Nantwich, Cheshire
Reaseheath is the land-based college just outside Nantwich, and its mini zoo is where the animal management students learn. In term time the students have it; at weekends and in college holidays the public do, 10am to 4pm with last entry at 3. The collection is bigger than 'mini' suggests: meerkats, Asian short-clawed otters, ring-tailed lemurs, marmosets and tamarins, a Cape porcupine, red-necked wallabies, bush dogs, an armadillo, owls and a Harris hawk, plus goats, alpacas, rabbits and guinea pigs.
A good chunk is indoors, the reptile, amphibian, insect and fish rooms, which is handy for warming small hands in November. Most families spend one to three hours, and keeper talks run through the day. Tickets are £7 for children and £8 for adults, under fours free, paid at the kiosk by card only.
Check the dates before you go. It is open every weekend through the autumn, daily over October half term (24 October to 1 November 2026), weekends in November, then shut for all of December. There is building work on site at the moment; the zoo says a few paths may be closed but visits are not affected.
What it costs: Adults £8; children 4 to 15 and concessions £7; 3 and under free; one essential carer per disabled visitor free. Pay at the kiosk on arrival, card only, as the college is cashless. Animal encounters and the Zoo School holiday club are booked and paid for separately online.
Seasonal: Weekends and college holidays only; closed in December. Check before travelling.
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The best age match of anything on this list. Reviewers put the sweet spot at 2 to 10 and say a 4-year-old can do essentially the whole park; the map colour-codes areas by age and puts mini zipwires beside the full-size ones. Budget four to six hours.
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A real Cold War government bunker in the Cheshire fields south of Nantwich, with most of the kit still in the rooms it was used in. There is a NAAFI canteen, a cinema and a Soviet Spy Mouse Trail. Every ticket is an annual pass.
A small, free, volunteer-run museum in Nantwich's old Victorian library covering salt, shoes and the Civil War. An hour at most, best paired with the riverside, and the half-term craft days are the time to make a special trip.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.