Kids Days Out In Derby

Derby works best as a base for a mix of city parks and countryside on the doorstep. Markeaton Park is the main draw within the city, with a lake, a light railway, play areas and a craft village, and it is free to walk into. Chaddesden Park gives a quieter alternative closer to the east of the city.

Moorways Sports Village on the southern edge has a water park attached to it, with flumes and a leisure pool, which makes it the dependable answer to a wet afternoon. It is a modern facility and busy in school holidays, so booking a session ahead is sensible.

Just outside Derby, Calke Abbey is a National Trust house deliberately left in a state of decline, with parkland, a walled garden and woodland play that children take to more readily than the house itself. National Trust seasonal events run there through the year. Staunton Harold Reservoir and the wider Derbyshire countryside put walking, water sports and the southern edge of the Peak District within half an hour.

Derby city centre itself is compact, with the Silk Mill and the cathedral quarter walkable from the bus station.