October Half Term in Bodmin With Kids

Short answer: Bodmin in half-term week: do the outdoor banker in the morning, keep the indoor fallback ready, and check winter opening hours before driving anywhere. Half term runs 26–30 October for most schools.

Why Bodmin works this week

Bodmin is the half-term banker for mid-Cornwall: an old railway line that laughs at gradients, woods made for welly weather, and one of the county's best wet-weather attractions.

The dates: half term for most Cornish schools is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 (a few academy trusts take the week before as well), and most English counties share the same week — so expect other families about, but nothing remotely like summer.

The bankers

• the Camel Trail and Cardinham Woods — flat, scooter-and-bike friendly, and genuinely better in autumn colour than in summer.
• Bodmin Jail — the county's best dark-and-stormy-day attraction — and exactly the sort of place that leans into Halloween week; check their events page.
• the steam railway — the sit-down version of the valley; running days thin out in autumn, so check the timetable first.

When the weather turns

Have the wet plan ready before you need it — Bodmin's rainy-day guide is the one to bookmark, and the pasty stop covers the refuelling.

Half-term honesty

Late October here means real weather and shorter days — plan the outdoor thing for the morning, keep the indoor thing in your back pocket, and check opening hours before driving anywhere: this is the week many places switch to winter hours, and a few close mid-week. Sunset is around 5pm, which is not a problem if you know it and a mutiny if you don't. Plenty of attractions run Halloween events through the week — check their own pages nearer the time.

The rest of the town

Everything else — filtered by who's with you — is in the Bodmin guide, and the county-wide Bonfire Night guide covers what the week rolls into next.