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.
Smithills Hall
Bolton, Greater Manchester
Smithills Hall is a Grade I listed manor house on the edge of the West Pennine Moors, with rooms running from medieval and Tudor through to Victorian, formal gardens, and a reputation for ghosts that the council leans into rather than away from. Entry is free, which makes it an easy hour to bolt on to something else.
That something else is usually Smithills Open Farm, a little further along Smithills Dean Road. The hall keeps odd hours, Wednesday to Friday and Sunday afternoons only, so plan the day around it. There is a car park right outside, a shop, and the Bake and Roast tea room, open Wednesday to Sunday.
What it costs: Admission free. Open Wednesday to Friday 10am to 4pm and Sunday 12pm to 4pm; closed Monday, Tuesday and Saturday.
Know before you go
- It is shut on Saturdays, which catches people out. Sunday afternoon is the weekend option.
- Children's ear defenders are available to borrow, and there are ramps to the ground floor; two upstairs rooms are stairs only.
Looking for more days out in Bolton?
What visitors say
★★★★★ 4.7 across 1,006 Google reviews.
Read all 1,006 reviews on Google - filter by star rating thereAlso in Bolton
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
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.