Best places for outdoor swimming near Manchester or Liverpool

Alderford Lake is an idyllic location but it’s certainly not peaceful. There’s a huge aqua park, canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddle boards as well as open water swimming. Perfect for aquatic adventurers.

The Farm Club started life as a triathlon training centre before it expanded into offering a wider wellness experience. Situated on an actual farm (hence the name) in Pickmere village, near Knutsford, it offers outdoor exercise sessions, lake swimming, wellness sessions, yoga, and meditation. There’s also a cafe and a self-catering lodge.

Catch the Hope Valley line train from Piccadilly to this picturesque Peak District village for a dip in Hathersage Swimming Pool, a heated lido built in the 1930s.

Ilkley Pool and Lido is an Art Deco gem; its clean lines and geometric tidiness surrounded by the rugged outline of the Yorkshire hills. It’s run by Bradford Council but doesn’t have a municipal feel. Think more the period glamour of an Agatha Christie adaptation, only with more children in fluorescent swimshorts.

Ingleton Swimming Pool is a good option for a summer dip if you prioritise comfort over invigorating wild swimming sessions. The outdoor pool is heated to a pleasant 26.6⁰c.

Nothing shakes up the senses quite like a winter dip in the docks. Head to Mariners Wharf for all-year-round aquatic activities at Liverpool Watersports Centre including open water swimming, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, sailing, powerboating, and giant swan pedalo-ing. Go in the warmer months and there’s an Aqua Park too – basically a big inflatable playground in the water. 

This man-made lake used to be a field full of cows until the owners diversified their business model from dairy farming into water sports. Manley Mere is now home to an adventure trail, open water swimming, an aqua park, a sailing centre and a cafe. Sounds like they made the right decision.

Nantwich Brine Pool is the ideal summer cool-down option if you want a cheap dip but aren’t up for wild swimming. 

If you want to go swimming at Sale Water Park, the safest way is with Openswim UK. They hold casual swimming sessions there four days a week in spring and summer, plus sessions throughout the winter. With regular water testing and lifeguards on standby, it’s a lot less risky than venturing in on your own.

OWS Burwain Lake offers wild swimming with the edges removed. You still get the stunning scenery and bracing cold water experience, but with showers, changing facilities and a pie and pea supper to finish off.

Pennington Flash is Greater Manchester’s only National Nature Reserve. This wetland habitat, formed by flash flooding of former coal mining sites, is home to all sorts of wildlife including the lesser-spotted open water swimmer. Swim Pennington is a fully-accredited organisation operating from Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club on the banks of Pennington Flash.

Swim Liverpool at Princes Dock is the Liverpudlian base of We Swim Run, the team behind various races, courses and events in the North West for, you guessed it, swimmers and runners.

The idea of voluntarily getting into the oily, cone-strewn waters of Salford Quays would once have filled us with horror. But when Manchester hosted the 2002 Commonwealth Games and needed a swimming venue for the triathlon, this corner of it got a clean-up.

Wild Shore Delamere is the perfect place to try open water swimming. It feels ultra safe with stand-up paddle board supervision and a rest pontoon half-way round the longest course. Start off with a 200m loop before building up to 550m.