11 Dinosaur Days Out in the North West

My boy loves dinosaurs and for many years now we’ve been going on days out and trips to see them in museums and outdoors. The North West seems especially good for dinosaur days out. I’ve gathered a list of fun dino things to do in and around Manchester and the North West.

11 Dinosaur Days Out in the North West

Dino Falls Adventure Golf , Trafford Centre – with two courses and 36 holes of dinosaur-themed adventure, Dino Falls is a great place for dino dates, trips out with mates and families of all ages. Offering safe, outdoor fun for everyone, just book through their website https://www.dinofalls.co.uk/

Blackpool Zoo Dinosaur Safari – Come face to face with the terrifying t-rex, awesome pterodactyls and more than 30 other prehistoric creatures. The Dinosaur Safari at Blackpool Zoo will take you through four ages, with sound effects and thousands of plants and trees bring the prehistoric world vividly to life. Visit the website for more information

Dinosaur Days Out

Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf, Bents Garden Centre – The Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf course at Bents Garden & Home is nine holes of dinosaur excitement. Tucked away in a corner of the garden centre, out by the lake, the Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf is certain to appeal to all ages of dinosaur or crazy golf enthusiasts. To book, visit their website.

Cockfields Farm Park – Visit Jurassic Farm 2021, this new attraction at Cockfields Farm Park includes; meeting real life walking dinosaurs, the T-Rex, Velociraptor and Triceratops; dinosaur themed family stage shows; fossil excavation activities; panning for gems and gold; fossil making and handling sessions with the reptiles including snakes, lizards, tortoises and bugs. Visit the website for more information.

T-Rex Treks; Gullivers World – Journey on a Jurassic adventure and get up close to fearsome dinosaurs lurking deep within this Lost World. This one-hour experience is bookable now through their website.

Dinosaur Days Out

The Lymm Dinosaur – in the Cheshire town of Lymm, lurks the famous Lymm Dinosaur. The discovery of the chirotherium footprint at a Lymm Quarry in 1840 sparked some local dino fever. The dino footprint can be found near the lower dam in Lymm Village and there are some lovely local walks to help make a day of your visit.

Manchester Museum has a collection of around 100,000 fossils ranging from fossil algae from the dawn of life hundreds of millions of years ago. From ferns to Ice Age animals and dinosaurs. It’s a fantastic museum to visit for all kinds of reasons, but it’s well known for its excellent dino content and is one of my favourite dinosaur days out. For more information about what’s on, visit their website.

Love Exploring App – This app is free to download and use. There are many features including walks, audio guides and augmented reality games. Download the app and take part in a mini hunt in parks around Manchester and the North West.

Amazonia, Bolton – Deep in the heart of The Vaults at Market Place you will find Amazonia, Bolton’s finest adventure play area. Let your tribe run wild with a main play frame for ages 4 to 14 years. Not only this, but the Jungle express train will allow your tribe to ride through the valley. Don’t miss The Lost World which features some of your favourite dinos!

Dinosaur Days Out

World Museum, Liverpool – discover full size dinosaur skeletons and learn how these immense animals lived and died. Visit the Dino Diner display, which investigates dinosaur teeth, their food and even what they left behind as droppings! In the gallery are models of the very different dinosaurs which lived in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, together with dinosaur bones, dinosaur droppings and rare dinosaur eggs. You can read about our visit here. For more information, visit the website.

Raptor Safari Dinosaur Park, Wilmslow – take a walk around the dinosaur safari park and experience dinosaurs from 65 million years ago. For more info, visit their website.

If you enjoyed this, you might like to read about these 15 farm days out in and around Manchester.

Have I missed any dinosaur days out? Do let me know in the comments box below.

11 Dinosaur Days Out in the North West

Days Out: Adventure Golf at Bents Garden and Home

We are big fans of Adventure Golf, we always try to play a round when we can. Last year we went to Bents Garden and Home to play their Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf. This week we visited again, they’ve recently extended the dinosaur golf to include nine extra holes of pirate golf, this we had to see!

Days Out: Adventure Golf at Bents Garden and Home

Bents Home and Garden is a huge garden centre with lots of things to do. To get to the Adventure Golf you need to head through the garden centre and go outside, go left when you get outside and you should see the Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf shop building. Go in, pay and collect your club and ball as well as your score card.

Days Out: Adventure Golf at Bents Garden and Home

The dino golf was originally just 9 holes, with the pirate extension it doubles the number of holes to 18. The first 9 are dino, the last 9 are pirate. I think the dino holes of the adventure golf at Bents have been re-jigged a little to freshen them up. The dinosaurs were epic, they’re so well done, some of them move and roar and even though we’d seen them before we were all so impressed.

Days Out: Adventure Golf at Bents Garden and Home

The pirate extension was very well done, it moves from a dino landscape into a water filled pirate world. There’s a big pirate ship which they’ve incorporated into the course, as well as a whale, crocodile and a host of pirates, some of which looked quite familiar.

Days Out: Adventure Golf at Bents Garden and Home

The pirate golf is very well done. Each hole is reasonably tricky, without being too hard. My 7 year old had the most fun playing all 18 holes of Adventure Golf. I liked the little details; like incorporating the pirate ship into the play and having to putt the ball into a hole in the whale’s mouth.

If I had to find something to criticize; it would be good if they had a sign suggesting what a good par would be (the ideal number of shots for each hole); just so you know how well, or not so well you’re doing.

Days Out: Adventure Golf at Bents Garden and Home

Depending on how busy it is, the course should occupy the family for around an hour. There’s also a small shop where you can buy dino and pirate themed toys, most of which are inexpensive. Outside there’s a playground near the cafe where the kids can play while you have a drink.

The Adventure Golf costs £21 for two adults and two children. Information about their opening times and prices can be found on their website.

Disclosure: We were invited guests of Bents Garden and Home and we were not asked to pay for our golfing session, though we have paid previously and would do again.

Days Out: Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf at Bents Garden & Home

Over the Easter weekend we hopped in the car and drove from South Manchester to Bents Garden & Home, near Leigh, Greater Manchester. We’d heard that they had recently opened the Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf course and we thought we’d take our six year old dinosaur enthusiast to check it out.