5 Ways to Save £100 This Half Term (Without Staying Home)

Half term doesn't have to mean half your savings disappearing. Here's how smart families are having brilliant holidays without the financial hangover.

---

The average UK family spends £338 per child during school holidays, according to a 2023 survey by Parentkind. That's before you factor in the takeaway coffees, the "can I have something from the shop?" requests, and the inevitable emergency soft play visit when the weather turns.

But here's what we've learned from helping thousands of families plan their half terms: the most memorable days out rarely correlate with the biggest price tags. In fact, some of the happiest families we hear from spend a fraction of that average—and still pack their week with adventure.

Here are five genuinely practical ways to save £100 or more this half term, without resorting to a week of CBeebies and regret.

---

1. Master the "Kids Eat Free" Calendar

Most parents know that some restaurants offer free kids' meals. What they don't realise is just how many options exist—and how strategic you can be about it.

The big chains with regular offers:

• Morrisons Café – Kids eat free with every adult meal over £5 (all day, every day)
• Asda Café – Kids eat for £1 with adult meal purchase
• Tesco Café – Kids eat free with adult hot meal (check local participation)
• Beefeater – Under 16s eat free at breakfast with adult breakfast purchase
• Bella Italia – Kids often eat free with adult main (check current promotions)
• Sizzling Pubs – Regular kids-eat-free offers, especially weekday lunchtimes

The savings calculation:

If you're out for a full day, lunch for two kids typically costs £12-15 at a café. Do three days out during half term, and you've spent £36-45 just on children's lunches. Use kids-eat-free offers instead, and that money goes straight back into your activity budget—or your pocket.

Pro tip: Combine this with your day's activity. Heading to a National Trust property? Check if there's an Asda or Morrisons nearby for a cheap pit stop rather than paying £8 per child in the tearoom.

---

2. Unlock the Tesco Clubcard Multiplier

If you shop at Tesco even occasionally, your Clubcard vouchers are worth three times their face value at dozens of family attractions.

Where £10 of Clubcard vouchers gets you £30 of value:

• Legoland
• Alton Towers
• London Zoo
• Sea Life centres
• English Heritage annual passes
• Cineworld tickets
• Pizza Express
• PizzaHut
• Zizzi

A real example:

A family of four going to Sea Life Manchester would pay around £80 at the door. With Clubcard vouchers, that's £27 worth of vouchers—and if you've been saving them from your Christmas shop, you might have that sitting in your app right now.

The action step: Log into your Tesco Clubcard app before you plan anything. See what vouchers you have, check the partners list, and build your half term around what you can access for free (or heavily discounted).

---

3. Use 2-for-1 Rail Travel Properly

If you don't have a car—or you'd rather not face theme park car parks—the 2-for-1 Days Out by National Rail scheme is genuinely excellent. But most families either don't know about it or don't use it effectively.

How it works:

1. Travel by train to your destination (keep your ticket or buy through the Trainline app)
2. Show your valid rail ticket at participating attractions
3. Get two entries for the price of one

What's included (this list surprises most people):

• Tower of London
• Hampton Court Palace
• London Eye
• Kew Gardens
• ZSL London Zoo
• British Airways i360 (Brighton)
• Canterbury Cathedral
• Royal Pavilion Brighton
• Numerous escape rooms, city tours, and experiences

The maths:

Two adults taking two kids to the Tower of London: normally £120+ for tickets alone. With 2-for-1, that's £60 saved. Even with train fares, you're likely coming out ahead—and no parking stress.

Pro tip: You can buy the cheapest possible rail ticket (even a £2 single somewhere) and still qualify. The scheme just requires a valid National Rail ticket for the day.

---

4. Choose Free Museums Over Theme Parks (Strategically)

This isn't about telling you theme parks are bad. A day at Legoland can be magical. But when you're trying to fill five or seven days of half term, using every day for paid attractions gets expensive fast.

The strategy: Anchor your week with 1-2 paid "big" activities, then fill the rest with free options that are genuinely excellent, not just "making do."

Free museums that rival paid attractions:

London:

• Natural History Museum (dinosaurs, wildlife garden, genuinely world-class)
• Science Museum (hands-on Wonderlab is paid, but main galleries are free and brilliant)
• V&A (more engaging for kids than you'd think—check their family trails)
• Museum of London Docklands (Mudlarks gallery is designed for under-8s)

Manchester:

• Science and Industry Museum (huge hit with 5-11 year olds)
• Imperial War Museum North (older kids)
• Manchester Museum (newly refurbished, excellent for families)

Birmingham:

• Thinktank (free entry for Birmingham residents on certain days—check their site)
• Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (free, with regular family activities)

Bristol:

• M Shed (local history made genuinely fun)
• Aerospace Bristol (not free, but discounted for residents—worth mentioning)

The mindset shift: Free doesn't mean lesser. The Natural History Museum would cost £25+ per person if it charged admission. You're not "saving money by going to a free museum"—you're accessing something genuinely valuable that happens to be free.

---

5. Front-Load Your Planning, Not Your Spending

Here's where most families accidentally overspend: they wake up on day one of half term without a plan, panic, and end up at the nearest soft play paying £15 per child because it's something.

Then they do it again the next day.

The expensive pattern:

• No plan → reactive decisions → premium prices → guilt spending → exhaustion → repeat

The cheaper pattern:

• Plan the week in advance → book free/cheap slots early → know each day's budget → pack appropriate food → arrive at the right time → enjoy more, spend less

Specific ways planning saves money:

• Booking in advance often means 10-20% cheaper tickets (many attractions penalise walk-ups)
• Knowing you're going to a farm means packing wellies and snacks, not buying £6 ice creams because the kids are melting down
• Scheduling a "home day" mid-week prevents burnout and the expensive "we need to do something, anything" spiral
• Checking weather forecasts means outdoor plans stay outdoor plans, rather than pivoting to expensive indoor alternatives last-minute

---

The £100 Saving, Broken Down

Here's a realistic before/after for a family of four over a 5-day half term:

These aren't hypothetical numbers—they're the kind of savings real families make when they plan intentionally rather than reactively.

---

Let Us Do the Planning For You

This is exactly why we built the School Holiday Planner.

Tell us your kids' ages, your location, and your budget. We'll generate a day-by-day plan that automatically prioritises:

• Free activities and hidden gems near you
• Realistic backup options for when weather changes
• Budget tracking so you know exactly what you'll spend

No more 7am panic scrolling. No more overspending because you couldn't think of alternatives.

Plan your half term in 60 seconds

---

What's your best half-term saving tip? We'd love to hear what works for your family—drop us a message on social or reply to this post.