Days Out Near York With Children, Checked October 2026

The days out most York families land on are Castle Howard for the grounds and the Skelf Island adventure playground, Beningbrough just north of the city, Murton Park 4.5 miles out for animals, a train and a Viking village, and a steam trip on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway from Pickering. Every entry was checked against the venue’s own site on 28 October 2026.

We have not visited any of these for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry gives what the place says it offers, the prices and opening dates it publishes, and the Food Standards Agency hygiene rating for its cafe where there is one. Late October is the end of the season for several of them, so the winter dates matter as much as the summer ones: they are in each entry, and in the table below.

Days out near York compared

Close to the city

Murton Park and the Yorkshire Museum of Farming

Murton Park says it is “only 4.5 miles (or 15 minutes in the car) from the centre of York”. Its 14 acres hold the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, a railway, animals and play areas, plus a Roman fort and a Viking village that are “open to all visitors most weekends and school holidays” when schools are not using them. Entry is by annual pass: £20 an adult, £17 a child, £50 for a family of two named adults and up to three named children, under-ones free. Train rides are £1 a person or £5 for a group of up to five all day. Open all year, 10am to 4.30pm, last admission 3.30pm, but closed to the public from 18 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 (open to Christmas ticket holders 19 to 22 December). The indoor play barn is closed until the new year. The Yorkshire Barn Cafe holds a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 17 May 2025). Murton Lane, YO19 5UF. murtonpark.co.uk

Beningbrough, National Trust

Beningbrough is a country house on the Ouse north-west of the city, with a ground floor that tells the house’s story and first-floor galleries for changing art exhibitions. The National Trust points families to “the wilderness play area” and its school holiday activities, and says dogs are welcome in most of the garden and selected areas of the restaurant. 2026 prices without Gift Aid are £16 an adult, £8 a child aged 5 to 17, £40 for two adults and up to three children and £24 for one adult and up to three; under-fives and members go free. The garden opens 10am to 3.30pm, daily to 1 November, then Friday to Sunday through November and December, and every day from 26 to 31 December. The restaurant holds a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 22 July 2026; our listing). Phone 01904 472027. YO30 1DD. nationaltrust.org.uk

Castle Howard

The house north-east of York is marking Vanbrugh 300 this year, after the architect who designed it. The house opens from spring to autumn and is “transformed each winter for Christmas”; the gardens open daily, apart from the Walled Garden, and are dog-friendly. For children there is Skelf Island, an adventure playground “across the dormant waters of the Great Lake”, and the 120-acre arboretum has an 11-acre area where dogs can run off the lead. On 28 October the grounds were open 10am to 5pm (last entry 4pm) and the house 10am to 4pm. The Christmas house, Father Christmas in the Castle and a Santa’s Grotto in the Jellycat Shop run from 12 November 2026 to 3 January 2027: see our Castle Howard Christmas guide. Tickets are sold by date on its booking page. The Courtyard Cafe holds a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 16 October 2025). YO60 7DA. castlehoward.co.uk

Malton, Pickering and the moors

Eden Camp, Malton

Eden Camp is a museum inside a real prisoner of war camp, built in 1942 on farmland outside Malton, which first held Italian and then German prisoners. Visitors go into 22 original huts with exhibits and living history about wartime Britain. Online prices are £17 an adult, £15 a child aged 5 to 15 and £60 for two adults and two children (£20, £18 and £65 on the day); under-fives and carers go free, and online tickets include a £1 booking fee. Its opening-times page lists daily opening from 23 March to 13 November, 10am to 5pm with last admission at 4.30pm, and recommends at least four hours. WinStan’s Cafe serves hot food until 3pm, and the museum’s food business holds a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 13 May 2026). Freehold Lane, Malton, YO17 6RT. edencamp.co.uk

Flamingo Land, Kirby Misperton

Flamingo Land is a theme park and zoo in one ticket. Its price page lists standard admission “from £46” in the main season, from £30 in low season and from £18 in winter, for tickets bought more than seven days ahead; prices rise as the date gets closer. A family ticket for up to four people aged 4 and over is £168 in main season and £114 in low season at the advance price. Children aged three and under go free, as does a carer with a disabled guest. On 28 October the theme park and zoo were open 10am to 5pm. Of the 26 food outlets at the park on the FSA register, 25 hold a rating of 5; the Spud Stop kiosk is rated 2 (FSA, 13 July 2026). Kirby Misperton, YO17 6UX. flamingoland.co.uk

North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Pickering

The heritage railway runs steam trains over 24 miles of line between Pickering, Levisham, Goathland, Grosmont and Whitby. A Day Rover lets you hop on and off all day: in 2026 the standard fare was £48.95 an adult at the regular rate and £38.50 at the school holiday saver rate, and under its Kids Go Free offer one child aged 4 to 15 travels free with each fare-paying adult, with extra children £12 (£9.50 in school holidays). Under-fours travel free on a lap. Online bookings carry a £1.50 fee, and Day Rovers booked more than four days ahead are 10% cheaper. The 2026 fare table runs to 1 November; the festive Santa Express is priced separately. Pickering station runs Station Stay and Play sessions for under-fives. The Pickering Station Tearooms hold a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 11 November 2025). Park Street, Pickering, YO18 7AJ. nymr.co.uk

Dalby Forest

Forestry England describes 8,500 acres of forest in the North York Moors National Park, with walking and cycle trails, “Gruffalo adventures”, play areas and a Go Ape course. There is no admission charge, only parking: £3.50 for an hour, £6.50 for two, £9.50 for three, £12.50 for four and £15 for longer. Driving through in under 30 minutes is free, motorcycles are free, and so is arriving by public transport or bike. The visitor centre at Low Dalby is “fully accessible”, and its cafe and ice cream kiosk hold a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 20 October 2025). Sat nav postcode YO18 7LT, off the A169 Pickering to Whitby road. forestryengland.uk

National Centre for Birds of Prey, Helmsley

The centre sits on the Duncombe Park estate at Helmsley and is built around daily flying demonstrations, with private experiences sold separately. It gives children a free ink stamp trail and a word search and colouring sheet, and a wristband lets you leave and come back, so you can walk in the 300 acres of parkland or go into Helmsley between demonstrations. Prices are £15 an adult, £11.50 a child aged 4 to 16, £14 for over-65s and £45 for two adults and two children; under-fours free. It opens from 10am every day from 10 February to 3 November. The Owl House Cafe bakes its own cakes and holds a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 8 July 2026). Phone 01439 772080. YO62 5EB. ncbp.co.uk

Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole

An open-air museum in the North York Moors with 40,000 objects across more than twenty heritage buildings, among them a medieval manor house and an Iron Age roundhouse, plus a heritage orchard for picnics. It is open Saturday to Thursday and closed on Fridays: 10am to 4pm from 1 October to 29 November, and 10am to 5pm in the main season. Prices are £12 an adult, £10 a child aged 4 to 15 and £40 for a family of two adults and two children (£30 for one adult and two); under-fours free. There is no booking system, and dogs on leads are welcome. The museum has no car park of its own: the Crown Inn next door charges £3 a day, coins only. Main Street, YO62 6UA. ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk

Knaresborough, Harrogate and Leeds way

Brimham Rocks, National Trust

Giant rock formations on heather moorland near Summerbridge, which the National Trust says were sculpted by 320 million years of moving continents, ice, rain and wind. The National Trust invites visitors to spot the Dancing Bear, the Gorilla, the Eagle and the Turtle, and says “the more nimble can crawl through the Smartie Tube”. Some of the best-known rocks are ten minutes’ walk from the car park; seeing all of it takes about four hours. Entry is free for everyone. Parking costs £7 for four hours or £10 a day, free for members and Blue Badge holders, and the machines use number plate recognition, so download the JustPark app before you go. The site opens from 9am to dusk; the visitor centre opens 10am to 3pm. The kiosk holds a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 16 September 2024). Brimham Moor Road, Summerbridge, HG3 4DW. nationaltrust.org.uk

Mother Shipton’s Cave, Knaresborough

A mile-long woodland park in Knaresborough with the cave and the Petrifying Well, an adventure playground and a museum. Prices are per car or group of up to five: £35 on term-time weekdays and £42 at weekends, bank holidays and events, with extra passengers £12 or £16 and under-twos free. The 2026 season runs daily from 28 March to 1 November, then selected Christmas dates in November and December, when booking is recommended. The cave and well are reached by three sets of 25 steps, with no pushchair or wheelchair access to them; pushchairs are left under a shelter at the bottom. Dogs on leads are allowed except in the playground and the shop, and not at all during the Christmas event. Card payments only. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 22 September 2025). Five minutes’ walk from Knaresborough station. High Bridge, HG5 8DD. mothershipton.co.uk

Stockeld Park, Wetherby

Stockeld Park says it is “open every holiday season, and most weekends throughout the year”. Its 1.5km Enchanted Forest of interactive play and six themed outdoor playgrounds are part of every Christmas ticket. Gold Christmas tickets add the panto, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Santa’s Grotto, on weekends from 21 November to 13 December and daily from 18 to 24 December, from £42.50 a child and £32.50 an adult. Silver tickets, with the grotto but no panto, run midweek and at weekends from 21 November to 24 December, from £31 a child and £21 an adult. The Illuminations, Forest and Maze package runs daily from 21 November to 3 January from £18.50 a person. Ice skating is £6 extra. The Adventure Site food business at Stockeld holds a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 4 June 2026). Harrogate Road, LS22 4AN. stockeldpark.co.uk

Harewood House, near Leeds

Harewood bills itself as a family day out “near Leeds, Harrogate or York”, and every ticket includes the house, gardens, grounds and adventure playground. The house is closed while its Christmas experience, Magic at the Mansion, is installed and reopens on 6 November, running to 3 January; the gardens, grounds, shops and Courtyard Cafe stay open. Carers go free, Max Card holders bring two children free with one paying adult, and children with a Blue Peter badge get in free. The estate also runs tours of the Emmerdale village set, built in its grounds in 1997. Dogs are welcome in designated outdoor areas. The Courtyard Cafe holds a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 24 April 2026). Use LS17 9LG in a sat nav. harewood.org

How we chose

We started with the family days out within reach of York that people search for, then kept only those whose own website was live and showed current prices or opening dates on 28 October 2026. Prices, dates and quotes come from each venue’s own pages, and for the two National Trust places from the Trust’s published prices and opening calendar; hygiene ratings come from the Food Standards Agency register. We left out the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington because its cafe is rated 2, and York Maze because it is closed until July 2027. We have not been to any of these for this guide. For days out in the city itself, see things to do in York; for indoor places, soft play in York; for free outdoor play, York playgrounds and walks near York. There is more in what’s on in York this month, York cafes, Sunday roast in York and the York business directory.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@theyorktimes.co.uk.

Frequently asked questions

What are free days out near York with children?

Brimham Rocks, the National Trust site near Summerbridge, is free for everyone to enter; you pay only for parking, £7 for four hours or £10 a day, and National Trust members and Blue Badge holders park free. Dalby Forest charges for parking only, from £3.50 for an hour, and nothing at all if you arrive by bus or bike.

Which days out near York stay open in winter?

Murton Park is open all year except 18 December to 3 January, Dalby Forest and Brimham Rocks stay open, and Castle Howard’s gardens open daily. Beningbrough opens Friday to Sunday through November and December. Mother Shipton’s Cave closes after 1 November apart from Christmas dates, and the National Centre for Birds of Prey closes after 3 November.

Where can you meet Father Christmas near York in 2026?

Castle Howard runs Father Christmas in the Castle and a Santa’s Grotto from 12 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. Stockeld Park near Wetherby includes Santa’s Grotto in its Gold and Silver Christmas tickets from 21 November, and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway runs its Santa Express from Pickering.