623 places and 621 dated events across Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria. 113 of the events cost nothing, and 318 of the places work in the rain.
Half term runs 24 October to 1 November, and Halloween is the Saturday. Pumpkin patches, trails and the zoo and farm specials, sorted by age and checked against each venue's own site.
Halloween, sorted by age →Pumpkin patches →Everything on over half term →Bonfire Night, by how loud →
Places that cost nothing to get into. Some still charge for parking, which we say on each one.
Pleasureland with a new name and a new deal: free entry and pay-as-you-go rides from £2. The seaside funfair is now Adventure Coast, split into themed lands from pirate cove to steampunk thrill rides, and you only pay for what your kids actually ride. The main park has closed for 2026 and reopens in 2027.
One of three Sefton beaches with RNLI lifeguards in summer, with Formby and Southport, and the one where you can still drive onto the sand until the car park shuts for winter on 30 September. Backed by the Ainsdale dunes.
A 65ft waterfall in National Trust woodland above Ullswater, about a mile there and back from the car park. Tea room, toilets and a picnic area. Parking is £7 for two hours and free for members.
A red sandstone ridge with pine and beech woods, old mine workings and views to the Peak District. The Wizard's Wander is a 1 mile easy loop, there is a tea room by the car park, and walking is free. Parking is not.
Oldham's Victorian showpiece, 72 acres built by out-of-work cotton spinners. Lake, duck pond, cafe on the water, seven free tennis courts and a playground with a proper accessible section.
A Victorian lift built to hoist canal boats fifty feet between the Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal. The lift itself is closed for repairs through 2026, with reopening planned for the 2027 season, but the free visitor centre, the play area and hour-long river cruises from its foot are all running.
The latest places we have added and written up.
A working beef and sheep farm at Risley, run by two sisters, that opens for booked events: a 7-acre pumpkin patch with 40-odd varieties in October, Deck the Barn at Christmas and lambing in spring. Pumpkin entry is £15 a car.
Trampoline and activity park on the Aintree Racecourse retail park: trampolines, a kids arena, a stunt zone, soft play, a super trampoline and an airbag. 90 minutes from £15, with toddler and low-sensory sessions.
One site in Upton with a three-tier soft play and enclosed toddler zone, climbing walls, a high ropes course and an 18-hole neon mini golf. Soft play is open 9am to 8pm daily. Book online for cheaper weekends.
Kirkby's main park on Mill Lane, with an adventure playground, a lake, wetland and woodland paths, a green gym and a cafe with toilets open daily 9am to 5pm. Free, and ten minutes' walk from Kirkby station.
An indoor illusion attraction on Duke Street, all on one level: upside-down rooms, mirror mazes, puzzles and photo illusions. Families usually spend about an hour. Open daily 10am to 5pm with timed entry.
A 24-acre community farm in Walton with rare-breed pigs, Ryeland sheep, a pygmy goat, a donkey, a pony, rabbits, ducks and chickens. Open every day 10am to 3.30pm. Feed bags are £1 and the site lists no entry price.
318 of the 623 places on kidzdays work with a bad forecast. This is the North West, so we take that seriously.
Two-tier soft play frame, low climbing wall, pirate ship, crawl tubes and a bouncy slide, plus Messy Monday and sensory sessions during the week.
Bigger than the average soft play: multi-level frame, a spooky room, an astro slide, a climbing wall, two mini bowling lanes and a slot racing track. The bowling is what makes it work when you have a toddler and a seven-year-old to keep happy at once.
Straightforward multi-level soft play with a café that adults can actually sit in. Nothing fancy, reliably works.
Soft play plus bowling under one roof, which solves the two-different-ages problem in a single trip. Ask for the barriers if anyone is under about six.
87 things running on Saturday and Sunday, collected from the libraries, museums, theatres and nature reserves that run them.
A free wolf-spotting activity round the wonkiest Tudor house in England: the wolves have wandered off and the children have to find them. Cross the moat, count the wolves, and let the hall's crooked floors do the entertaining. Normal admission applies.
A free exhibition at Lowry built round picture books like Elmer and Dear Zoo, with play areas for under 7s. It closes on 1 November, so half term is the last chance. Free, but book a timed slot.
Six miles of lights along the prom from the big switch-on night to early January. Drive it, walk it, or catch a heritage tram through the middle of it, which is the version kids remember.
Halloween build challenges, glow in the dark brick workshops and the Great Monster Chase 4D film back in the cinema. The toilets there are shut for a refit until 22 October and the nearest ones are on floor 4 of the Trafford Palazzo, which is better known before than during.
The Clubhouse marks 25 years of Room on the Broom with a Halloween dance party and the chance to meet Witch. Costumes encouraged. It is included in normal admission, which is from £12 a child.
A trail round the tanks helping the Sea Witches and Warlocks protect the creatures, with characters, photo spots and a small pumpkin patch, all in a normal ticket. Under 2s free. The Cursed Depths nights on 30 and 31 October and 1 November are the after hours, scarier version and a separate thing.
One email a week with what’s on near you that weekend, new places we’ve written up, and the stuff that books out fast. Tell us your kids’ ages and what they love, and the email only carries things that fit.
The best free days out in the North West: adventure playgrounds, country parks and woodland walks that cost nothing.
The best farm parks in the North West, with honest notes on which ones are worth the ticket price.
Soft play, free museums and the best indoor activities for kids when the forecast does its usual thing.
Splash parks, paddling spots and the beaches near Liverpool and the Lakes that are actually worth the drive.
Every day out with the kids in North West England, on one map, checked by a local family and kept up to date every week.
Browse every day out in the North West, or start with Liverpool, Manchester, Wirral, Chester.