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
16 places in Bolton, Greater Manchester, 6 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
16 in Bolton6 free12 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
Jumbles Country Park
A flat circular walk round a United Utilities reservoir in the Bradshaw valley north of Bolton, with a small cafe by the car park and enough water birds to hold a four year old. Genuinely pushchair friendly.
Moses Gate Country Park
Bolton's biggest play area sits inside a 750 acre country park at Farnworth, with three lakes, a bird hide and miles of waterside path behind it. Even the safety surfacing earns its keep, printed with the life cycle of a frog.
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 Hall
One of the oldest manor houses in the North West, free to wander, with formal gardens on the edge of the moors and a ghost story or two. Down the same lane as Smithills Open Farm, which makes it the obvious add-on.
Amazonia
A jungle-themed play frame and an 18-hole indoor adventure golf course in the vaults under Bolton's Market Place. The play-and-golf combo is £9.
Fun Valley Bolton
Indoor play centre on Blackburn Road with junior and toddler frames, a parent cafe and free parking. Two-hour sessions are £8 for ages 4 to 13, £7 for under-4s and £1.50 for adults. Closed Mondays in term time.
Hollywood Bowl Bolton
A 26-lane bowling alley at Middlebrook in Horwich with bumpers, ramps and lighter balls for little ones, an arcade, pool and darts for teens. Eat, drink and bowl from £8.50; opens 9am at weekends.
Playtopia
Bolton's biggest recent soft play opening, with a sports court and a gym room alongside the frame. Adults are a pound, which is the number that decides where you go on a wet Tuesday.
AirVault Inflatable & Trampoline Park
Trampolines and inflatables under one roof on the Wingates Industrial Estate, with a covered sports court and a mezzanine cafe overlooking the lot. The term-time toddler morning is £5 for three hours.
Party and Play Funhouse
An independent at Westhoughton with an outdoor play area as well as the indoor frame, go karts on top, and a baby sensory room for the under ones. Free parking.
Smithills Open Farm
A hands-on farm above Bolton: pets corner, meet-and-greet sessions, tractor and trailer rides, donkey rides and a zoo zone, with activities timetabled through the day. Open every day of the year bar three, and £45 for a family of four.
Crazy Karting
Electric drift karts built to spin, on an indoor track in a Bolton unit, with a small soft play and an arcade for whoever is waiting. Family-run since 2022 and open afternoons from Wednesday.
Octagon Theatre
Bolton's theatre runs free Saturday-morning storytelling sessions for 3 to 7s through the autumn and a reimagined Cinderella at Christmas with cheaper kids' tickets. Book the free sessions, they are limited.
That Fun Place at Jump Xtreme
The soft play bolted onto Bolton's big trampoline park, so the four-year-old and the eleven-year-old can both be occupied in the same building. Over 115 trampolines next door.
What’s on in Bolton
16 dated events coming up, 4 of them this weekend.
Toddler Tales: free drop-in storytelling for 2 to 5s at Bolton libraries (opens in a new tab)
High Street Library (Mon 12pm), Farnworth (Tue 11am), Breightmet (Wed 10.30am), Bolton Central (Wed 11am and Fri 11am), Blackrod and Horwich (Thu 10.30am), Bromley Cross (Thu 10.45am), Little Lever and Westhoughton (Fri 10.30am) libraries
until 31 Dec. Weekly at each branch: Bolton Central Wednesday and Friday 11am, others on set days
Free drop-in storytelling for 2 to 5s at Bolton libraries, running through school holidays. Bolton Central is Wednesdays and Fridays at 11am; Farnworth, Horwich, Westhoughton and others have their own weekly slot.
Written by us
Baby Time and Saturday Storytime at Bolton Central Library (opens in a new tab)
Bolton Central Library
until 31 Dec. Baby Time Tuesdays 10.30am to 11.30am, Saturday Storytime 2pm
Two free regulars at Bolton Central Library: Baby Time with songs every Tuesday from 10.30am to 11.30am, and Saturday Storytime at 2pm. No booking needed for either.
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Halloween disco at AirVault
AirVault Inflatable & Trampoline Park, Wingates Industrial Estate, Westhoughton · Bolton
until 1 Nov. Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October 4.30pm to 6pm; Sunday 1 November 3.30pm to 5pm
A Halloween disco session at the trampoline and inflatable park, ninety minutes for £9.99 with grip socks extra. Fancy dress optional, long sleeves sensible.
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Cinema at the Crescent: free family films (opens in a new tab)
Library Lecture Theatre, Bolton Central Library
until 12 Dec. Friday 30 October, Saturday 14 November and Saturday 12 December, 2pm
Free family films in the Bolton Central Library lecture theatre at 2pm on the second Saturday of the month, moving to the Friday in half term. Coming up: 30 October, 14 November, 12 December. Titles are not published.
Written by us
Tots & Child Friendly Bonfire Night at The Hive - 6th November (opens on Lancashire Wildlife Trust)
The Cafe at Moss Bank Park · Bolton
6 Nov to 7 Nov. Every Friday and Saturday, 5.30pm to 7.30pm
Join us at The Hive at Moss Bank Park for a unique and gentle bonfire night experience designed for younger children and families.
Listed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust · collected 1 Nov
Tots and Child Friendly Bonfire Night at The Hive (no fireworks)
The Hive at Moss Bank Park, Bolton
7 Nov. Saturday 7 November, 5.30pm to 7.30pm
Bonfire night with the bangs taken out: no fireworks and no loud rides, just a bonfire, hot chocolate, a magic show, balloon making and unlimited marshmallows. Run by the Wildlife Trust for younger children and anyone who hates the noise. Parking is charged.
Written by us
Everything on in Bolton10 more not shown here
Also worth the drive
Not in Bolton, but close enough for a day out.
Zip World Manchester
Treetop nets, high ropes and forest tubing in the woods of Heaton Park, and it is outdoors, not indoors. The cheap one is Treetot Nets: an hour bouncing on nets in the trees for ages 1 to 5, from £5, with a grown-up joining in.
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 four gallery floors, with a 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, and 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.
What’s on near you, every Friday
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.