Bromley October Half Term Is Two Weeks: 19 to 30 October

Bromley’s autumn half term is Monday 19 October to Friday 30 October 2026. That is a fortnight, not a week, and the first of the two weeks starts on 19 October. Term ends on Friday 16 October and children go back on Monday 2 November.

Two consequences worth planning around. Halloween, Saturday 31 October, falls the day after half term finishes, so the spookiest weekend of the year is a normal weekend with school the following Monday. And the clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, in the middle of the break, which takes an hour of daylight off every afternoon in the second week.

The dates, and the schools they do not apply to

The council sets these dates for maintained and voluntary controlled schools only. Its own term dates page says academies, foundation schools, voluntary aided schools and free schools set their own, and it tells parents to check with the individual school. Check your school’s own calendar before you book anything with a date on it.

What is already bookable

The Churchill Theatre has a fortnight of programming with prices attached, taken from its own booking pages on 6 September.

The Hare and the Tortoise on 20 and 21 October is the only thing in the borough billed as a family show in the first week, and at £14 it is the cheapest ticket of the fortnight. Christmas Carol Goes Wrong runs the whole of the second week and closes on Halloween itself.

Chislehurst Caves, open every day of the break

The caves at Old Hill, Chislehurst BR7 5NL, a mile and a half from Bromley town centre, are normally open Wednesday to Sunday but open every day during local school holidays. Their own site is explicit that the exception is Christmas and New Year, so the October fortnight is covered.

• Entry is by lamp-lit guided tour only, leaving on the hour, first at 10am and last at 4pm, running 45 to 50 minutes.
• Adult 16 to 63 £10, senior 64 and over £8, child 3 to 15 £8. Under-3s go free on public tours, though the caves warn they may find it intimidating. No unaccompanied children.
• You can book online or buy at the ticket office on arrival, subject to space. Busy tours are capped at 40 people. Free car and coach parking.
• The floor is uneven and cobble-like, so pushchairs and wheelchairs are difficult, and the caves say they may not suit anyone with claustrophobia, a fear of the dark or a fear of mannequins.

The caves do advertise seasonal Halloween and spooky story tours, but they publish no dates, times or prices for them. Their spooky tours page carries nothing but a phone number, 020 8467 3264. If you want one, ring rather than wait for a listing.

A free half term day out at Bishop Justus

Bromley SEND Local Offer Live! runs on Thursday 29 October, 10am to 2pm, at Bishop Justus School, Magpie Hall Lane BR2 8HZ, two miles from the town centre. It is free. The council lists arts and crafts, dance and drama, music, indoor sports and a pop-up arcade, alongside the chance to talk to services directly. It is aimed at children and young people with SEND and their families, and it is the only free family event on the council’s own events calendar inside the half term.

What has not been published yet

This is the honest state of the borough’s big venues on 6 September, six weeks out.

• Crystal Palace Park: its what’s on runs out on 27 September. Nothing is listed for October at all yet, so no half-term or Halloween programme.
• The Glades: the events page still ends with the five-day Back To Cool run that finished on 31 August. Nothing for October is up.
• Bromley libraries, run by Better: no October dates listed.
• Beckenham Place Park: the newest half-term entry on its events page is last year’s, a pair of free ranger-led bat walks on 28 and 29 October 2025, booked through Eventbrite and cancelled in poor weather. Nothing for 2026.

We will add each of them here as it appears.

Getting about

Rates and which town centre car park is cheapest are on our parking in Bromley page, and any roadworks in the way are on Bromley roadworks and travel. Chislehurst Caves has its own free car park, which is the strongest practical argument for doing that one on a wet day.

For the rest of the autumn, the borough’s three firework displays are all on Saturday 7 November and are covered on our Bromley fireworks and bonfire night page, and there is more in things to do in Bromley.

Sources

• School term dates 2026/27 and school term dates, London Borough of Bromley
• Churchill Theatre Bromley what’s on
• Chislehurst Caves, its plan your visit and spooky story tours pages
• Bromley SEND Local Offer Live!, London Borough of Bromley
• Crystal Palace Park what’s on, The Glades events, Bromley libraries events and Beckenham Place Park events

All checked 6 September 2026.