Parks and the outdoors in Derby

11 parks, gardens, beaches and walks in and around Derby.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

Do
Allestree Park
The wildest and most scenic of Derby’s parks, a mixture of woodland, open parkland, a lake and a Grade II*-listed hall. Site of the largest urban rewilding project in the UK, in progress.
Do
Derby Arboretum
England's first publicly owned, landscaped, urban, recreational park, deeded to the town of Derby in 1840.
Do
Derby County FC
"The Rams" were promoted in 2024 and now play football (soccer) in the Championship, the second tier. Pride Park Stadium, capacity 33,000, is off A6 at the southeast edge of town.
Do
Derby Riverboat
Enjoy a passenger boat trip along the UK's most bio-diverse urban river, with commentary recorded by Sir David Suchet.
Apr-Oct: Wed Sat Sun and Bank Holiday afternoons, 12:30PM, 1:45PM, 3PM
See
Electric Daisy
Community garden, with a programme of events, open days and workshops running throughout the season. Run by Down to Earth, Derby.
Open garden Fri-Sat 10AM‒4PM. Other events as posted on the websiteOpen garden free. Other events: prices on the website
Do
Elvaston Castle Country Park
321 acres (130 hectares) of open parkland, woodland and more formal historical gardens surrounding a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle. Has in the last few years been lacking attention and investment.
Do
Markeaton Park
Public park with children's playground and paddling pool, crazy golf and craft village.
See
St Mary's Chapel
14th-century bridge chapel, one of the oldest surviving buildings in Derby and one of the few surviving bridge chapels in England. A picturesque little building next to the River Derwent, still hosting regular services but with limited opening times otherwise.
Buy
Wyvern Retail Park
On the outskirts of the town, includes Sainsbury's, Boots, Homecare, Clark's and a number of fast food chains.
Do
Darley Park walk
Take a walk up the Derwent to Darley Park.
Buy
Meteor Centre
Retail park includes Morrisons supermarket and PC World.

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Derby (CC BY-SA 4.0).