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.
What it costs: Adults £13.50, children 3 to 16 £11.50, concessions £12.50, family of four £46, under 3s free, carers £8.50 with proof. Cheaper booked seven days ahead.
Santa at the shire horse centre, and the ticket covers farm admission plus free return visits for a month, which softens the price. Your booked time is your Santa slot, so come for 10am, see the horses, then head to the grotto. Tickets are online only and not sold on the day.
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★★★★★ 4.6 across 1,105 Google reviews.
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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.
A small entry fee, then £4.50 a go for most attractions: sand and water play, mini golf, bouncy pillows, a racing track and soft play, all funded by what the farm calls the world's biggest ice cream shop. Cheap to get in, easy to spend in.
More than a kilometre of muddy obstacles, rope swings, wobbly bridges and big slides through a Cheshire valley. Children come off it filthy, soaked and asking to go round again. This is the point; dress accordingly.
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.
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.
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.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.