Top Hidden Gems Day Trips from Preston
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The top Hidden Gems Day Trips from Preston include Avenham and Miller Parks, Church of St Walburge, Longton Brickcroft Nature Reserve, Crosby Beach, Gaddings Dam, Peel Park, Ordsall Hall and Chetham's Library.
Preston makes a handy launch pad for a day out, whether you fancy a gentle riverside walk or a longer run to the coast and the moors. Start close to home in Avenham and Miller Parks on the Ribble, then look up at the soaring spire of the Church of St Walburge nearby.
A little southwest lies Longton Brickcroft, a flooded old brickworks turned nature reserve. From there the trips stretch further afield: drive southwest to Crosby Beach and its cast-iron Gormley figures on the sand north of Liverpool, or head southeast to Salford for Peel Park and Tudor Ordsall Hall, and on into central Manchester for the ancient Chetham's Library.
For something wilder, climb east over the moors to Gaddings Dam above Todmorden in West Yorkshire. There is a real mix here, from a five-minute stroll to a proper day on the road, so pick to suit your energy and the weather.
Here are eight hidden gems for a day trip from Preston.
Avenham and Miller Parks
Photo: David Dixon via Geograph.org.uk
Wander through Avenham and Miller Parks, two adjoining Victorian parks on the banks of the River Ribble right in Preston, laid out together by Edward Milner and opened in 1867. Avenham is the larger and more natural of the pair, sloping gently down to the river, while Miller Park beside it is smaller and formal, with a fountain, a grotto and a statue of the Earl of Derby.
Riverside walks, a Japanese garden and the old tram-road bridge across the Ribble all draw visitors, and there is a pavilion cafe near the middle. The layout has barely changed since the 1880s, so it feels wonderfully unhurried.
Church of St Walburge
Photo: David Robinson via Geograph.org.uk
Church of St Walburge came from the drawing board of Joseph Hansom, the architect better remembered for the hansom cab that took his name. He gave Preston this large Roman Catholic church in the 1850s, Gothic in style and crowned with a limestone spire of about 94 metres, the tallest church spire in England outside the cathedrals at Salisbury and Norwich.
Within, a broad nave rises under a high hammerbeam roof, lit by a large rose window. Since 2014 it has run as a shrine with daily traditional Latin Mass, and the spire opens now and then for booked climbs, worth timing a visit around.
Longton Brickcroft Nature Reserve
Photo: Gerald McKenna via Geograph.org.uk
Spend an hour at Longton Brickcroft, a nature reserve at Longton, southwest of Preston in Lancashire, on the site of a former brickworks whose clay pits flooded to form lakes. Around eleven hectares of ponds, woodland, meadow and marsh make up the reserve, which became a local nature reserve in 1998 and has held a Green Flag ever since.
You can walk the paths around three large ponds, with smaller dipping ponds too, plus a visitor centre with limited hours, toilets and free parking. It is a gentle, easygoing spot for birdwatching and pond life, and only a short trip from the city.
Crosby Beach
Photo: Mike Faherty via Geograph.org.uk
Head to Crosby Beach, a long sweep of tidal sand on the coast north of Liverpool, well worth the drive from Preston for Another Place, an installation by the sculptor Antony Gormley. A hundred life-size cast-iron figures, each cast from the artist's own body, are spread along about two miles of the foreshore, all facing out to sea, and the tide slowly covers and uncovers them as they grow rusted and barnacled over the years.
The beach itself is open and free, with the figures scattered widely across the sand. Note that the soft sand and fast tides mean the water here is not for swimming.
Gaddings Dam
Photo: Steve Partridge via Geograph.org.uk
Make the trek to Gaddings Dam, an old mill reservoir high on the moors above Todmorden in West Yorkshire, more than a thousand feet up on open, windswept ground and a proper day-trip east from Preston. Along one side lies a small sandy beach, often claimed as the highest in Britain, which pulls wild swimmers up the steep walk to the water.
It was saved from being drained when local people clubbed together to buy it and keep it. There are no facilities and no road to reach it, just moorland stretching away on every side, so come prepared for the climb and the weather.
Peel Park
Photo: N Chadwick via Geograph.org.uk
Visit Peel Park, a Victorian public park on the banks of the River Irwell in Salford, next to the University of Salford and wrapped around the Salford Museum and Art Gallery. It opened in 1846 as one of the first purpose-built public parks in the country, laid out with lawns, tree-lined paths and bedding displays, and it was restored and reopened in 2017.
These days it has play areas, sculptures along a riverside art trail and a weekly parkrun. Just to be clear, it is a different place from the Peel Park over in Bradford.
It sits a fair drive southeast of Preston, near central Manchester.
Ordsall Hall
Photo: Anthony O'Neil via Geograph.org.uk
Ordsall Hall A white lady is among the ghosts said to haunt this timber-framed Tudor manor in Salford, and the hall cheerfully leans on that long-standing reputation for its events. Behind the black-and-white frame, once ringed by a moat, is a house whose great hall went up in 1512 for the Radclyffe family, who kept the estate for centuries, with a brick wing following in 1639.
Visitors wander the great hall, the star chamber, the great chamber and the Tudor kitchen, then out to the gardens and changing exhibitions. Salford took the building on and, after a major restoration, reopened it as a free museum in 2011.
Chetham's Library
Photo: N Chadwick via Geograph.org.uk
Finish at Chetham's Library in Manchester, the oldest free public reference library in the English-speaking world, set in sandstone buildings of 1421 that were first raised for the priests of the town's collegiate church. Endowed under the will of the merchant Humphrey Chetham and opened in the 1650s, it keeps its medieval reading rooms, cloisters and old bookcases, holding tens of thousands of early books and manuscripts.
Marx and Engels studied together at a desk here in 1845, which is still shown to visitors. It shares its site with Chetham's School of Music, and you can look round by booked tour or reader appointment.
FAQs
How far afield do these day trips go from Preston?
They range from Avenham Park in the heart of Preston to Crosby Beach near Liverpool and Gaddings Dam above Todmorden, so distances run from under a mile to well over forty kilometres.
Which gems are best for a short visit near Preston?
Avenham and Miller Parks, the Church of St Walburge and Longton Brickcroft all sit close to Preston, making them ideal if you only have an hour or two to spare.
Can you go wild swimming on a day trip from Preston?
Gaddings Dam, an old reservoir high on the moors above Todmorden in West Yorkshire, has a sandy beach popular with wild swimmers, though it is a steep walk with no facilities. Crosby Beach near Liverpool is not safe for swimming.
Conclusion
Preston puts a surprising spread of days out within reach, from a riverside amble to a windswept moorland climb. Close to home you have Avenham and Miller Parks and the towering spire of St Walburge's, with Longton Brickcroft a short hop away.
Further afield, Crosby Beach and its Gormley figures, the Salford pair of Peel Park and Ordsall Hall, and the ancient Chetham's Library in Manchester each make a rewarding target, while Gaddings Dam offers a real adventure high above Todmorden. Check opening times for the library and the halls, pack for the weather if you are heading to the moors, and allow plenty of travel time for the longer trips.
From Tudor halls to cast-iron figures on the sand, these are the hidden gems for a day trip from Preston.
