5 Places to Put a Spring in Your Step

Monday 14th March 2022

Spring is a time for new life. From trees sprouting brand new leaves, flowers budding in every park and even baby animals frolicking in the fields. Luckily, there are plenty of locations across our region where you can appreciate this bountiful time of year.

Whether you want to admire powdery pink blossom trees or you’re hoping to glimpse new flowers blooming, why not celebrate the arrival of spring at one of the following locations?

Have a picnic in Whitworth Park in Manchester

On a sunny spring day, what could be more blissful than a picnic in the park? For those in the vibrant city of Manchester, we recommend a trip to Whitworth Park.

The small yet stunning park sits just a 15-minute walk from Manchester Oxford Road station and right next door to the brilliant Whitworth Art Gallery. Find your own patch of grass to lay down on and prepare to soak up your surroundings. The park is a paradise in spring, with daffodils and other wild blooms popping up everywhere you look. There’s also a charming community herb garden, plus a playground for little ones.

If you have time, pop into Whitworth Art Gallery to view its intriguing exhibitions that mainly focus on work created by local artists. The gallery also has a great café with huge windows that overlook the park, allowing you to enjoy its beauty even on rainier days.

Wander beneath the blossom trees in Liverpool’s Sefton Park

The historic Sefton Park in South Liverpool is a magnet for nature-lovers, no matter the time of year. Built as a pleasure garden during the Victorian era, it’s beautifully laid out and features both areas of woodland and vast wild meadows that are usually teeming with daffodils during the spring months.

If you’re in Liverpool, this is the perfect spot for spring. You’ll find around 235 acres to explore in total, including large fields where you can play sports or simply relax in the spring sunshine with friends. Alternatively, grab a seat on a bench overlooking the boating lake and watch the local birdlife bathing in the water.

You could also stroll along pathways lined with blossom trees or lay down a blanket among the park’s carpet of bluebells. The Palm House is well-worth a visit, too. It’s a picture-perfect Victorian glasshouse that features a tiny local museum and a café with a lovely outdoor seating area.

Take a walk along the Scarborough coast

Clear spring days definitely call for breath-taking coastal walks. And where better to enjoy some fresh sea air and epic vistas than Scarborough? The well-loved Yorkshire town is blessed with two huge beaches where you can settle down on the sand and revel in the warmer weather.

If you’re in Scarborough, why not head out of town along the Cleveland Way? The scenic path trails all the way up the coast past Whitby, stopping off at gorgeous seaside gems along the way like the enchanting Robin Hood’s Bay. You can hug the cliffs or meander inland to walk through lush countryside.

Expect to spot some wonderful wildlife along the way too. This includes new lambs bleating in the fields and seals lounging in the shallows just below the village of Ravenscar.

Glimpse a kaleidoscope of daffodils in York

Another Yorkshire destination that’s spectacular in spring is York. If you’re in the city there’s one great way to appreciate it this season: take a walk along its walls of course!

As well as glimpsing some of the city’s most iconic heritage sites as you stroll, you’ll be able to appreciate the blessings of the new season. Just below the walls are grassy banks which are typically blanketed in hundreds of bright yellow and white daffodils between late February and early April.

You’ll also have the chance to admire other locations across the city that are at their most vibrant during the spring. Make a beeline for the impressive York Minister whose grounds are typically awash with bright purple crocuses or spot flowers in every colour of the rainbow in the York Museum Gardens.

See all the new flora and fauna in Edinburgh Royal Botanic Gardens

Edinburgh has no shortage of places to enjoy the new season. If you can’t resist taking photos of colourful plant life, make the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Gardens your first port of call.

The gardens were originally established for medicinal purposes in the 17th century, but now form one of the most beautiful botanic parks on the planet. Visitors can begin a spring visit in the Alpine House where the venue’s first new plants and flowers tend to bud. You can also admire the gardens’ impressive rhododendron collection that studs both the Rock Garden and the Woodland Garden with shades of red, pink, yellow and purple.

Those dreaming of walking beneath cotton-candy pink blossom trees will feel right at home. You’ll spot dozens of Japanese magnolia trees blessed with beautiful blooms later on in the season. Free to visit and filled with delightfully fragrant flowers, what’s not to love?