North Yorkshire's schools break up for half term on Friday 23 October and go back on Monday 2 November, but the attractions around Thirsk do not wait for the Monday. Ampleforth, the Moors Railway and Fountains Abbey all start their half-term events on Saturday 24.
This post is the out-of-town half. For what is on in Thirsk itself, the ghost walk, the Rural Arts workshops and the film at the Ritz, see Halloween and half term in Thirsk. Everything in both posts is on our what's on page, filtered by how far you want to drive. Checked 8 October 2026 against each organiser's own page, and we are at 87 Market Place, a few steps from the road east to Sutton Bank.
Saturday 24 October: the weekend it all starts
| Time | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| 10am | Ampleforth Abbey, 25 minutes | Apple Week opens |
| 10am | Fountains Abbey, 35 minutes | Costumed re-enactors, Saturday and Sunday |
| 11am | Ampleforth orchard | Pick your own apples, until 3pm |
| Saturday to Wednesday | Pickering, 50 minutes | Station trick or treat on the Moors Railway |
| 6.30pm | Castle Howard, 35 minutes | Curator-led tour by candlelight, booked ahead |
The clocks go back an hour that night, so Sunday's dusk comes earlier.
East over Sutton Bank: Ampleforth and Helmsley
Ampleforth Abbey is the one we would pick for younger children. Its Apple Week runs every day from 24 to 31 October, 10am to 3pm, with Apple Olympics on the lawn, an orchard trail for children, crafts, apple tasting and demonstrations of the cider mill. It costs nothing to come. The orchard has more than 60 apple varieties, and on Saturday 24 you can pick your own from 11.
Leave Thirsk at half past nine and you are there for the start. Two hours is about right for small children, which gets you back over the bank for lunch.
Helmsley, on the same road, has a magic double act at the arts centre on Friday 23 October at 7.30pm, Hudson and Hudson, if you want an evening out before the week begins.
A full day at Pickering: the Moors Railway
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is 50 minutes away, so it is a whole day rather than a morning. Over half term its stations at Pickering, Goathland and Grosmont run trick or treating from 24 to 28 October and again on 31 October and 1 November. On those days one child travels free with each paying adult on the standard trains.
Mad Alice's Ghost Train, on the evening of Sunday 25 October, is for ages 14 and up. It is an hour in lantern-lit carriages with a York ghost, and it is not one for the little ones.
Castle Howard and Fountains Abbey
Castle Howard has hidden pumpkins all through the rooms of the house for the whole of October, and the trail comes with an ordinary house and garden ticket. Being indoors, it is the safest bet on the list if the weather turns.
Fountains Abbey has costumed re-enactors around the ruins on 24 and 25 October, 10am to 4pm, and a new family trail from the 24th. The ruins are lit after dark on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October, and again on Thursday 29 and Friday 30; our Fountains by Floodlight post has the timings.
Ripon Cathedral, on the way, holds a family silent disco on Friday 23 October from 6.30 to 8pm. Its candlelit evening of Adele songs is the next night, Saturday 24 October.
What it costs and how to get there
Apple Week is free. Everything else is ticketed, and the prices are on each place's own page rather than here, because they change by date. The Moors Railway specials, the Castle Howard late tours and the Fountains floodlit evenings all need booking ahead. Most of these need a car. Ripon is on the 70 and X70 buses from the Market Place, and getting around has the times.
When to stay closer to home
Pickering is a long day for a toddler, and the ghost train is not for them at all. If the forecast is grim, the outdoor half of Apple Week and the Fountains ruins lose a lot of their appeal, and half an hour or more each way is a long drive to sit in the rain. Monk Park Farm is ten minutes away with its pumpkin festival every day of the week, covered in our pumpkin picking post, and the rainy-day list has the indoor options in and around town.
Where we fit in
We are on the Market Place, so we are on your way out of town whichever direction you take. The scones go in at 7:30 in the morning, and lunch runs from 11:30 to 2:30 for the drive home. Have a look at the menu, and if there are six or more of you, book a table.
