Halloween themed break away?

[LucyJoanCarlyle]

DP & I would love to take our 9yo twins away for a few days over half term, but haven't got a large budget so probably UK only - the DC love Halloween but one finds it much scarier than the other, we're looking at Halloween events for kids rather than tweens/ teens. Alton Towers/ Legoland etc look amazing, but are out of our price range! If anyone could suggest another event venue/ town that offers Halloween events which are more affordable, that would be much appreciated or even a lovely hotel/ holiday park we could go to for a few days which wouldn't break the bank! We're in Bucks but could travel for 2 - 3 hours for somewhere suitable?

Tulleys Farm in Sussex is famous for its Halloween events https://www.shocktoberfest.co.uk/

Tulleys too scary for their age group

Sorry you are right - I read 19, not 9!

York? Do a haunted walk

Don't know the journey from Bucks!

https://www.celtic-manor.com/activities/october-half-term/

The Abbey does packages for West Midlands Safari Park, which always puts on good Halloween events https://theabbeyhotel.co.uk/offer/west-midlands-safari-park-break/

Wookey Hole of course! The home of Halloween. The village do a witch themed scarecrow trail too. Hotel on site. Don’t know the journey from Bucks, probably about 3 hours.

Haven does halloween shows etc

Ok, bear with me... what about Butlins? Bognor is doable in 2-3 hours depending on where in Bucks you are. Swimming, fairground, soft play, playgrounds, shows all included and there's various Halloween activities throughout the week, plus it's decorated and they have fireworks one night. We've not been for Halloween before but going next week for half term.

If you decide on wookey there's burnham on sea haven not far away which might do Halloween things as well. Journey is c3hrs from bucks if no traffic (depending on where in Bucks you are!)

All the bigger/more popular English heritage sites have Halloween trails, where you go round and mark answers on a sheet and I have been when some of them have performers telling spooky tales during the day, usually on the days closest to Halloween. We have family membership through Tesco which makes it cheaper, price probably adds up if you are paying for entry. Whitby has a beautiful illuminated abbey that runs over Halloween, that was probably my favourite event we did. However a few sites also have evening events with ghost walks, I think my oldest was 9 last time we did that, that is probably about the upper age limit for that activity. We did a ghost walk at Witley Court in 2020 and Brodsworth in 2021, both were good. Warwick castle also had Halloween activities. I imagine given it's run by Merlin group that it's expensive though. Might be worth looking at National trust sites too, they probably have events running.

Kew Gardens has a Halloween trail in the dark. https://halloweenatkew.seetickets.com/timeslots/filter/halloween-at-kew?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=TGM_halkew_KEW_pmax&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21651583627&gclid=CjwKCAjwgeLHBhBuEiwAL5gNEVhnTQfBN5LdAWh-e7MnPfy-3GE9ntiGv0xmq1LsuV0fApGY8Q5aFxoCXK4QAvD_BwE

Thank you very much to everyone for your replies!! Will definitely have a look at all of those!

Haddon Hall near Bakewell Derbyshire has a fabulous Halloween event. It’s really atmospheric with broomstick making, owl encounters, potion making in the kitchen etc.
https://tickets.haddonhall.co.uk/tickets/#events

The Brockhole visitor centre nr Windermere also have a big Halloween event with shows, laser tag, crazy golf etc. it’s beautiful in the lakes at this time of year and there is a park dean site within walking distance.
https://www.brockhole.co.uk/halloween

Blenheim has Halloween light walk too.