Walton Hall's children's zoo is free and keeps red squirrels. Gulliver's World is £28 booked ahead. Verified prices and opening hours for ten days out.

The best-value day out in Warrington costs £4. That is the weekday car park charge at Walton Hall and Gardens, and once you have paid it the park, the gardens and the children’s zoo are all free, red squirrels included. The most expensive is Gulliver’s World at £28 a head booked ahead, £31 on the gate.

Everything below was checked against each venue’s own website on 9 August 2026. Prices and opening hours change, so use the links before you set off.

What a family of four actually pays

Cost of a Warrington day out for two adults and two children Horizontal bar chart of the cost of a day out in Warrington for a family of four. Gulliver's World costs £124 on the day or £112 booked online in advance. Walton Hall and Gardens costs £4 on a weekday or £5 at a weekend, for parking only. Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, Risley Moss nature reserve, Lymm Dam, Sankey Valley Park and Rixton Claypits are all free, with free parking. One paid day out, and a long list of free ones Cost for two adults and two children, including parking where it is charged. Checked against each venue's own website, 9 August 2026. Gulliver's World, on the day£124 Gulliver's World, booked online£112 Walton Hall, weekend parking£5 Walton Hall, weekday parking£4 Warrington Museum & Art Galleryfree Risley Moss nature reservefree, free car park Lymm Damfree, free car park Sankey Valley Parkfree, free car park Rixton Claypitsfree Gulliver's is £31 a head on the day and £28 booked in advance, with under-90cm children free and free onsite parking, so a family with a toddler pays less. Walton Hall's charge is for the car park only. The gardens, playground and children's zoo cost nothing; the high ropes and adventure golf are extra.
The gap between the paid attraction and the free ones is £120 a day, which is worth knowing in a school holiday.

Walton Hall and Gardens

The former home of Lord and Lady Daresbury, and the closest thing Warrington has to a flagship park. Free to enter, no booking needed, dogs welcome in the grounds.

The children’s zoo is also free, open 10.30am to 4.15pm with last entry at 4pm. It began in the early 1960s as six aviaries and now keeps alpacas, rescue donkeys, pot-bellied pigs, Herdwick sheep, African pygmy goats and a noisy contingent of peacocks. It also houses native red squirrels as part of a nationwide breeding programme, which is not something most municipal parks can claim. Dogs are not allowed in the zoo.

Parking is pay and display: £4 Monday to Friday, £5 at weekends and on bank holidays, £20 for coaches, and three hours free with a blue badge. Contactless works, or pay via RingGo using site number 18157. The car park is open 8am to 8pm from April to August and 8am to 4.30pm from September to March.

Paid extras run alongside the free stuff: adventure golf, high ropes (book ahead, 10am to 5pm), pitch and putt, a municipal golf course, Tiny Tots Zoo Adventure from £10, zookeeper experiences from £15 and alpaca walks from £30. waltonhallgardens.co.uk

Warrington Museum & Art Gallery

Free, and older than almost anything comparable. Warrington opened one of the earliest local authority museums and the first public library in the country in 1848, in temporary rooms at Friars Green. William Beamont, the borough’s first mayor, laid the foundation stone of the current building in 1855 and it opened in 1857.

Open Wednesday to Friday 10am to 4.30pm, Saturday 10am to 4pm and Sunday 11am to 3pm, with last admission fifteen minutes before closing. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, which are reserved for booked school visits, and closed on bank holidays. There is no café, but you can bring food and eat it in Creativity Cove.

Everything currently on is free, including Warrington Wolves: A Game For All (to 27 September 2026), Make Your Space and Twisted Fairytales (both to 20 September) and Six Objects in Search of An Artist (15 August to 1 November). The Local Studies and Archives Searchroom, on the ground floor of the library, is open Wednesday to Friday 10am to 4pm and Saturday 10am to 2pm.

It is on Bold Street, WA1 1JG, seven minutes’ walk from Bank Quay and twelve from Central. wmag.culturewarrington.org

Gulliver’s World

The theme park at Old Hall, aimed squarely at younger children rather than teenagers. Open daily 10.30am to 5pm through August.

The Park Day Ticket is £31 on the day and £28 booked online in advance. Seniors pay £29 or £26, the concessionary rate is £24 or £21, and children under 90cm go free. Parking on site is free, and an annual passport is £99. gulliversworldresort.co.uk

Risley Moss

A lowland raised peat bog at Birchwood, designated both a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation, with bird hides, a visitor centre, toilets and a car park. Free.

Check the day before you go, because the hours are unusual: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, and closed on Fridays. At weekends and on bank holidays it opens 10am to 6pm from April to September and 9am to 5pm from October to March. It also shuts on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Dogs must be on leads and out of the water. warrington.gov.uk/risleymoss

Lymm Dam

A wooded reservoir on the edge of the village, open 24 hours with free car parking. Woodland walks, a bridleway, picnic benches, angling and a link onto the Trans Pennine Trail. It is the obvious walk to pair with an hour in Lymm itself, and the village is the most expensive part of the borough to live in for a reason. warrington.gov.uk/lymm-dam

Sankey Valley Park

The green corridor that follows the Sankey Canal through the west of the town. Open 24 hours, free, with play areas, sculpture and park art, picnic benches, car parking and day fishing on the canal. Good for a walk that starts and finishes near where people actually live rather than requiring a drive out. warrington.gov.uk/sankey-valley-park

Rixton Claypits

An SSSI of woodland, meadow and flooded clay workings out towards Glazebrook, notable for its great crested newts. Free and open all hours, with viewing points and woodland walks. The visitor centre, toilets and car park depend on staff being on site, so treat them as a bonus rather than a plan. Dogs on leads: there are grazing sheep, and the ponds are off limits. warrington.gov.uk/rixton-claypits-local-nature-reserve

Birchwood Forest Park

Woodland walks, play areas, a small skate park, football pitches and a ranger centre, open 24 hours and free. The Birchwood Carnival is held on the playing fields here, usually in early June. warrington.gov.uk/birchwood-forest-park

Apple Jack’s Adventure Farm

An adventure farm at Stretton aimed mainly at four to twelve year olds, with indoor and outdoor activities so the weather matters less than it might. Tickets are available in advance online or on the door, and the maize maze opens in late July.

One thing worth knowing before you drive out: despite the name, the site states plainly that it is not a petting farm and there are no animals to see. If animals are the point of the trip, Walton Hall’s zoo is the free alternative. applejacksfarm.co.uk

In town

Time Square is the £142 million mixed-use development that opened in the town centre in 2020, and describes itself as a one-stop destination for shopping, dining and leisure. The Community Sky Garden, run by the museum, sits on top of the Golden Square car park and was established in 2022.

Warrington Wolves play Super League rugby league at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, and the museum’s free exhibition about the club runs until 27 September if you want the history without the ticket price.

More Warrington local information: house prices, trains to London, roadworks and travel and planning news.