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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.

A NEW theme park deal is letting you buy a 2027 annual pass which includes visiting for the rest of 2026 for free.

Merlin – who operates 20 top UK attractions including all the major theme parks – has launched a mega September deal on their annual passes.

Anyone buying a Gold or Platinum Merlin Annual Pass for 2027 can visit all of the attractions for free for the rest of the year.

This means three extra months free on top of the 12 months of 2027.

Merlin 2027 Annual Passes with FREE 2026 access

It also includes some of the top events including Fright Nights at Thorpe Park and Alton Towers‘ Scarefest, along with Christmas at Legoland.

The Gold Merlin Annual Pass includes 485 days of attraction access as well as additional extras worth £250.

PLAY ON

Alton Towers to offer guests FREE second day tickets to the theme park this summer

CHEAP THRILLS

Short break deals at UK theme parks where you can stay on-site from £34.13pp

This includes free parking and 20 per cent off food, drink and shops.

There are some exclusions, such as Alton Tower Fireworks, and from November 6-8.

Opt for the Platinum Merlin Annual Pass and it includes all of the above AND even more perks worth more than £500.

This includes a free Fastrack per visit, as well as four Bring a Friend tickets per year and a free Coke Freestyle cup that comes with two refills.

Not only that, but there are no exclusion dates (apart from some paid-for events).

The Gold Merlin Annual Pass currently costs £239 (or £19.99 a month), which works out to just 50p a visit.

Merlin 2027 Annual Passes with FREE 2026 access

The Platinum Merlin Annual Pass costs £299 (or £24.99 per month), which works out to

The deal is on offer until the end of the Month (September 30).

Here are the full list of attractions included in the passes:

• Alton Towers
• Thorpe Park
• Chessington World of Adventures Resort
• Legoland Windsor Resort
• Cadbury World
• The London Eye
• Warwick Castle
• Madame Tussauds
• The Dungeons (London, Edinburgh, York)
• Shrek’s Adenture! London
• Legoland Discovery Centres (Birmingham, Manchester)
• Sea Life (Manchester, Blackpool, Brighton, Weymouth, Great Yarmouth, Hunstanton, Scarborough, Loch Lomond)

YOU don’t need to go abroad to lock in a hassle-free, all-inclusive holiday.

A growing number of UK holiday parks and seaside resorts are introducing all inclusive options, packaging a place to stay, meals, drinks, and entertainment into one price.

And let’s be honest, holidays are a lot more enjoyable when you don’t have to ask, “Whose round is this?” or scan the menu for the cheapest option at dinner.

From five-star adults-only retreats with four meals a day, to action-packed family parks with unlimited Costa Coffee and amazing activities, here’s our pick of the top UK resorts where you can go all inclusive – from only £25pp a day.

Butlin’s

Family breaks to Butlin’s really do pack a lot in – West End-style entertainment, loads of activities, plus a free fairground and waterpark on-site to make use of.

In the last year, Butlin’s has added the option to go all inclusive to their stays too.

Butlin’s all inclusive bundles include accommodation, breakfast, dinner, drinks, as well as the usual access to the fairground, activities and shows.

It’s worth it for the drinks package alone, which includes alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and unlimited Costa Coffee.

The all inclusive offer is only available during Showtime Term-Time Midweek breaks, so they are ideal for families with little ones or older kids who are outside of school age.

Butlin’s offer all-inclusive breaks for £28pp per night, based on two adults and two children on a Showtime Term-time four night break.

However, you can also bolt on the all-inclusive drinks package and the all-inclusive food package to regular family breaks across school holidays.

Potters Resort

Fancy a truly all-inclusive holiday without having to leave the country?

Potters have five-star resorts in both the Norfolk and Essex countryside, directly on the east coast.

Accommodation at these resorts ranges from spacious bungalows to swanky hotel suites, all of which come with complimentary toiletries and towels.

Spend your days getting stuck into activities like archery, air rifles, pickleball and bingo and your evenings watching all-singing, all-dancing shows with talent who have appeared on the West End.

You can tuck into four meals a day here, as late night dishes are included, where you can help yourself to snacks like bacon rolls or a hot cooked dinner late into the evening.

As for drinks, you can enjoy all the branded spirits like Bacardi, Malibu and Jameson’s, plus fun cocktails, smoothies and milkshakes.

The resorts remain adults-only for most of the year, perfect for enjoying some peace and quiet away on a couples’ retreat.

However the Norfolk resort opens up to families during selected school holiday periods.

The five-star, all inclusive breaks start from £175pp per night for a four night break. Make sure to check your specific dates on their website.

Parkdean Cherry Tree

Tucked between the Norfolk Broads and the sandy shores of Gorleston Beach, Parkdean Resorts Cherry Tree is a pretty and quiet coastal park.

Go swimming whatever the weather thanks to both indoor and outdoor heated pools, and if you bring little ones with you, there’s a toddler splash zone, too.

As for activities, there’s pirate-themed crazy golf, an adventure playground, a multi-sports court, and a buzzing amusement arcade.

You can go all inclusive here from £25 per day, which includes three meals a day served in the park’s main restaurant, plus unlimited soft drinks and Costa Coffee.

You can go all inclusive at Parkdean resorts for four-night breaks with Monday arrivals during school term time – so if you’re visiting as a couple or a group of friends, it can be the ideal time to visit. Check the park’s website for specific dates.

Lower Hyde

You really get your money’s worth with a stay at Lower Hyde holiday park.

Just minutes from the pretty seaside town of Shanklin on the Isle of Wight, this holiday park has plenty of free attractions nearby like Shanklin Beach and the beautiful Quarr Abbey.

And if you book your stay in a luxurious glamping safari tent, you’ll wake up to a view that feels more like being abroad than in the UK.

On-site you can battle it out on the sports courts, go for a swim in the heated outdoor pool, and settle down to Parkdean‘s signature entertainment.

But the best part is that a stay here essentially gives you access to two holiday parks for the price of one, as you also get free access to all the facilities at the neighbouring Landguard holiday park.

Nearby Landguard has a stunning woodland setting that is ideal for outdoors-y types, with plenty of walking trails plus an outdoor adventure playground for any little ones.

Going all inclusive here starts from £25 per day – check their website for a range of dates.

Carmarthen Bay

Overlooking the Gwendraeth Estuary in South Wales, Carmarthen Bay is a very picturesque holiday park.

Nearby you can explore the huge, 520-acre Pembrey Country Park, or head out on a wildlife safari at WWT Llanelli Wetland Centre.

Plus Carmarthenshire is home to one of the best-preserved Normal fortresses in Wales, Kidwelly Castle, which is just five minutes away. You might even recognise it from Monty Python.

The park itself has plenty to do, too. Here you can challenge the crew to crazy golf, plus toddlers can burn off energy in the soft-play arena.

End your evenings with a meal at The Boathouse Bar & Restaurant before catching live stage shows late into the night.

You can go all inclusive at Carmarthen Bay from £25 per day.

Whitley Bay

Perched on the cliffs with views of St Mary’s Lighthouse, Parkdean Whitley Bay trades chaotic holiday park energy for crisp coastal air and rugged North East landscapes.

Days here revolve around morning swims in the heated indoor pool, nature trail walks, and letting the kids loose on the outdoor play areas and sports court.

The beach and famous white dome of Spanish City sit just down the road, making it easy to enjoy an evening of coastal cocktails or fish and chips with sea views.

Make sure to be back in time for bingo at the Showbar, where there’s big cash prizes to be won.

Book an all inclusive break at Whitley Bay from £25 per day.

Newquay Holiday Park

Gone are the days of sitting around a packed swimming pool on holiday – Parkdean Newquay has three to pick from, plus a 200ft waterslide for good measure.

Set in Britain’s surf capital, this park provides perfect beach holiday energy.

You’ve got seven famous beaches on your doorstep, including Fistral Beach, as well as cool Cornish towns like Padstow and Rock nearby, too.

If you like an active holiday, you’ve got high-ropes courses, a climbing wall and kayaking available here.

There’s an entire Tots program if you’re bringing any along, which includes messy play and miniature bike sessions.

Equally, the park offers ‘Grown up getaways’ with 60’s tribute acts, adult-only swim sessions, karaoke parties and events like Country night and the chilled out Brunch Club.

Go all-inclusive at Parkdean Newquay from £25 per day.

Late on Friday night, Donald Trump announced what he called “the biggest oil deal in world history.” Under the terms described publicly so far, the US would obtain a controlling interest in a new venture involving 17 Venezuelan oil fields containing more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves, with an effective 55 percent share of production and preferential access to crude at cost. The Trump administration says the arrangement could mobilize around $100 billion in private investment and eventually generate more than $200 billion in Venezuelan tax revenues. Much about the deal, including its precise legal structure, remains unclear.

There is nothing inherently objectionable about American companies making money from Venezuelan oil. Venezuela desperately needs foreign capital, technology and markets. PDVSA cannot rebuild the industry on its own, and reconnecting Venezuela to the American energy system would be preferable to another generation of dependence on Russia, China or Iran. 

The problem is not that Washington wants investment. The problem is that it seems determined to make that investment possible without first solving the political and institutional problem that made Venezuela uninvestable in the first place.

Recalculating

The original expectation after Nicolás Maduro’s removal seemed straightforward enough. American oil majors would pour tens of billions of dollars into the country and restore production. Nine days after Maduro was captured, Trump gathered oil executives at the White House and invited them back to Venezuela. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods responded with an inconvenient assessment: under the existing legal and commercial conditions, the country remained “uninvestable.” ConocoPhillips was interested but similarly cautious. Chevron, which never fully left, has continued expanding and is now preparing another significant restructuring of its Venezuelan operations. So far, the broad stampede of supermajors Washington appeared to expect has not come.

So Washington widened the search. Delcy Rodríguez traveled to India in June to court energy investment and deepen ties with Reliance and other Indian companies, in a trip conducted with remarkably explicit American encouragement. India had once again become a major buyer of Venezuelan crude, and Asian capital offered another potential source of the money Venezuela needed.

Under the conditions we have been apprised of so far, it is difficult to imagine a future democratic Venezuelan government simply accepting an arrangement of this magnitude as a fait accompli.

At the same time came operators with a different tolerance for Venezuelan risk. Hunt Overseas Oil and Crossover Energy signed preliminary agreements to develop projects in the Orinoco Belt. Smaller American firms have explored opportunities that Exxon and Conoco have so far declined to pursue. SLB, an oilfield-services company rather than a producer, has now been brought in to reconstruct and analyze PDVSA’s degraded reservoir data, the sort of basic technical infrastructure that should tell us something about how much of an oil industry still needs to be rebuilt.

And then there are the intermediaries. Bloomberg recently reported that Alejandro Betancourt, who rose spectacularly during the Chávez years, emerged as an important facilitator for Washington’s effort to bring smaller American companies into Venezuela. His usefulness is not difficult to understand. Companies entering a market where formal institutions remain weak need people who know the terrain, the networks, the officials and the informal rules through which business actually gets done. 

Betancourt has denied past allegations of wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime, but his return as an influential gatekeeper hardly advertises the arrival of a transparent, rules-based Venezuelan economy.

Now comes the ultimate recalculation. If investors are still reluctant to absorb Venezuelan political risk, the US government may absorb some of it itself.

Risk instead of certainty

That is what makes Friday’s announcement so revealing. Washington began the year with the proposition that political change would make Venezuela attractive to capital. Now, the Trump government appears increasingly willing to create more and more elaborate mechanisms to insulate investors from risk rather than address the conditions that make the country risky in the first place. At every stage, it has changed the investor, the financing, the intermediary or the allocation of risk. The one variable it has been remarkably reluctant to change is the Venezuelan government.

There is also the small matter of Venezuelan law.

The Constitution establishes that hydrocarbon deposits belong to the Republic and are inalienable. It also requires National Assembly approval for public-interest contracts involving foreign states, foreign official entities, or companies not domiciled in Venezuela. Delcy’s reform of the hydrocarbons law has undeniably widened the space for private operators, granting companies much greater control over production and commercialization. But nothing disclosed so far explains how an arrangement giving the US government a controlling economic position over 17 fields, reportedly with rights potentially stretching for a quarter of a century, has obtained the constitutional authorization necessary to bind Venezuela over anything resembling that period. Reuters itself notes that the legal and financial structure remains unclear and that the proposal faces constitutional questions.

Delcy’s strategy is to survive Trump himself, so that the next American administration treats her as the person guaranteeing oil production, investment contracts and political stability.

Perhaps those questions will eventually receive convincing answers. Perhaps the current National Assembly will be asked to provide whatever approvals the agreement requires. But under the conditions we have been apprised of so far, it is difficult to imagine a future democratic Venezuelan government simply accepting an arrangement of this magnitude as a fait accompli. At a minimum, it would have every reason to subject the contracts to comprehensive legal review and democratic ratification; significant portions could well have to be renegotiated.

That produces a remarkable contradiction. An agreement supposedly designed to provide investors with certainty may create its own enormous source of political risk. 

A future government could inherit century-long commitments negotiated by an unelected predecessor whose authority it contests, with the US itself financially invested in preserving those commitments. Venezuela’s first genuinely democratic administration would then begin its life choosing between endorsing decisions it never authorized or entering an immediate dispute with Washington.

There is a perfectly respectable argument for what the Trump administration is attempting. Venezuela cannot place reconstruction on hold indefinitely while it builds pristine institutions. Oil infrastructure continues to deteriorate. Investment can create jobs, revenue, and constituencies interested in stability. Delcy controls the ministries, PDVSA, much of the security apparatus and the bureaucracy; somebody has to sign the contracts today. Connecting Venezuelan economic interests to American companies could itself help pull the country away from the geopolitical networks that sustained Maduro.

But that argument confuses the need to restart the economy with the need to give an interim government the power to determine its structure for generations.

Washington could have pursued investment while limiting the duration of interim arrangements, requiring future democratic ratification for the largest commitments, creating sunset clauses, tying concessions to institutional milestones or ensuring that Venezuela’s democratic forces had genuine ownership of the framework. Democratic legitimacy is not an obstacle to investment certainty. Properly understood, it is one of its foundations.

The US seems unwilling to own the fact that no amount of financial engineering, political brokerage or well-connected intermediaries can substitute for a democratic government.

Instead, the emerging arrangement gives Delcy Rodríguez an increasingly powerful incentive to make herself indispensable. The more American capital, energy security and political prestige become attached to agreements signed under her government, the more valuable continuity becomes. Delcy’s obvious strategy is no longer merely to survive the transition. It is to survive Trump himself, so that the next American administration treats her not as the temporary caretaker Washington inherited in January but as the person guaranteeing oil production, investment contracts and political stability.

Unreliable partners

There have been meaningful changes since Maduro’s removal. More than a thousand political prisoners have reportedly been released. The government and representatives of the opposition have reached an agreement to renew the Supreme Court. But if the objective on January 3 was a genuine democratic transition, it is increasingly difficult to argue that Venezuela has moved very far from square one. Delcy still governs without democratic legitimacy. Much of the chavista State remains intact. María Corina Machado remains outside the country and outside the US-backed negotiating mechanism. Even senators from both parties in Washington have begun pressing the administration for a clearer path toward elections.

If anyone in Washington believes that another legally dubious agreement negotiated with the cronies who continue to usurp the Venezuelan State—particularly through figures like Alejandro Betancourt, now being mentioned as a facilitator for oil investment—will inspire substantially more confidence than anything Washington has tried since that glorious January 3 night, then they have learned remarkably little about the problem they inherited. Washington took responsibility for managing Venezuela’s transition that night. Eight months later, it still seems unwilling to own the central fact that no amount of financial engineering, political brokerage or well-connected intermediaries can substitute for a Venezuelan government with democratic and legal legitimacy.

There is a broader cost to that refusal. Machado is not merely another Venezuelan politician Washington happens to dislike. She is one of Latin America’s most recognizable democratic figures, with an audience extending across the region’s Right, democratic center and beyond. The administration’s repeated willingness to sideline her while embracing Rodríguez is therefore being watched outside Venezuela too.

If billions begin flowing through institutions and business networks that have never been subjected to democratic accountability, Washington may discover that it has helped recapitalize the very system it intended to replace.

It is particularly telling to see rightwing figures such as Emmanuel Rincón, Orlando Avendaño and Hermann Tertsch—voices that have spent much of the past eight months looking for the glass-half-full interpretation of Washington’s most questionable decisions—struggling to interpret the latest developments as anything other than the US installing a friendlier face atop the chavista state.

That matters for American power. The Trump administration has never pretended that its diplomacy would be delicate. Allies understand pressure, bargaining and the occasional arm-twist. But there is a difference between being a demanding partner and being an unreliable one. Latin American political leaders who have aligned themselves with Washington against authoritarian movements would be perfectly rational to study Venezuela and conclude that the US remains an excellent partner for a business transaction while being considerably less dependable as the guarantor of a political project.

Oil production can rise without democracy. Private investment can coexist with authoritarianism. Venezuela can become much more capitalist without becoming substantially more free. If billions begin flowing through institutions and business networks that have never been subjected to democratic accountability, Washington may discover that it has helped recapitalize the very system it intended to replace.

Chavismo spent a quarter century destroying the institutional ecosystem in which long-term investment could survive. Changing an oil law does not rebuild it. Removing Maduro did not rebuild it. Finding more adventurous investors will not rebuild it either.

Democratic legitimacy is not the prize Venezuela receives at the end of a successful transition. It is part of the infrastructure required for the transition to succeed.