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.
Brio Northgate
- Cost
- Adult £7.20 with an Active Card, junior £4.30
- Ages
- 0 to 14
- Where
- Chester, Cheshire
- Weather
- Works in the rain
- Booking
- Book online
It comes down to the slide. Brio Northgate has everything else a civic leisure centre has had for decades, a main pool, a training pool kept warmer for lessons, a new gym and squash courts redone in the refurbishment, but the slide is the entire negotiation with most under tens. Northgate Arena has been Chester's civic leisure centre for decades and is now branded Brio Northgate. It sits on Victoria Road, close enough to the city centre that you can walk the walls in the morning and swim in the afternoon without moving the car.
Brio publishes memberships at £27 a month for swim access across six pools, £14.50 for under 18s. For a one-off visit the pay-as-you-go page carries the real numbers: adult £7.20 with an Active Card or £8.20 without, junior £4.30 or £5.30, and toddlers under three £1 or £2. Their stated rule is that confident swimmers aged eight and over can swim alone.
What it costs: Pay as you go swim, published on the centre's own pay-as-you-go page: adult £7.20 with an Active Card or £8.20 without, junior £4.30 or £5.30, concession £5.75 or £6.75, toddler under 3 £1.00 or £2.00. Gym and fitness classes are priced separately. Memberships are Brio Swim at £27 a month across six pools and Brio Junior for under 18s at £14.50 a month. Take 5 pass £33 for five activities in five weeks, 7 day pass £22.
Know before you go
- An Active Card knocks a pound off every ticket and is free to get, so it pays for itself on the first visit. Check the timetable before you drive over, because lessons and aqua classes eat into general swim hours.
- It is a working leisure centre with lessons, lane swimming and aqua classes, so the pool is not always open for general splashing. Read the session timetable, not the opening hours.
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What visitors say
★★★★★ 3.8 across 1,231 Google reviews.
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