Family-friendly things to do at Avebury

Planning your family visit

• Free entry for under 5s

• Baby-changing facilities available

• Children’s menu available at the café

• Pocket money gifts and children’s books available in the shop

• Picnic tables in the Old Farmyard

May Half-Term

We’ve got a huge number of family-friendly activities lined up for the May half-term. Whether you’re looking to get active or creative, you’ll find something to keep your children at Avebury.

Flower Crowns

Have a go at making your own flower crown in the barn in the Old Farmyard. Our volunteers will show you how to weave seasonal flowers together, many of which are grown in the Avebury Manor Garden, to make an eye-catching crown. Suitable for visitors of all ages and abilities.

Dates: Monday 27 May and Tuesday 28 May
Times: 11am-3pm
Location: Barn
Price: £4

Family Stone Circle Tours

Learn more about Avebury’s history by joining one of our volunteer-led family tours on Wednesdays and Sundays during the school holidays.

Dates: Sunday 26 May, Wednesday 29 May, and Sunday 2 June
Times: 11:30am, 1pm
Location: Henge and stone circle
Price: £2.50 per child, adults free (tickets available from the barn)

Poetry trail

Discover poetry inspired by Spring in the Avebury Manor Garden. Make your way round the different garden rooms to find poems and verses from Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, plus submissions from Avebury staff and volunteers.

Dates: Saturday 25 May – Sunday 2 June
Times: 10am – 5pm (last entry 4pm)
Location: Avebury Manor Garden
Price: Garden admission applies

Obstacle Course

Create your own unique obstacle course using the logs, planks, and balance beams in the Old Farmyard, then challenge others to complete it.

Dates: Saturday 25 May – Sunday 1 September
Times: 10am-5pm
Location: Old Farmyard
Price: Free

You can also collect a birds and butterflies spotter sheet for free from the barn or garden gate. Tick off some of our colourful flying visitors during your trip or take the sheet away to complete when your back home.

All National Trust facilities at Avebury (apart from Avebury Manor) will be open from 10am-5pm during half term.

Explore Avebury Henge and Stone Circles

4,500 years ago, people living here built the largest stone circle in the world, with two smaller circles within it* and dug a 9m deep bank and ditch around the outer one.

You can enter the stone circle, touch the stones (but don’t climb), walk all the way around it, and take a walk along West Kennet Avenue, one of the two stone rows that led to (or from) the circles.

The stones is enclosed by fences, but be careful crossing the roads. Most of the year there are sheep grazing the grass.

*Stonehenge would fit within one of these smaller circles.

Learn about Avebury in the Alexander Keiller Museum

All of the artefacts in the museum come from local excavations, many from the time of Alexander Keiller who dug at Avebury in the 1930s. Here you can find out more about the Avebury World Heritage Site and the Neolithic people who built their monument here.

Discover Avebury Manor

Avebury Manor is currently closed for repairs and restoration work following flooding in January.

You can see images from the flooding on display in the barn and we will share more information on when the manor will reopen as soon as we have it.

Avebury Manor Garden

The garden at Avebury Manor is organised into a series of 'rooms', each with it's own character. Take your time to explore or simply take a seat and enjoy the sights and scents around you.

Explorer backpacks, containing spotter sheets, books, and binoculars are available to borrow from the garden gate. We also have garden games and blackets available in the Church Garden.

If you are visiting with children who like wildlife, make sure you head to the Topiary Garden to spot the Great crested newts in the pond.

Avebury Manor Garden sensory map

A new sensory map for children is now available to pick up and follow from the garden gate.

Perfect for neurodivergent visitors or younger families, you can use the free map to discover the best places to listen to the wind, smell the herbs, and look at the wildlife.