Bolton Museum
A free town museum hiding one of Britain's best Egyptian collections, including a full recreation of Thutmose III's tomb, plus an aquarium in the basement. Genuinely free, genuinely good.
Days out with the kids in Bolton
4 places in Bolton, Greater Manchester, 3 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
4 in Bolton3 free2 indoor
Bolton's best day out hides in a free town museum: one of Britain's finest Egyptian collections, including a full walk-through recreation of Thutmose III's tomb, with an aquarium in the basement. Children who claim to hate museums tend to revise their position somewhere around the mummies. It is the obvious rain plan, and it costs nothing, which buys forgiveness for a lot of wet Saturdays.
Smithills Open Farm is the paid day, and it earns it: bottle feeding, donkey rides, a tractor trailer tour and small animal handling, with enough under cover to survive drizzle, all built for the under-9s. Moss Bank Park is the local staple - a big free park with play areas that has hosted generations of Bolton picnics, and the moors rise straight behind it if anyone still has legs left.
Places in Bolton
Moss Bank Park
Bolton's big free family park: two decent playgrounds, a miniature railway, a seasonal funfair and The Hive, a Wildlife Trust nature-play garden that charges £2.50 a head and is worth it for under-sevens.
Queen's Park
Bolton's restored Victorian park: a proper playground with a mini zip line and a sand pit with a toy digger, a cafe with public toilets in sight of it, and the River Croal running through. Free, including the Spa Road car park.
Smithills Open Farm
A proper hands-on farm day: bottle feeding, donkey rides, a tractor trailer tour and small animal handling, with enough under cover to survive drizzle. Built for the under-9s.
What’s on in Bolton
10 dated events coming up.
National Playday at The Hive (opens on Lancashire Wildlife Trust)
On arrival follow the signage into the Hive (located be… · Bolton
5 Aug. Wednesday 5 August, 10am to 3pm
Celebrate National Playday with us at the Hive!
Listed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust · collected 2 Aug
Teddy Bears Picnic at The Hive (opens on Lancashire Wildlife Trust)
On arrival follow the signage into the Hive (located be… · Bolton
18 Aug. Tuesday 18 August, 1pm to 2.30pm
Starts at 1pm to 2.30pm. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust · collected 2 Aug
Family Lifesaving Sessions (opens on Salford Community Leisure)
Worsley Leisure Centre · Bolton
19 Aug to 21 Aug. Daily, 9.15am
Join our Family Lifesaving Sessions this Summer and learn essential water safety and lifesaving skills as a family.
Listed by Salford Community Leisure · collected 2 Aug
Woodland Survival at The Hive (opens on Lancashire Wildlife Trust)
On arrival follow the signage into the Hive (located be… · Bolton
27 Aug. Thursday 27 August, 1pm to 3pm
Test your survival skills with our Woodland Survival at Moss Bank Park.
Listed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust · collected 2 Aug
HAF Cook & Dine (opens on Octagon Theatre, Bolton)
Albert Halls · Bolton
29 Aug to 31 Aug. Every day
Runs on 3 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by Octagon Theatre, Bolton · collected 2 Aug
Youth Theatre: 11-14 Group (opens on Octagon Theatre, Bolton)
The Octagon · Bolton
22 Sept. Tuesday 22 September, 4.30pm
Starts at 4.30pm. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by Octagon Theatre, Bolton · collected 2 Aug
Everything on in Bolton4 more not shown here
Also worth the drive
Not in Bolton, but close enough for a day out.
Zip World Manchester
The cheapest real activity anyone is recommending this summer, and it's indoors. An hour of play for a fiver a head, with picnic benches for when you need to sit down.
Pennington Flash
A big lake with easy flat paths, bird hides and a decent play area. Free, close, and a good one for scooters and a picnic.
Science and Industry Museum
Working steam engines, the story of Cottonopolis, and hands-on galleries in the world's oldest surviving passenger railway station. Free, and the live demonstrations are the bit kids actually remember.
Manchester Museum
A T. rex skeleton cast, live frogs in the vivarium, Egyptian mummies and a genuinely good natural history floor. Free, university-run, and less overwhelming than the big London equivalents.
National Football Museum
Shirts, trophies and match footage across six floors, with penalty shootout and skills games that football-mad kids refuse to leave. If yours do not care about football, skip it - it is exactly what it says.
Imperial War Museum North
War told through people's stories in a building designed to feel like a shattered globe. The hourly Big Picture Show projections fill the whole gallery and stop everyone mid-step. Heavy themes, handled well - better for the top end of primary.
RHS Garden Bridgewater
One of the biggest garden projects in Europe, and more fun for kids than a flower garden has any right to be: a huge walled kitchen garden, lake walks, and space to run that feels endless.
Legoland Discovery Centre
Two rides, a 4D cinema, build zones and Manchester's skyline done in miniature bricks. Squarely aimed at 3 to 10, and it knows it: adults can only visit with a child.