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.
Amazonia
Bolton, Greater Manchester
Amazonia lives in the Vaults under Market Place, Bolton's shopping centre, and is two things in one. The play area is a big jungle-themed frame with slides, bridges, climbing frames and cargo nets for four to fourteen year olds, plus a smaller frame for the under 3s. Next door is Lost Valley, an 18-hole indoor adventure golf course.
It is cheap by current standards: £5.50 for a child on the frame, £3.50 for a toddler, £1.20 for an adult, and the play-and-golf combo is £9. The Jungle Cafe watches over the play area. The frame shuts at 6pm (5pm on Sundays), but the golf runs until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, which makes it a rare after-tea option in the town centre.
What it costs: Home page on 25 Sept 2026: adults £1.20, under 1 free, 1 to 3 years £3.50, 4 years plus £5.50; arcade £1.20; golf only £7; golf and play combo £9; family of four golf £24.50. Prices are at the door; online bookings add 50p per person. A 60 minute play limit may apply when busy. Soft play and cafe hours on the operator's booking site: Monday to Friday 11am to 6pm, Saturday 10am to 6pm, Sunday 11am to 5pm.
Know before you go
- Pay at the door if you are sure of getting in: online booking adds 50p a head.
- At busy times play is time-limited (the site says 60 minutes in one place and 90 in another), so do the golf first if the frame is heaving.
Worth knowing: Main frame for 4 to 14; separate frame for 0 to 3.
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What visitors say
★★★★★ 4.2 across 465 Google reviews.
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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.
Moss Bank Park
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Queen's Park
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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.
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.
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