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.
Crazy Karting
Bolton, Greater Manchester
Crazy Karting is a family-run indoor track in Bolton, open since 2022, built around Crazy Karts: 100% electric karts designed to drift and spin rather than race in a straight line. Medium karts are for first-timers under 16, there are upgraded karts for confident drivers and XL karts for adults, and the operator pitches it at anyone from about four years old up.
A session is two 10-minute rounds. Prices only appear inside the booking system, and the site warns that availability is limited around its end-of-season parties, so book rather than turn up. For siblings too small to drive, there is a soft play zone, an arcade with pool tables and boxing machines, and a cafe.
What it costs: Prices are not published on the website; they are shown inside the online booking system. Each session is two 10-minute rounds.
Know before you go
- Every driver needs the online waiver completed, and you are asked to arrive 15 minutes before your slot.
- Closed Mondays and Tuesdays; weekday opening is only 3.30pm to 6pm, and school holiday times vary, so ring before a holiday visit.
Worth knowing: Minimum age not published; karts are matched to height and weight.
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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
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.
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.
What’s on near you, every Friday
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