee and seats facing the frame.
Ness Botanic Gardens
University of Liverpool's gardens above the Dee estuary: family trails, a wildflower meadow, a good playground and views across to Wales. Quieter than the National Trust circuit and better value.
New Brighton Adventure Golf
Two 18-hole mini golf courses on the New Brighton seafront, one built round local landmarks and one copying famous golf holes. £28 gets a family of four round one course; do both with lunch in between.
Port Sunlight Museum
The story of the village Lever built for his soap workers, with a preserved worker's cottage on the same ticket and a £2 miniature-hunting trail for the children. The village outside, the prettiest streets on Merseyside, costs nothing. A gentle history stop, not a rides day, and priced like it knows that.
West Kirby Concourse Leisure Centre
Pool, sports hall and the Bluebells cafe on Grange Road, five minutes from the marine lake, and the Wirral pool that kept swimming while others went in and out of maintenance closures in 2026.
Adventureland, New Brighton
New Brighton's big indoor play centre on the prom: a giant six-lane slide, inflatables, two netted trampolines, a ball pond, a castle and a toddler area. £10 a child for the whole day. Shut on term-time weekdays.
Brimstage Maze
A maize maze day out between Heswall and Bebington: giant and mini mazes, a play barn, a volcano slide, pedal karts, zip lines and splash pools. Summer only, plus Grimstage for Halloween, 24 Oct to 1 Nov 2026.
Bubbles World of Play
One of the biggest indoor soft plays in the UK, by its own account: more than 30 themed zones, giant slides, ball cannons and a role play mini city on the New Brighton seafront. School-day tickets are £8.50 and let you stay all day.
Eureka! Science + Discovery
A hands-on science centre built precisely for this age group - walk-through lungs and a supersize brain in the new Bodies gallery, inventions to test, and the ferry stop is literally outside. Entry converts to an annual pass, which changes the maths entirely.
Jumpin' Joseph's Trampoline Park
A trampoline park in an industrial unit in Bromborough with a foam pit, a big air bag, a bouldering wall, a jump tower and a soft play corner. Tots Time at £5 is the bargain; weekend open bounce is £11 an hour.
Nanny Sharon's Alpaca Farm
A small community interest farm on the edge of Prenton where the main event is a ninety minute alpaca and goat walk: feeding, a lead rope round a woodland trail, then a log fire and a cup of tea in a cabin.
Activity for All Wirral
One site in Upton with a three-tier soft play and enclosed toddler zone, climbing walls, a high ropes course and an 18-hole neon mini golf. Soft play is open 9am to 8pm daily. Book online for cheaper weekends.
Claremont Farm
A working farm on the ridge above Bebington where the strawberry field is the whole attraction: you pay at the gate, walk into the rows, and the price includes the punnet you fill. June and July only.
Floral Pavilion
New Brighton's seafront theatre, with a cafe open to anyone every day, a traditional panto and a scattering of family shows and holiday clubs through the year. Pairs well with a blowy walk on the prom.
What’s on in Wirral
10 dated events coming up, 3 of them this weekend.
Myths and Legends half term at Eureka!
Eureka! Science + Discovery, Seacombe · Wirral
until 1 Nov. Daily through half term, 24 October to 1 November
Not Halloween as such, but half term on the Wirral with a real-life dragon from Teach Rex, dragon breath with The Wonderweaver and a new show, Dragon Dynamics. Useful for the child who is sick of pumpkins by the Tuesday.
Written by us
Halloween Family Trail ('Which book has the Witch not read?')
Ness Botanic Gardens · Wirral
until 2 Nov. Daily, 24 October to 2 November, 10.30am to 3.30pm
A book-themed Halloween trail round Ness Botanic Gardens, 24 October to 2 November, 10.30am to 3.30pm. It takes about 40 minutes and suits 5 to 12s. The sheet is free with admission; bring a pencil.
Written by us
Halloween Family Trail at Ness Botanic Gardens
Ness Botanic Gardens, Neston · Wirral
until 2 Nov. Daily, 24 October to 2 November, 10.30am to 3.30pm
A book-themed trail round the gardens for 5 to 12s, about 40 minutes: spot favourites from children's books along the way and work out which one the witch has not read. The trail sheet is free with garden entry, but bring a pen or you will be buying one in the shop. Half term also has a Halloween family workshop, and an autumn colours workshop on Tuesday 27 October.
Written by us
The Big Story Bash
Floral Pavilion · Wirral
7 Nov. Saturday 7 November
A free family book day at the Floral Pavilion on Saturday 7 November, with author talks, comic-making and face painting. Frank Cottrell-Boyce appears. Entry is free but some activities need booking in advance.
Written by us
Monthly Messy Church (opens on Woodchurch, Holy Cross)
Woodchurch, Holy Cross · Wirral
11 Nov. Wednesday 11 November, 3.30pm
Starts at 3.30pm. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by Woodchurch, Holy Cross · collected 1 Nov
West Kirby's Winter Wonderland (opens in a new tab)
West Kirby Grammar School, Graham Road · Wirral
21 Nov. Saturday 21 November, 10am to 3pm
A community Christmas fair at West Kirby Grammar School on Saturday 21 November, 10am to 3pm. Free entry, though they ask for a food or toiletry item for the foodbank. Santa's Grotto is booked separately.
Written by us
Everything on in Wirral4 more not shown here
Also worth the drive
Not in Wirral, but close enough for a day out.
World of Glass
Free to get in and better than it sounds: hands-on stations on glass, lenses and fibre optics, a Victorian street and the old Tank House, with live glassblowing around midday and 2pm for a small extra charge. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
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.
Holiday Clubs (HAF)
Funded holiday clubs with food included, ages 4 to 18, for families on benefits-related free school meals. Worth a look even if you assume you won't qualify.
Family & Friends Playcentre
A small play centre in the old Prescot Gospel Hall built for under-fives, with a role-play street, a soft play house with slides and a ball pool, and a baby corner. Weekday mornings only, closed Tuesdays, and adults go in free.
Knowsley Safari
Drive through the reserve from the car, then the sea lion and birds of prey shows. Reviews are split on value, and several warn that families expect a full zoo and find fewer headline animals, so set expectations first.
World Museum, Liverpool
Five floors, free, and it covers three things small children reliably love: giant dinosaurs, an aquarium and a space gallery. The best wet-weather day within half an hour.
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.