The 15 best parks and gardens in Carlisle

It's a nice park and quite a big one. If I am not wrong maybe the biggest. With nice play zone for kids, you have a place to eat and drink coffee you can play tennis you can run, walk your dog, relax on the bench, have a picnic with a nice view During Autumn it's such a beautiful place🤩

A lovely place to walk, jog, take children to the park or dog walking. It's close to the city and The Sands leisure building if you fancy food or drinks. The park has formal gardens with flower beds, river walks, tree lined walks and field walks.

Great car park & there is now a pop up cafe & 🚽. Shame carparks dont do take a ticket pay on leave as hard to judge how long u want. We got our river walk done in 3hrs thankfully. Picture of Eden Viaduct(Waverley viaduct)

Great walk around Bitts Park and then to the Sands Centre to the Brick Festival. Set off with an ice cream at the containers. Rum and raisin was very nice. I think it is Wallings ice cream. Why can't thos3 containers be moved during the winter. How are the businesses meant to survive? Walked along the river. Shame about the park keeper's house. What are they doing with it? I remember getting Dandelion and Burdock in a glass bottle from the kiosk next to the tennis courts as a kid. Walked along the river to The Sands for the Brick Festival.. Loved the pictures next to the subway especially the tale about custard creams.. I love the city when you can smell them from the factory...lovely day...

Nice place to go for walk with dogs, child, run and get some nice bite in Tribute. Skate park and play area also available. Very closed to castle and city centre. Car park available in few places. One of them free of charge. Huge area of green fields. Connection to the cycling paths too.

Such a huge park with plenty of parking children's play area, variety of playing materials. Long walking and cycling areas nice greenery views. Children's love this place. Must visit place in Carlisle. Located beside carlisle castle

A fabulous park that hosts many community and arts events, fireworks, and outdoor concerts. There's a wonderful children's playground, sensory gardens, tennis courts, car park, and hosts Carlisle Tribe. There are accessible paths around the park, cycle paths, the Hadrian's Wall Trail, and a park run. There's access to the River Eden, Victoria Park, Rickerby Park, and The Swifts Nature Reserve. It's located behind the Castle and across the road from the city centre. So it's easy to get here by public transport (bus or train). Carlisle Fireshow. This was my second show, the first to be hosted by the Cumberland Council. It's a very family-friendly event with plenty of stewards, first aiders, porta loos, space for thousands of people, and plenty of parking throughout the city. There's a "Fireshow Village" on Castle Car Park offering family entertainment, food, and drink outlets. You can pop a donation in a bucket. Collection is usually done by members of the Rotary Club with all the funds raised going to local charity. The show starts with a themed light show, followed by the bonfire, and then the 2000+ fireworks set to music. It was a wonderful evening out. It's usually quite cold, and you'll be stood around on cold soggy grass, so dress appropriately. Be like an Emperor Penguin in the Antarctic and get to the centre of the huddle. It's much warmer.

Excellent museum, the dinosaur exibit very well laid out and informative. Plenty of space inside for wheelchairs users. Recommend to buy the annual pass as there is loads to see.

Tullie House has always been my favourite museum in the North West- Rich in local and Border History, Tullie House never fails to impress. Their limited time exhibitions are always presented to a very high standard, and I recently visited the rEvolution Dinosaur exhibit, which was a solid 10/10. The Tullie refurbishment makes the building look fresh and new.

Attractive local museum which has recently undergone an extensive refurbishment. Nice cafe and arts and crafts related talks are sometimes held. Cafe gave a positive impression, did not consume anything there. Only looked at some free displays, some impressive artefacts like a prehistoric gold bangle and a large key to one of the old city gates. Attractive tiled stairway, mosaic floor and bannister with coats of arms

The kids absolutely loved it. It is so changed since I have been there. The exhibitions were great and the Dino exhibit was really interesting.

It’s our second visit to Tullie Gallery this year – and once again, the exhibition left us truly impressed! 🎨😍✨ There’s something about this place that keeps calling us back… always inspiring, always worth it. 💫🖼️ If you’re ever in Carlisle, don’t miss it! 📍👀 #TullieGallery #ArtVibes #CarlisleCulture #GalleryLove 💕🎭

The extra exhibition of dinosaur world is interesting and informational. However, at the lower floor of Roman exhibition was disappointing. For example, my young grandson was spelling out a name,that required a ,"u" after helping to search, no u's , so I spoke to assistant, apparently, no U's. This does not take into consideration, that our children learn phonetically, having a letter missing, is annoying. The rest of our explore was fine.

Recently opened exhibition Dinosaur rEvolution is well worth visiting. Great fun for a family and people of all ages. New discoveries about dinosaurs led to the new way of thinking about how they looked and how they lived. It is bright, it is interactive, it is informational, and it is fun.

Went to Walby Farm Park whilst on holiday to do some pumpkin picking and had a great day. Was a group of friends, lots to do like the tractor ride, seeing the animals and playing games. The pumpkins were incredibly well priced and well displayed and we thoroughly enjoyed the pumpkin slingshots! The staff were also really lovely and accommodating especially on the tractor ride! Great day/morning out

We came here as a pit stop on our way to see family in Northumberland. And wow impressed - the was so much to do and the fact that they had a halloween pumpkin event on, that you can pick your own pumpkin in the field, 1 pumpkin for each child was included into the ticket price no matter how big! And can also carve them there and then! Outdoor play areas and we'll as indoor, Plenty of seating and can order food. This was well worth the money and love how friendly it all was! Will definitely come back and different time of the year!

Great for kids. Adults pay almost as much. Fun attractions, most of them at no extra costs. The barrel train behind the quad was a hit. Tip: Get one adult to accompany the kids and have a nap in the car.

We visited from Derbyshire while on holiday, for my little boys 4th birthday. Despite it being a coldish Oct day, this place was great! Loads to do both inside and out with things to suit both my farm mad youngest and the older kids (aged 5, 9 and 13) in our group! The food was lovely, better quality than we have had at other, similar places. All the staff were friendly and helpful, especially Jackson who seemed to be everywhere! All in all a great experience and good value for money!

Another fun day out with the family spending time with all the animals and playing indoors and out. We've always gone during the week and its been quiet each time which we find perfect for our young child. The play areas are fantastic with areas for each age range and we love spending time in the barn. The cafe has a large variety of tasty options, the malteaser slice is a favourite of ours. The staff are friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable. There's plenty to do regardless of that famous Cumbrian weather and we can't wait to come back time and time again.

Walby Park Farm is a fantastic day out for families, offering a wide range of activities that kept the children engaged all day. The only slight drawback was the lack of direct animal feeding opportunities, which are often a highlight at similar attractions. Overall, an excellent experience.

A great place with lots to do inside and out for a range of ages from very little ones to older pre teens. The cafe service is friendly but very slow even just for a coffee. A well thought out design of space, as the parents/ carers can sit and chat and easily see their children.

Nice long spaces for at least a 10 mtr Motorhome and easy walk into town £4.10 for 24 hours Would have been nice and quiet overnight apart from the trains every hour so personally I woukd not here again overnight but OK during day

An amazing place to park up either for the day or stopover for the night. £4:10 for a 24hr ticket is good value. Shame Weymouth council in Dorset can’t offer this level of service. Now we’ll visit the castle here and walk into the town (wife will always buy clothes) visit possibly Wetherspoons for something to eat for the evening. So all in all Carlisle will get a fair amount of business from us just because there is a facility to park my Motorhome. Unlike Cornwall Devon & Dorset who don’t provide barely anything like Carlisle and some places on the south coast actually ban campervans…very short sighted. I’m from Dorset actually, go figure. Well done Carlisle council you are a credit to the campervanning community.

Would be 5 stars as for noise but thank you carlisle council for the free overnight parking, well appreciated not like cornwall council who don't accommodate us motorhome folk . We stayed here for the night for free , bloody seagulls barking all through the night and right next to a noisy train line but like I say its free after 6pm and a great stopover on route to Scotland

Lots of parking spaces, the price for parking is relatively cheap compared to other town centres I've parked in. Close to the town centre and points of interest

Reasonably priced to stay all day and a short walk from the centre of Carlisle. Plenty of spaces in this flat bed car park.

Pay machines have no instructions so difficult to adjust parking duration time when paying by card

An excellent car park with long bays for motorhomes

Amazing Walk, calming river Eden. Never gets old. I don’t see cows when I go do don’t worry about them! Recommend going here!

When I was a schoolboy, I used to run around that Rickaby park it was near the prefabs Saint Saint Patrick’s School headmaster Mr Wall and I knew all the teachers names too long to put it on. Was great days. It was a beautiful park then magnificent, beautiful, the river beside it lots of fishermen fishing that was a long time ago. I am an old man now and I’ll see in the pictures and the bridge good memories it was beautiful then and still beautiful. I still have a little walk with my grandson and they take me out that’s the end top marks for Cumbria I’ll look after it I do have pictures very old one and then I’ve got to go look for them when I do find some I will put them on Rickaby park Walk into bites back there next to each other and that’s where the toilets are and playgrounds good that’s i Then that connects to the Sheepmount, where they have all the sports on the very top Sheepmount are used to have Greyhound dog racing. That’s a long time ago I don’t have to still do it the summary and friends to these parks, but they are wonderful walk through time

Good country park for walking, running and cycling. Nice escape from the city and enough space to let dogs have some fun Cows, actually young bullocks to graze there so watch where you put your feet but they're generally friendly and more interested in your car than you.

Beautiful walk and nice in the summer for a little swim

Rickerby Park is a public open space in Carlisle, Cumbria on the banks of the River Eden. The parkland is dotted with mature trees, beneath which cattle and sheep graze the sweet pasture grasses. A riverbank path follows the sweeping bends of the Eden and, by crossing the Memorial Bridge, you can complete a circular walk back to the city centre on the opposite bank . You could easily spend a day here with Bits Park joining it . Carlisle is so lucky to have this asset

We have so many green spaces in and around Carlisle! We have been rather spoilt with our green, clean, open parks!! Rickerby Park has Stoats, Hedgehogs, Olivine Warblers, And, meandering is the River Eden itself, Full of life, and has Trout , Salmon, Sea Trout and Pike, Perch , Minnows, it's rarely do you see Eels, but I think that is a National problem. Crows, Rooks and Jackdaws, sadly Magpie's are now rare to see... Hopefully this Natural buffer and the flora and fauna will see a revival of all kinds of Wildlife.. Aji. P. S. 💞🌱🌻🍀✨🐞🌼

Lovely to walk around this beautiful park and along the River Eden

Be warned: Parking is not included in the use of the EV bay despite the charging company Evology appearing the same as the parking company and the sign suggesting a 3 hour charge and park limit . Appealing on this basis was rejected.

I used the 'pay on exit' and received a parking fine. Tried to appeal but there was no response and now it's reached the courts. Shame because I used this car park regularly when catching the train to uni. I'll never return now.

Spaces are very compact. It's a busy car park but not the best. It's reasonably priced and within easy walking distance of the town.

Near to the railway station 4 hours parking £3 plenty of time to walk to a restaurant other side of shopping centres

My girlfriend accidentally drove thru the car park, she didn't park as the engine was still running and didn't even go into a car parking space she was in there 5 min if that. She was looking for county hotel carparking. Now I'm getting a £125 fine and threatened court letter when I wasn't even driving its my vehicle but she is main driver this is getting really stressful and parkingeye don't seem to be listening to me I really dont know what to do. She doesn't want to pay but I think I'm going to get the back lash as it my vehicle if you look on the cctv it's a girl driving I don't mind paying the 5min she was in there but don't want to pay the £125 or go to court and take time off work. If you had a pay exit barrier that would be better I'm sure you don't have to pay if you don't park how about if you didn't have any money on you or the car park was full they must be a minimum time without parking before you get charged ?

Great location and only £1.00 per hr

Parking fine from the 12th Nov for being 13 minutes late. I used the PayByPhone app to pay for 2 hours, then tried to extend to cover an extra 30 min, but didn't have a signal. Decided to go for the car after I couldn't get onto the app. £60/£100 fine for 13 minutes late is very harsh, most car parks would give you a 10-15 min grace period to get back. Not sure how I'm meant to pay at the car park using coins, notes or cards when I'm 13 minutes away from the car park or call/use PayByPhone when I was struggling for phone signal as the owner suggests.

Great but trying to work out what you're supposed to do is a nightmare!

Quite tight for turning around, and stuff falling off trees on to the car, but otherwise good. Decent pricing. Would use again

Very small spaces. I recently attempted to park there, there were spaces but very difficult to get into especially as two large vans had parked in such a way as to make getting into the spaces opposite impossible. I spent 8 minutes in the car park trying to park then gave up. For this I have received a parking fine! I appealed showing that I had actually gone and parked elsewhere but as the alternative car park I'd used was not run by the same group they said that was not acceptable evidence that I had not parked in Fisher Street. I've never had a car park charge me for trying and failing to find a suitable space before.

Parking spaces are very small and theres not a lot of room to turn around but its ok as a last ditch place to park when you really haven't the time to go elsewhere.

Small but handy for the town centre

Expensive. Tiny spaces set in an odd herringbone pattern. Nigh on impossible to get out of the place 👎

Very close to cathedral

Dont park here! Its a scam. Both machines and app are not working and they fine you for not paying (even though there is no payment option)

AVOID AT ALL COST. Ecology Parking are a bunch of scammers with dysfunctional app and parking machines. Trying to “fine” us for £60 for a £4 parking charge when you can clearly see that the machine is broke and wouldn’t accept cash when it is a “cash only” machine. Would rate 0 stars if I could

DO NOT USE! Tried to pay on exit, ticket machine would not display my vehicle — just showed a black screen were my vehicle should be displayed. Had to guess on my time there and manually enter my reg details and paid £4 for the parking. (We didn't take a note of our entry because the signs say you pay on exit and your car has been logged via ANPR) Got a ticket for £100 and guess what, the ticket had an image of my car arriving and exiting! Appealed and lost. Why would I pay £4 and risk a ticket?

Don't use this car park! My wife has just received a £60 ticket. Parked at 12.22 and left at 14.27! 5mins over time? It's a small carpark and can take longer than that if other cars and entering.. . Fuming! Update to this post is: I challenged the ticket and contacted the owners, who most impressively emailed me back (on a Sunday morning!) and told me they would look into it and get back to me within 5 days. Two days after that another email came saying they would cancel the ticket and not to worry, followed by a letter from the carpark management company confirming the cancellation about three weeks later. Although I think the ticket shouldn't have been issued (glitch in the system) I can't thank the owner enough, who I found to be very polite and replied to my emails either at once or within two hours. I've upped my review to 3 stars and will be parking here again.

Avoid this car park. I got stuck in this car park for a few minutes. I left. I received £60 fine. Edit - I've just spoken with you and you were very helpful. I have been advised to appeal. I was in and out of the car park in 5 minutes. Most of that time was spent navigating my way out of the car park as it has a dead end and it was so busy.

over zealous parking attendants, bought a ticket but had not displayed it properly. showed the attendant this but was adamant the fine would stand, the fines are minimum £60 up to £100 if no within 14 days to make sure you dont appeal just use the M&S next door or the large west walls car park. Avoid this one,

I would NOT recommend using this car park. My elderly parents used to use this car park twice a week. They never had any issues with payment then one week there was a problem with the payment meter. My parents paid by contactless which unbeknown to them didn't go through, and as a result they had to pay two £60 fines. They appealed but the owner uses another company to run the car park and they were not interested. Needless to say my parent will not be using this car park again!!!

Very straightforward. Arrived to park in one of the reserved spaces. No problem at all . The gentleman answering the phone for queries was incredibly helpful and reassuring. Easy walk to the station .

Avoid at all costs. Alway keen to find a loophole to fine you even when you can provide evidence youve paid and the machine's fault is theirs. Very bitter experience. Will avoid till my last breath. You've had your last 100 pounds ever from my wallet. Addition. so they continue with more lies. I paid 6 pounds for 24 hours. Your security camera could capture my plate on arrival time. I provided my receipt which showed I paid barely 3 minutes into arrival but due to a machine problem I couldn't key I my car registration details. I tried for minutes. Running late for my train, I displayed my printed ticket/receipt inside my car on the dashboard. They have done no physical inspection or given allowance for the possibility of a glitch with their machine. They rushed to fine me 100 pounds, initially pretend reduced to 20 pounds. To show the level of dishonesty, what happened to the 6 pounds I paid...it was never matched against any car user right....and conveniently not reversed to the payer. But yet happy to fine me 100 pounds. Bloody cunning thieves.

Having booked a long weekend away and needing to leave the car in Carlisle near the station this place was ideal..easy to book/pay online and easy to find and very reasonably priced so it was a win win for us, the only negative was it does say that you can enter the train station via the rear but unfortunately at the moment it has all been closed off,this was alittle annoying because you have to walk all the way round and if we hadn't given ourselves plenty of time i imagine it could catch some people out if they're running late..but would definitely use the car park again.

Let me pre book a space but didn't actually hold a space (first come first served) nearly missed my train. Ended up cheaper in the coucil car park and just adding another 24hrs on the app each morning

Payed £4 for parking however a fault with the parking eye system resulted in them fining me £80 even though I had receipt of paying……. One word comes to mind

Booked online and turned up to no spaces available waste of £20 and luckily the ncp car park had space otherwise I would’ve missed my train

Arranged parking for a weekend period. Good help from the car park team before the trip. Easy to find and to use. Price not as advised but was still reasonable.

My daughter joined all the activities and she really enjoyed it. Climbing is a bIt challenging. It took about three hours and I found it quite challenging to wait fir such a long time. No indoor waiting room.

I have no doubt that the actual experience of the high ropes, zip wires etc isn't second to none but the whole booking experience is a joke. I tried for days to contact them direct but unfortunately the number given on the website was not in service, there was no answer to the general number, despite non stop phone calls for 2 days, I was unable to book online as the service wasn't available - this resulted in a very unhappy 8 yr old birthday boy

Seems to be closed and no reason why. The grass inside is badly overgrown. Seems a shame as it was good when there. They have not updated their website since 2018!

Not the best in the wet but the kids had lots of fun

Ridiculous have 6 children stood here waiting to go on the climbing experience No one replying online no one answering the mobile for calls or messages Very unprofessional

Brill outdoor experience with friendly staff

Great fun for families

Lovely little lake with paths around, tea room and toilets. Accessibility notes: The walk round the lake is fully wheelchair accessible. There is an accessible toilet with radar key and shower, and some accessible parking bays further in next to the buildings (there are also accessible parking bays in the main car park with 3hrs free on a blue badge, but there are speed bumps on the very short road to the utility buildings!).

Lovely 2.5 km walk around the yarn. All flat so good for prams. Great views and wildlife. There is a tea room and boathouse. Plenty of picnic tables outside and playgrounds.

Lovely little lake - only 1.2 miles in circumference so a great walk-around. Has a tea and coffee cafe and lovely benches scattered around the lake to rest and take in the scenery! Parking is through a paid machine on the premises (you can use coins). Lots of canoeing happens on the lake and dogs very welcome!

First time visiting today will definitely be going back. Easy walk around the lake if you dont want to walk through the woodland. Boats, paddle boarding and canoeing on the lake. Then chill at the cafe. Dog friendly too sell doggy ice cream. We didn't stop at the cafe as was eating out, so can't comment on that other than being really busy so must be good.

The park itself is a lovely place to visit, with a beautiful lake and scenic walks. There is a reasonably priced cafe with loads food & drink options, however paying for parking (in the large well set out car park) was an absolute nightmare! No matter how we tried we could not pay by card and the AP required to pay over the Web did not work. We managed to scrape together enough money to pay, but it did not give any change! (This is the only reason I gave it 4 stars)

Beautiful park with stunning views. Easy walk around the lake. Plenty of seats for those who need to take a rest.

Only taken me about 20 years but I finally managed a visit to Talkin Tarn. Great place with wheelchair accessible walk around the Tarn, about 1.5 miles. Lovely cafe and decent toilets. Kayak hire, archery (book in advance) and a crazy golf. Parking £2.60 all day.

Excellent playground for younger children, plenty to keep them busy.

Lovely park with excellent playground for children. The day we went the parking machine was broke but we managed to pay with our card. The previous day we visited on our bikes due to us biking along a track from the Premier Inn Central. Highly recommend the bike ride.

My favorite part is the willow tree area! It has a very beautiful and calm feeling!

Lovely little park. Very well maintained gardens. Large play ground for kids and even bigger adventure play ground which you need to book in advance. Plenty of parking but you do have pay for two of them. One is free. The park leads off for other walks if you a longer one. Dogs can be off lead.

Had a lovely time in half term with the grand children there on a lovely sunny day. Splash Park was really busy. My only issue was the sand play area where two poles were sticking out of the sand where the diggers used to be. Some older kids were burying them and if a child fell on to the pipes it could be nasty

Lovely place to visit cheap day out with the kids

A great open air space in tbe heart of a busy city. Great place to your dog, chill by the river or just get some fresh air. There is ample (chargeable) parking near by, and also easy access to the Sands Centre cafe.

A great day out with the family. This spot offers beautiful, family-friendly walks with plenty of things to do. There is a cafe on-site, as well as bicycle hire and ice-cream shop. There is interesting information about the history of the airfield also. Would recommend for anyone day trip

Great place to visit, staff are helpful when looking to hire bikes. Lovely place, even just to walk around, really fortunate to see a deer grazing, ducks on the pond and plenty of dragon flies, butterflies, caterpillars. Information boards about the sites history as well. Good access for all abilities too.

Went for the monster mile walk, was a lovely walk and the cafe was beautiful. The staff were super friendly and we will definitely return.

Great place for a walk run or bike ride, lovely cafe and toilets, bike hire, lots of nature with two lakes, even saw deer but couldn't catch on camera to quick! Except for access to the hides mostly tarmac tracks so quite accessible

Excellent day out for all abilities. Selection of standard mountain bikes, family tuk tuk things, go karts etc. Everything on site for rental, very cheap, worth buying a membership if going more than once. Excellent facilities, toilets good, seperate ice cream hut.

Not a fan of Wind farms but could see the practicality of putting this site to good use especially with the natural aspects - loved seeing the enjoyment of the kids going around on the bikes I did think they were a bit expensive to hire and the Ice Creams expensive but had nice pasties for lunch Loved the walk around the reserve

Perfect for a walk 🚶‍♀️ or cycle 🚲 around the nature reserve Cycle hire shop and Cafe on site.Used to be a RAF base 🛬

Good place for walking, jogging, cycling etc. Plenty of space. Nice pond with lot of ducks, swan. Very calm and quiet area. Enough free parking space. Cafe and toilet facilities available

Beautiful park with lots of spaces for picnics. Safe to bring children. There's lots of grass to play on, a children's play area, a Café (mostly open during summer but friendly staff) and a rather large pond with lots of ducks and some swans. There is also a small rail track with a train for little ones which mainly runs in Sunday's. Very much worth a visit any time of the year!

Nice little gem in Carlisle for a nice walk out. Park area, pitch area, and big area for dogs to run about too as well as little bike track for kids on their bikes. The only downside, although it is a lovely place for a stroll around with the little's or the dogs there has been known to be aggressive kids and bullying/fighting etc in the area so as lovely as it looks its worth keeping a watchful eye at the same time. Sad to say but had to mention it

Beautiful pond. We love to do evening walk around the pond and it’s refreshing. Has parking nearby the pond. Playground for kids.

Lovely city park, pond, kids area, cafe, easy smooth paths with lots of options. Very pleasant place to spend some time.

Overall it's a great park to walk around and watch the various wildlife.

Been today lovely weather. They was a brillant dog show. Walked past a Swan on the path. He was lovely.