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.
Parks & outdoors Wirral
Parks & outdoors in Wirral
Playgrounds, country parks, woodland trails and nature reserves. Most of these cost nothing.
3 in Wirral2 free3 suit under-5s
Birkenhead Park is the one with the claim to fame: Central Park in New York was modelled on it. Two lakes, a covered Swiss Bridge and free entry, and it holds up whether or not anybody in the family cares about the history.
Wirral Country Park at Thurstaston was Britain's first, and it is the one for a windy day: a clifftop path high above the Dee with a beach for fossil hunting below. Ness Botanic Gardens is the ticketed option, run by the University of Liverpool, with family trails and free entry for under-sixes. Do Thurstaston when the estuary is clear, because the view across to Wales is most of the point.
Parks & outdoors in Wirral
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.
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.
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 peat bog nature reserve with woodland trails, a visitor centre and an observation tower the kids can climb. Free, close and short enough for little legs.
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.