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.
Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre
Chester, Cheshire
Cotebrook, a few miles from Tarporley and about twenty minutes out of Chester, and it is the only shire horse stud farm in the UK that opens its gates. That is the whole pitch, and standing next to an animal the size of a small car does land with a six-year-old in a way a petting pen does not.
It is not cheap at £13.50 an adult and £11.50 a child, and this is where the Special Saver matters: a full-price ticket comes back as a month of free return visits. Treat it as a season pass for a wet October and it stops being expensive. Booking seven days ahead knocks money off too.
Beyond the horses there is a wildlife nature trail run with Cheshire Wildlife Trust, a woodland maze, picnic areas and a lakeside cafe doing soup and cream teas. Open 10am to 5pm with last entry at 4pm, every day of the year except Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Know before you go
- Keep the ticket. A full-price entry converts to a Special Saver pass valid for a month of free return visits, so one paid trip can be four.
- Up to thirty shires are on site during the stud season and about twenty over winter, so the horses are there whenever you go.
Looking for more farms & animals near Chester?
Also in Chester
The Ice Cream Farm
A small entry fee now, then a pay-per-play card for the attractions: a giant sand and water quarry, mini golf, go-karts and play areas, funded by a world-record ice cream shop. Cheap after 3.30pm, glorious in any weather.
The Crocky Trail
A mile of muddy obstacles, wobbly bridges and enormous slides through a Cheshire valley. Children come off it filthy, soaked and asking to go round again. This is the point; dress accordingly.
Beeston Castle
A ruined castle on a crag with views from the Pennines to the Welsh mountains, a reconstructed Bronze Age roundhouse and woodland paths below the walls. Castles do not need roofs to work for this age group.
Grosvenor Museum
Chester's Roman story done properly: real tombstones from the fortress walls, a hands-on natural history gallery, and a walk-through period house at the back. Free, central, and the right size.
Grosvenor Park & Miniature Railway
Chester's Victorian park above the river, with a miniature railway looping the lawns, a good playground and open-air theatre in summer. Pair with a boat trip from the Groves below.