activities

QUIET beaches, cosy hot chocolates in the caravan, loads of rainy day activities for the kids: October half term is the perfect time for a family getaway.

Especially when you can head off on holiday for as little as £2.75pp a night.

Rather than just offering a cheap bed for the week, these holiday parks are running action-packed Halloween activity schedules, with everything from monster talent shows to good-old pumpkin carving.

Plus we’ve purposely picked out spots with plenty more to do off-site, such as a scare fest takeovers at a seaside theme park and a Halloween steam train ride where kids go free.

Better yet, all of these affordable deals are for holidays within the October half term. Many of them begin from Friday night, meaning you collect the kids straight from school and head straight into half term fun.

From the misty Moray coast in Scotland to seaside Halloween fun in Skegness, here’s our favourite UK holiday parks to visit this October half term – from as little as £2.75pp per night.

Butlin’s October Half Term stays

If you visit to Butlin’s this October half term, expect to find everything fully decked out for Halloween.

The fairground will become the ‘Scareground‘, where monsters lurk in thick fog and you can experience the rides at night in glowing neon green.

The classic ‘Night at Reds’ show held by the Butlin’s redcoats has been given a monster makeover, with Halloween-themed games, sing-a-longs and an ‘Eerily Silent Disco’.

Throw in a mega Halloween Welcome Party, character photo shoots, themed pottery painting and pumpkin-carving sessions, and you’ve got yourself a thoroughly spooky break.

Plus, new for 2026, you’ll find the Skyline Gang Monster Mash – a talent show starring the classic characters with a different winner each night.

We found a four night break at Butlin’s Minehead in a standard family room sleeping four for £44, which works out to £2.75pp per night.

Parkdean Heacham Beach, Norfolk

Head to West Norfolk’s Heacham Beach holiday park for an autumn seaside break packed with plenty of spookiness.

Free themed activities include nighttime guided ghost walks around the park, and ‘Professor Slime’, where kids step into the slime lab to create their own concoctions.

In the evenings, settle down for the Quiz Nation Halloween Special where you can put your knowledge to the test against other holiday parks across the UK.

Or, if you come alive with energy at nighttime, stomp your way over to the Zombie Rave, where you can dance the night away.

If you fancy getting out and about, Church Farm Pumpkins sits on the edge of the village and is the perfect pumpkin patch for pictures and picking your own.

We found a three night stay from October 23 in a Bronze caravan sleeping six for £229, working out to £12.72pp per night.

Parkdean are running Halloween activities across 59 holiday parks between October 2 – November 1, with a more extensive activity program during the half term break.

If you’re looking to stay at another Parkdean resort, the following holiday parks won’t have the Halloween activities: Church Point, Fallbarrow, Gatebeck, Limefitt, and Todber Valley.

Haven Skegness

Whether you want to visit a seaside theme park for a creepy scare fest, or go ghost-hunting along the coast, Haven Skegness is ideal for a family Halloween break.

Haven are running loads of Halloween activities this year across their parks, including crafty activities like Halloween Make a Bear and build your own Halloween basket.

Even the food and drink will receive a Halloween twist, as grown-ups can grab a Ghoula Colada or Cursed Lagoon cocktail.

Make sure to step off-site to visit Fear Island, theme park Fantasy Island‘s scare fest where you can dip in and out of immersive zones like creepy cabins inhabited by clowns.

Fear Island takes place on the following dates: 17-18, 21-25 and 28 Oct October, as well as November 1. If you book ahead online you can save 10%.

We found a deal for a three night stay at Haven Skegness from October 23 in a Saver caravan sleeping four for £205, working out to £12.81pp per night.

Parkdean Node’s Point, Isle of Wight

This Isle of Wight holiday park isn’t just for visiting in the summer, it makes for a fantastic October break, too.

At Havenstreet Station, you can board the Isle of Wight Steam Railway for its magical ‘Witches, Wands and Whistles‘ event (17 – 31 October) where kids go free on a themed train ride (adults £26).

Or for a free afternoon out, go on a ghost hunt around the ancient stone walls of Carisbrooke Castle.

On-site, Milkshake Mornings will take a Halloween twist, with a spooky story time as well as themed arts and crafts.

Older kids can make Halloween tie-dye t-shirts, or take part in The Wizard Academy show.

We found a three night break in a Gold caravan sleeping eight for £259, working out to £10.79pp per night.

Haven Quay West, South Wales

Take a trip to Haunted Haven in pretty South Wales this October with a stay at Haven Quay West.

The holiday park is putting on an ‘Eerie Entertainment’ series, with a fancy dress parade featuring giant pumpkins, spiders and ghosts, as well as a Halloween edition of the Seaside Squad show.

During the day kids can get creative with sand art, pumpkin carving and even a Halloween nature trail, where you’ll get up close to creepy crawlies.

This park is also in an ideal setting for breezy autumn walks, with a woodland trail that leads you directly down to the beach, where you may even spot wild dolphins.

If you time your trip for Halloween night, you can stroll down to the harbour for a huge, free fireworks display which lights up the sky over the waters of Cardigan Bay.

We found a four night break in a Saver caravan sleeping four for £265, working out to £16.56pp per night.

Park Holidays Silver Sands, Scotland

Take an autumn break to the misty Moray Firth coast in Scotland with a stay at Park Holidays’ Silver Sands resort.

If you don’t want to brave a brisk beach walk out in stunning Lossiemouth or Cairngorms National Park, you can stay on-site to make use of the indoor heated swimming pool.

During the October half term, there’ll be everything from ghost storytelling to costume contests and classic pumpkin carving.

During the day, kids activities start from 10am and include bead art classes, Segways and wax workshops.

In the evening, settle down to kids shows from the Krazy Krew or stay late for karaoke, cabaret and bingo.

We found a four night break in a Gold caravan sleeping six for £161, working out to £6.71pp per night.

ON most holidays the hotel is just the place you sleep between the actual highlights found in the local area.

You dump your bags, find the pool, and spend the rest of the week trekking out to beaches, theme parks, waterparks and attractions that cost an extra small fortune in entry tickets.

But as a holiday expert who’s worked in travel for years now, I’ve got a bank of places where the hotel is THE main event.

We’re talking lodges where elephants wander past your balcony, a futuristic hotel built directly across an active Formula 1 circuit and a full-blown Wild West town with hyper-coasters right outside your bedroom door.

Best of all, you can book the flights, accommodation and headline experience in a single package.

Here are six stays where checking in feels like buying a front-row ticket to something massive.

1. Stay inside a zoo: Magic Natura Animal Waterpark and Polynesian Lodge Resort, Benidorm

Magic Natura isn’t just ‘near’ a wildlife park – the entire resort is actually in Terra Natura Benidorm.

You stay in wooden, Polynesian-style lodges scattered across the landscape, with private wooden terraces looking straight into enclosures filled with elephants, rhinos and big cats.

Sitting outside your room with a morning brew watching an elephant amble past is basically breakfast with Sir David Attenborough…minus Sir David Attenborough, I assume.

Hotel guests get free, direct access to both Terra Natura and the neighbouring Aqua Natura waterpark, which packs in massive multi-lane slides, splash zones and animal keeper talks.

It completely eliminates the daily trek between different attractions because the zoo, waterpark, and hotel are all in the same place.

And I tracked down a 5-night bed and breakfast stay here from £263pp, flying direct from London Luton on 5 October.

2. Stay on an F1 racetrack: W Abu Dhabi Yas Island

Lots of hotels overlook race circuits but the W Abu Dhabi is built directly on top of one.

The futuristic glass structure spans the Yas Marina Circuit, with the actual Formula 1 track running straight beneath the hotel building.

Your balcony, the main pool deck, and the restaurants look directly down onto the tarmac, meaning even outside Grand Prix weekends you’ll regularly see supercars testing or track-day drivers tearing past below your room.

On selected evenings, the circuit runs the free TrainYAS programme, opening the track to the public.

You can literally jog or walk an entire lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix circuit, pass straight underneath your own hotel, and then head upstairs for a buffet breakfast.

Good luck finding a Travelodge that offers that.

You’re also sitting right on Yas Island, which means Ferrari World, Warner Bros. World and Yas Waterworld are right on your doorstep.

Outside of Grand Prix week, the prices drop significantly, and I found a 7-night bed and breakfast holiday here from £640pp, including return flights from London Stansted on 9 September.

3. Stay like a rock star: Hard Rock Hotel Marbella, Spain

Most music-themed hotels slap a framed guitar on the lobby wall and call it a day.

Hard Rock Hotel Marbella lets you order an actual Fender guitar, bass or a Crosley vinyl turntable straight to your room through their complimentary Sound of Your Stay programme.

The guitars come with high-spec headphones, which is a very thoughtful touch for both aspiring rock stars and everyone staying in the room next door.

The music theme runs right through the property, from live acoustic sets and proper jazz bands to poolside DJ sessions that feel genuinely curated rather than an animator playing cheesy pop tunes beside the buffet.

It’s strictly Adults Only, sits right near the Puerto Banús marina and features two distinct pool zones – one built for day parties, and a quiet one built for recovering from them.

And the best part is, you don’t need a rock star’s bank balance to book it either.

I spotted a 5-night bed and breakfast holiday from £353pp, with direct flights from London Gatwick on 31 October.

4. Stay inside a Wild West theme park: PortAventura Hotel Gold River, Spain

Hotel Gold River recreates a full 19th-century American gold-rush town, complete with timber storefronts, an authentic saloon, a sheriff’s office, and rooms set inside Wild West-style buildings.

And at this hotel, you are literally sleeping inside PortAventura World, with a private hotel entrance dropping you straight into the park.

PortAventura packs six themed lands and world-class rollercoasters, including the massive Shambhala and the stomach-churning Furius Baco.

Younger kids get the dedicated SesamoAventura Sesame Street land, while Ferrari Land sits right next door.

The biggest win for families here though is pure convenience: you can enter the park, pop back to your room for a siesta or a swim, and head back out for the evening shows without paying for daily parking or coach transfers.

When you consider that park tickets are bundled into the package, the price is borderline ridiculous. 

I found 5 nights room-only with direct flights from Birmingham on 4 October for just £255pp. Bargain.

5. Stay in a palace with its own funfair: Haydarpasha Palace, Antalya

Haydarpasha Palace looks like someone took a historic European railway station, an Ottoman palace and a family theme park, then decided there was absolutely no reason not to mash them all together.

This massive 5-star resort features multi-lane waterslides, bowling alleys, kids’ clubs and its own seasonal funfair complete with a Ferris wheel and bumper cars inside the grounds.

Because it’s a fully all-inclusive set-up, all your food, drinks and most of the entertainment are wrapped into the upfront cost.

The hotel links directly to its private sandy beach via an underground tunnel beneath the coastal road, meaning families can easily spend a full week here without ever running out of things to do or leaving the resort perimeter.

You can grab a 5-night all inclusive stay here from £348pp, including direct flights from London Gatwick on 31 October.

1. Stay at a world-class entertainment resort: Rixos Premium Seagate, Sharm El Sheikh

Standard ‘hotel entertainment‘ usually means a mini-disco and someone from the animation team attempting a questionable tribute act.

Rixos operates in an entirely different universe.

Across their Sharm El Sheikh resorts, the brand hosts legitimate festival-grade productions, touring international DJs and headline pop stars – Enrique Iglesias and Jennifer Lopez have both performed exclusive concerts for Rixos guests.

Even during an ordinary week, the scale of entertainment is massive.

Alongside nightly stage shows and live bands, the resort includes a huge on-site waterpark, multiple swimming pools, a private coral reef beach and over a dozen speciality restaurants and bars – as part of its premium all-inclusive offering.

And I found a 5-night all inclusive break here from £505pp, with direct flights from London Gatwick on 7 December.