Dunham Massey

Fallow deer graze within feet of the paths at this Georgian estate, and no child forgets their first close pass. In the summer holidays the North Park runs a Play Hub - giant games, den building, tipis - alongside the gardens and hall.

National Trust members walk in free. Keep respectful distance from the deer, especially during the autumn rut, and warn children they are wild - the closeness is the magic and the risk in one.

Arrive before half ten on a fine day. It is the busiest National Trust property in the region, the queue to get a car in is real by late morning in the holidays, and members do not skip it. The deer make it worth the discipline: fallow deer graze within feet of the paths, and dawn-ish visits find them lying in the bracken with fawns.

The winter garden gets the publicity but the working sawmill and the old hospital story (the house served as a WW1 military hospital, and the rooms tell it well) give an older child something beyond trees. The gardens are buggy-friendly throughout, and the parkland walk to the Bollin does the dog-and-toddler circuit in an hour.

What it costs: National Trust members and under-5s free. Parking charge refunded with garden entry for non-members.

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