Things to do in Warrington this weekend: a two-day plan

A weekend in Warrington is easy to plan. The town centre is small enough to walk, there are parks, canals and nature reserves a short drive away, and two villages with old pubs and good places to eat sit just outside. Here is a simple two-day plan you can shuffle around the weather and anything you’ve booked.

Saturday morning in the town centre

Start at Warrington Museum & Art Gallery on Bold Street. It shares a Grade II listed Victorian building with the Central Library, and its galleries cover fine art, natural history, archaeology, world cultures and the story of the town, with changing exhibitions alongside. Entry is free, and it runs free craft activities for children.

From there it’s a short walk to the Town Hall on Sankey Street and its Golden Gates. The gates were made by the Coalbrookdale ironworks in Shropshire for the International Exhibition of 1862 in London. A local ironmaster, Frederick Monks, bought them for the town, and they were opened in front of the Town Hall in 1895. The Town Hall itself began life as Bank Hall, a Georgian house built in 1750 for the merchant Thomas Patten.

For lunch, walk over to Warrington Market at Time Square. The market moved into its new building in 2020 and has more than 50 independent traders, selling fresh meat, fish, cheese, fruit and veg alongside gifts, fabric, jewellery and plenty more. Its food hall, the Cookhouse, has counters serving food from around the world and a couple of independent bars, so everyone can pick something different and still sit together.

If anyone needs the shops, Golden Square, the main shopping centre, is a few minutes’ walk away, with high-street names, local businesses and cafés.

Saturday afternoon outdoors

After lunch, get some fresh air. There are three easy options, each within about 10 minutes of the centre by car.

Walton Hall and Gardens. South of town, Walton Hall is a 19th-century hall in parkland, with formal gardens, woodland and orchard walks, a children’s zoo, a playground, adventure golf, pitch and putt and a café. The estate is open all year.

Sankey Valley Park. On the west side of town, the park follows Sankey Brook and the old Sankey Canal past meadows, woodland and wetland. The path beside the canal is flat and good for walking or cycling, and it carries on all the way to St Helens if you want a longer outing.

The Bridgewater Canal. To the south, the canal runs through Stockton Heath and Grappenhall on its way to Lymm. The towpath makes an easy walk past moored narrowboats and old brick bridges. The canal company only allows cycling on certain stretches, so check its towpath guidance before you bring bikes, or simply go on foot.

Saturday evening: Stockton Heath, Time Square or a show

For dinner, a lot of people head to Stockton Heath, a village just south of the river and about 5 minutes from the centre by car. London Road is lined with independent cafés, restaurants and bars, and the Bridgewater Canal crosses the road at the southern end of the village if you’d like a short walk first.

Closer in, Time Square has a Cineworld cinema and restaurants and bars around one square, and the Cookhouse at the market stays open into the early evening. Time Square also hosts events through the year, which you’ll find on its what’s on page.

If you’d rather see a show, Parr Hall on Palmyra Square puts on music, comedy, drama and family shows through the year. It is run by the charity Culture Warrington, which also looks after the museum and the Pyramid arts centre beside Parr Hall. The Pyramid has been closed for a major refurbishment, so check whether it has reopened before you plan around it. Culture Warrington’s listings show what’s on at all of its venues.

Sunday: Lymm Dam or Risley Moss

Lymm Dam, about 15 minutes east by car, is a lake in woodland on the edge of Lymm. It was created in 1824, when an earth dam was built across the valley to carry a new turnpike road, now the A56. A path runs right round the water, and there are picnic benches and a car park. It gets busy on sunny weekends, so an early start helps.

From the dam, a woodland path called the Dingle follows the stream down into the centre of Lymm. The village has old pubs and cafés around its stone cross, and the Bridgewater Canal runs through it, which makes Lymm a good place to stop for Sunday lunch before you head back.

For somewhere quieter, try Risley Moss near Birchwood, also about 15 minutes away. It’s a council-run nature reserve of woodland and peat mossland, protected for its wildlife, with marked trails, bird hides, a visitor centre and picnic benches.

If the Wolves are at home

Warrington Wolves, the town’s rugby league club, play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, about 20 minutes’ walk north of the town centre. The Super League season runs from roughly February to October, so a spring or summer weekend has a fair chance of a home game. Kick-off days and times vary, so check the club’s fixtures and buy tickets ahead on its website.

If a match or a gig is the main reason for your trip, our post on Warrington as a base for matches and gigs has more on planning around it.

Staying for the weekend

Both of our apartments are in central Warrington, so the town-centre half of this plan is walkable from either. The Modern 2-Bed Flat with Flexible Beds sleeps up to 6, with two bedrooms that can each be made up as a double or a twin, two bathrooms and a kitchen, and Golden Square is about 12 minutes’ walk away. The Stylish Central Warrington Stay sleeps 5 and has free parking, which helps for the drives out to Walton Hall or Lymm, plus a fully equipped kitchen for a slow Sunday breakfast.

Check-in is from 15:00 and check-out is by 11:00. Use the booking form to see live availability for your dates. For more places to go, see our Warrington guide, and if you’re bringing children, read our post on family days out from Warrington.