The Peak District, Manchester and Liverpool with children
This post should give you some hints and tips as to what you can include on a weeks trip to the North of England to the Peak District, Manchester and Liverpool with children. This will include:
- Travelling to the Peak District
- Cadbury World in Birmingham
- Our Airbnb in the Peak District
- Chatsworth House at Christmas
- A day out in Manchester with children
- A family day out in Liverpool
Travelling to the Peak District
We based ourselves in the Peak District for this trip but actually spent most of our time outside of the National Park, in the cities of Liverpool and Manchester. As we have done before (as you can see in this post on the Lake District) we opted for somewhere near Manchester. This was so that Dave could go to a Manchester Utd game whilst we were there.
Cadbury World, Birmingham
On the way there we stopped half way to go to Cadbury’s World in Birmingham. Both Dave and I had been there as children and had memories of all the chocolate you get handed as you go around…that certainly hasn’t changed :-).
When we arrived we realised we’d not packed the buggy! Queue a big stress and panic over how we’d cope for the next few days. Fortunately as it was a UK holiday, it was quite easy to find an Argos and to buy a cheap one. It would have been a different story had we arrived at the airport without a buggy!
We were both really impressed with Cadbury’s World. They walk you through a history of the Cadbury’s family, you can do a bit of chocolate making (and chocolate tasting), there’s a little ride (which the children loved) and lots more besides.
Airbnb in the Peak District
We then headed off for the (unexpectedly) long drive up to the Peak District. Due to heavy traffic through Birmingham it took us far longer than we’d planned. This meant we ended up getting to our Airbnb after dark. It was tricky to find but a complete treat when we did. We were staying in a lovely, traditional cottage with a gorgeous open fire, lots of space and homely decor.
There wasn’t a cot so we’d taken our own, but they did provide a highchair which was really useful for our 14 month old. There was also a welcome hamper full of lovely bits and pieces which is always such a lovely touch. We paid £551.42 for 4 nights and booked via Airbnb.
Chatsworth House at Christmas
The following day Dave had to work so I took the girls to Chatsworth House which is the beautiful home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire which has been passed down through 16 generations of the Cavendish family.
Every Christmas it gets decorated with incredible decorations, with numerous beautiful Christmas trees and twinkling lights. As well as this it has a fantastic Christmas market in its grounds. It’s a beautiful piece of English heritage and I’ve long wanted to visit.
It wasn’t cheap (around £20 each for me and our 4 year old) so I was hoping it went well….famous last words! Our youngest was recovering from hand foot and mouth (she’d been really ill with it and the after affects lasted a long time). I was also outnumbered two to one so it was always going to be tricky, especially as the little one wanted to be carried everywhere. Add to this the freeeeezing weather and queues to get around the house I did have one or two stressful moments during the day 🙂
However, having said ALL that, overall we had a lovely day – our eldest had a chocolate crepe (probably her highlight!), we watched the Christmas musicians playing, wandered around the stunning house and I had a hog roast bap 🙂
A day out in Manchester with the children
The following day on our little tour of the Peak District, Manchester and Liverpool with children, we went to Manchester for the day. We headed off early and went to the National Football Museum which is a huge, fascinating museum and a fantastic way to spend a few hours. It was free when we went which was a great plus but on researching this post I have seen that they do now charge an admission fee.
Dave then headed off to the Football and the girls and I went to Media City to do the Walking with the Snowman Sculpture Trail which was brilliant. We had a great time searching for them (the app definitely helped) and saw all that Media City has to offer as well (ITV, BBC and Coronation Street are all based there). We stopped at the Harvester to warm up and then met Dave and drove back to the Peak District.
A family day out in Liverpool
The next day we decided to visit Liverpool. We immediately fell in love with all it has to offer and could easily fill a long weekend dedicated solely to the City. As we often do, our first port of call was a hop on hop off bus tour which was great as it allowed us to see loads of sights but in a relatively short space of time. There was a real life tour guide on board too (rather than the normal audio) which I think helped engage the children more. We paid £11 for each adult and the children were free.
Albert Dock is a hub of shops, restaurants and bars and museums and you could spend a day exploring it, but after the bus tour we were all a bit cold so we headed to the Mattel Play Centre to warm up. The girls both loved it, exploring the Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam and Thomas the Tank Engine themed zones for an hour or so. We paid £12 for each child (!) and £3 for each adult so it’s not cheap but a nice treat. After this we headed for lunch at a neighbouring restaurant.
After lunch we went to the Christmas Market and fair on the banks of the Mersey and we had a wonderful time going on lots of rides and eating a chocolate crepe (again!)
Final thoughts
I could happily live in this part of the Country! We had a brilliant 4 days exploring the Peak District, Manchester and Liverpool with Children, we managed to cram so much in and the girls had a great time.
It’s made me want to go back again and again to the North of our beautiful country as there is SO much to do – we will be tagging along on Daves’ trips to Manchester for many years to come.
