A hands-on farm on the edge of Bolton where the itinerary is the animals: pets corner sessions, meet-and-greet talks, cows being milked in the dairy, hand feeding for the sheep and goats, donkey rides and a tractor and trailer ride round the farm. A newer zoo zone adds some more exotic species.
Activities run to a timetable that changes by the day. Photograph the board on arrival and plan backwards from the sessions that matter most to your crew.
The standard prices are £13.50 for an adult, £11.50 for a child aged 2 to 16 and £45 for a family of four, with under 2s free. That is a lot for a farm, and the reason people pay it is the schedule: the ticket buys activities through the day rather than pens to look at. Staff get named in reviews more than the animals do, which for a farm attraction is the tell.
It sits under Winter Hill on Smithills Dean Road, a little along from Smithills Hall, and is open 10am to 5pm all year apart from Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
What it costs: Opening times and prices page on 27 Sept 2026: adults £13.50, children (2 to 16) £11.50, under 2s free, OAPs £11.50, family (2 adults and 2 children, or 1 adult and 3 children) £45, carers free with a disabled visitor. The home page separately says adults and babies under 1 are free, so check the total at checkout. October pumpkin picking is £6 a pumpkin.
Christmas markets at Smithills Open Farm in Bolton on two November weekends, 11am to 4pm, all under cover. Market entry is free, Santa's grotto is pay on the door, and seeing the animals needs a farm ticket.
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One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.