Summer is a great opportunity for family fun, but it's also a massive money drain. Family days out can soon add up, so we'll show you how to save money on entry prices and eating out to enjoy the UK school summer holidays on a budget, updated for 2025.
How much do things to do with kids in the summer holidays cost?
Keeping the kids entertained over the summer holidays with days out can cost families nearly £1,000, according to research by Hodge Bank. Basing their figures on a family of four, the financial institution discovered that popular days out for kids can amount to £992, which comprises the following children's activities and average prices:
- Cinema (£58)
- Zoo (£105)
- Aquarium (£126)
- Laser tag (£37)
- Indoor trampoline park (£60)
- Go-karting (£222)
- Theme park (£106)
- Theatre (£148)
- Mini golf (£48)
- Ice skating (£42)
- Escape room (£40)
We've got various ways to put a dent in that figure, with hacks on how to save money on UK attractions and how to enjoy free/cheap days out with kids.
How much does eating out as a family cost?
The average UK family of four spends around £174 on eating out each month, according to NimbleFins' 2025 analysis of data from the Office of National Statistics.
But in the school summer holidays, that average cost skyrockets. Eating out in the school holidays costs parents £196.60 a week, according to a survey published on Reassured, which polled 1,000 UK parents. Multiply that weekly figure by 6 weeks for the summer holidays and that's £1,179.60 in total.
In this article, we've got tips on reducing that figure, with kids eat free deals, the latest restaurant vouchers, and alternatives to buying food at expensive theme park restaurants.
Check out 12 ways to save on days out for kids:
1. Use discount codes for cheap days out with kids:
You can use VoucherCodes' going out deals page as a one-stop shop for the latest offers. Within this category, you can zone in on results specifically for sub-categories like theme parks discounts, bowling deals, cinema & theatre promos and tourist attraction savings.
Here are our picks for voucher codes across different categories:
- 10-pin bowling at Hollywood Bowl: During the summer holidays, get 25% off standard bowling games starting before 12 midday at certain centres with code SCHOOLSOUT25, or 25% off standard bowling games starting before 11am at selected centres with the code COOLOFF25
- High ropes adventure at Go Ape: Get 15% off the Treetop Challenge with the code FAMILY15
- Family membership at English Heritage: Get 25% off annual membership with the code SUMMER25 (ends 31st August 2025)
- Museum entry at Tiqets: Get 6% off museum ticket bookings with code TIQETSMUSEUMS
- Sightseeing bus and walking tours with Tootbus: Get 35% off bookings with the code SPRING35
- River sightseeing with City Cruises: Get 20% off dining cruise bookings with the code CCL20
2. Get cheap cinema tickets at children's and family film screenings:
Throughout the summer holidays, cinema chains put on special screenings of kids films where adults and kids can benefit from really low ticket prices. Our picks include:
- Cineworld: £1 family films from 25th July to 28th August 2025
- Odeon: Kids Screenings start at £2.75 per person
- Vue: Mighty Mornings cost from £2.49 per person
3. Travel by train on family days out to save 1/3 on theme park tickets:
It you're getting to your attraction via rail travel, you can save big on your entry ticket. This is typically 1/3 on theme parks including Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures Resort, LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort and Thorpe Park, and there's even 2 for 1 deals at certain other tourist attractions.
You need to book in advance, and show your voucher/online ticket with you along with your train ticket when you arrive at your attraction.
Check out National Rail's Days Out Guide to see how much you can save.
4. Eat chocolate to save up to 50% on family attractions:
When you pick up a Cadbury promotional pack you'll find a bar/batch code on the back that will give you a unique code to make a saving when pre-booking online at select Merlin UK attractions, such as Alton Towers, LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort, Thorpe Park, Cadbury World, SEA Life Centres and more.
You'll be able to get a 10% to 50% discount on up to four tickets, saving up to 50% off online advance entry tickets from 1st July 2025 until 30th June 2026 at selected Merlin UK Attractions. As these promo tickets are limited in numbers for each day the attraction is open, it's a good idea to plan ahead and book early.
There's also Kellogs '25% off Great Days out' promotional packs that give you up to 25% off selected Merlin UK attractions when you book in advance online with your special code.
5. Book family days out in advance to theme parks / tourist attractions:
At many major attractions, it pays to plan your trip and buy your tickets in advance.
That doesn't mean you have to commit months in advance — you can book online as close as the day before your visit to enjoy big savings at lots of places. Just make sure you check how far in advance you need to book to get the best price. Another benefit of booking in advance is you're guaranteed entry.
You can find advance deals that will get you in for around half the price of a walk-up ticket at theme parks. Here are the summer 2025 online prices, showing how much you can save by being a bit organised:
- Alton Towers deals. The 1-Day Pass at Alton Towers costs from £34 in advance, or from £68 on the day (summer prices). That's a saving of 50%.
- Chessington World of Adventures Resort savings. Online Savers at Chessington World of Adventures Resort cost from £32 in advance, or from £66 on the day. That's over a 50 % saving.
- LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort promos. The Online Saver at LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort costs from £39, while on-the-day tickets cost from £68. That's a saving of over 40%.
- Thorpe Park offers. The 1-Day Ticket at Thorpe Park. costs from £33 in advance, or from £66 on the day. That's a 50% saving. If you plan to visit more than once, check out the Thorpe Park Thrills Pass, which costs £59 and lasts for three months, and can be used in the summer (excluding 24th and 25th August 2025).
- Cadbury World money off. A standard ticket at Cadbury World costs from £19 in advance, or £28 on the day. That's over a 30% saving.
- Madame Tussauds discounts. The standard ticket at Madame Tussauds costs from £29 in advance, versus £39 on the day. That's saving more than 25%.
- SEA Life Centres savers. A standard ticket at SEA Life Centres starts from £15 in advance (at the Brighton site), or £21.50 on the day. That'll save you more than 30%.
6. Sign up for a £1 trial of a pass to use on days out for kids:
Time it right to get a 30-day trial of a family pass for the summer for just £1:
Kids Pass offers over a thousand discounts on popular day out venues like bowling alleys, cinemas, theme parks and zoos plus restaurants. They say the average family saves more than £400 a year.
Days Out with the Kids offers deals and discounts of up to 58% on family days out at the likes of cinemas, farms, sightseeing tours and water parks plus restaurants.
For £1 you can give a pass a whirl over the summer to see how much it can save you.
7. Invest in annual membership for cheap days out with kids:
National Trust membership gives you free entry to more than 500 places including castles, historic houses, gardens and parks, and free parking at most National Trust car parks. Pay for your new membership by annual Direct Debit online and you'll get a £10 National Trust gift card to spend in their shops and cafés. In 2025:
- Family 2 Adults Membership costs £168.60 a year (or £14.05 a month). It's for two adults (aged 18+) living at the same address and their children or grandchildren (17 or under). Under 5s go free.
- Family 1 Adult Membership costs £103.80 a year (or £8.65 a month). It's for one adult (aged 18+) and their children or grandchildren (17 or under). Under 5s go free.
Typically, you'll only need to visit three times to get your money back, if you're going to the most expensive NT places. The following cost between £45 and £55 for a family ticket:
- Chartwell in Kent, Kingston Lacy in Dorset, Mottisfont in Hampshire, Quarry Bank in Cheshire, Stourhead in Wiltshire, and St Michael's Mount in Cornwall (a whopping £70 for castle/gardens combi family ticket).
If you were to visit just one place per week for the 6-week summer holidays it would cost you around £300 at the most expensive places, so with membership you'd be saving around £130, and if you kept that going with a weekend visit throughout the year you'd be saving over £2,000 on entry fees.
Interested in joining? See the latest National Trust deals for current savings.
English Heritage membership gives access to over 400 historic buildings, castles, forts, sites and monuments. You'll get free parking at English Heritage-owned car parks plus free or reduced-price entry to events. The 2025 prices are:
- Family 1 Adult (and up to 6 children within the family group) costs £82 a year (or £6.83 monthly).
- Family 2 Adults at the same address (and up to 12 children - 6 per adult) costs £144 a year (or £12 monthly).
For the most expensive places, you'll only need to visit twice to start saving money. For example, a peak 2 adult family ticket to Dover Castle in Kent costs £90.80 on the day.
As a member, you can also get a kids eat free deal for a free children's lunch bag when a member spends at least £15 in the cafe at one of 30 participating English Heritage cafes (until 31st August 2025).
And don't forget to get 25% off your English Heritage annual membership with the code SUMMER25 if you're setting up your membership before 31st August 2025.
Merlin Annual Pass gives you entry to a whole host of theme parks and attractions, including:
- Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures Resort, Alton Towers, SEA LIFE, LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort, The London Eye, Warwick Castle, Blackpool Tower, Madame Tussauds,Shrek's Adventure! London, LEGOLAND® Discovery Centres, The Dungeons, Bear Grylls Adventure, Peter Rabbit™: Explore and Play.
There are four different passes to choose from, so we've outlined their annual cost, exclusion dates over the summer, and included extras. If you want to use your pass all summer long, then you'll need Gold or Platinum. With Silver, you can use it in July (except the last two weekends) and the first day of August. Discovery isn't valid over the summer holidays. So you'll need to weigh up the price, pros and cons. Here are the details:
- Discovery Pass: £99 per person. Over 200 days entry (summer exclusion dates: weekends in July and all days from Monday 21st July 2025 until Sunday 31st August 2025).
- Silver Pass: £179 per person. Over 295 days entry (summer exclusion dates: 19th/20th/26th/27th July 2025, and all dates in August except Friday 1st August). You can also get up to 10% off retail, food and beverage.
- Gold Pass: £249 per person. Over 340 days entry (summer exclusion dates: Sunday 24th and Monday 25th August 2025). You also get free parking at theme parks and Warwick Castle, 10% off Fastrack and Reserve & Ride, and up to 20% off retail, food and beverage.
- Platinum Pass: £299 per person. 364 days entry (no exclusion dates, except paid events). Same benefits as Gold Pass plus Share the Fun vouchers.
All passes let you pre-book up to 3 tickets per attraction at one time (up to 6 tickets with Platinum Pass).
8. Convert points to free days out for kids with Tesco Clubcard:
Build up your points when you buy your groceries at Tesco and then you can convert your Clubcard vouchers into money to use towards the cost of summer holiday fun.
Tesco Clubcard Reward Partners offer bigger savings, with Clubcard vouchers worth double (change 50p to £1) at popular places for days out with the family, including big theme parks, cinemas, bowling and more.
Bear in mind there can be limited availability or excluded dates when booking with a Reward Partner code, and you'll need to book in advance online.
9. Take your own food and drinks on cheap days out with kids:
The cost of eating out is a major factor in days out — as is the overall cost. When organising a family day out, 67% of parents and grandparents said price is the most important factor, with a quarter (25%) saying food is the most expensive element, according to a study conducted by Censuswide for IKEA UK.
A family can easily spend £10 a head on food and drinks at a theme park or other attraction, and the catering options often aren't the healthiest at venues like these.
Taking a packed lunch is a healthier, cheaper option, and is also quicker than queueing for ages for a burger.
- Pack a reusable water bottle each and you can enjoy free drinks all day thanks to the water refill stations you'll find at most UK theme parks and many major attractions.
- Pop a little reusable ice pack in each lunch box to keep chilled items like veg sticks, berries, sandwiches and yogurt tubes fresh.
- If you'd prefer to pack light and forgo ice blocks, take food cupboard items that don't need to be kept cold, like crackers, crisps, rice cakes, cereal bars, oat cakes and fruit like an apple, orange or banana.
10. Use kids eat free/for £1 deals:
A lot of the chains that offer great kids meal deals in the summer put on similar offers throughout the year, so our list of restaurants where kids eat free is a great starting point for seeing who's offering up eating out deals in July and August too.
You can expect to see certain supermarket cafes offering help for families this summer with kids eat free or for £1 deals — this includes ASDA Cafés' kids under 16 eat for £1 deal, and Morrisons Cafés' kids eat free deal for each selected adult meal of £5 — as well as specific popular nationwide restaurant chains.
11. Look for local resident discounts for things to do with kids:
When you're keeping your days out in your area, you might well find reduced entry as a perk of being a local.
Typically you have to show proof of residence, such as a recent council tax statement or utility bill.
We've seen these discounts across all sorts of venues, including waterparks, play zones, scenic railways, museums, historic houses and gardens. Kids might even go free.
So it's always worth searching online first before you book your tickets, or asking on online community groups which places other members know of where you can get a great deal for being a local.
12. Add in to your schedule totally free family days out:
It's as easy as a, b, c!
a) Soak up culture at a free museum or gallery. Lots of cultural venues offer free admission, so search online to see what's available in your area. The Museums Association explains the UK's national museums that are funded directly by central government have a free admissions policy for their permanent collections. Many local authority museums and nearly all university museums offer free admission, while most independent museums charge for entry.
b) Enjoy free fun at your local library. In addition to borrowing books for free at your local library, you'll also probably find free events taking place over the holidays. These could include story times and community gatherings. There's also the Summer Reading Challenge, which in 2025 is titled 'Story Garden' with a theme of nature. You can sign up online, but if you sign up at your local library you'll get a special collector folder and will be able to collect stickers and rewards from the librarian for reading books — all for free.
c) Explore nature at a park, lake, river, beach, forest or countryside. This can be a full day of fun, and you can keep it really affordable by taking a picnic rug and packed lunches. For free fun, print off some of the Wildlife Watch activity guides and spotter sheets and the kids will be even more engaged with their surroundings. You can pick from the likes of spotter sheets for summer flowers, birds, hedgerows and more, and guides to pond dipping, rock pooling, making wood shelters and more.
However you spend those long, summer days, we hope you have fun!
If you found this useful, you might be interested in free ideas to do with the kids during summer holidays.
