Alton Towers

With over 40 exhilarating Alton Tower rides and attractions – including Wicker Man, Nemesis and Sharkbait Reef by SEA LIFE, your adventurous family are sure to create lifelong memories at the UK’s biggest theme park.
The theme park has welcomed visitors since 1986 and spans over 910 acres of land in central Staffordshire! Those 370 hectares are split across 10 themed areas of other-worldly adventure, including CBeebies Land and Adventure Land.
Hop on board the Skyride, which allows you to travel between Towers Street, Forbidden Valley and Fountain Square in a colourful cable car gondola.

Embrace your adventurous side and spend a whole day at the UK’s largest theme park in Staffordshire, North England. With over 40 rides and attractions, you will definitely find something for all ages. If you love rides that make your stomach do somersaults, there are 10 main roller coaster rides, which have record-breaking components to make even the most seasoned thrill-seeker quake in their boots.

There are numerous rides and attractions at Alton Towers.

Don’t miss the iconic Oblivion ride at Alton Towers– where you will experience an intense 4.5 g drop. It’s amongst the highest g-force roller coasters in the UK! Or are you brave enough to ride the twists and turns of Nemesis? You will experience 3.5 g-force as you sit back and whizz past the rocks and rivers of the Forbidden Valley at a crazy 50mph!

Are your younger children fans of CBeebies? Now they can meet some of the beloved characters and enjoy CBeebies-inspired rides at CBeebies Land! Ride on Peter Rabbit Hippity Hop and see if you can spot Benjamin Bunny from the top or join Kyan, Xuli, Lars and Foz on a Go Jetters global adventure as you fly around the world in a Vroomster.

When autumn hits, Alton Towers is the place to be. Scarefest is undoubtedly the best thing to do at Halloween – there will be spooks, frights and thrills for everyone involved.

Alton Towers is big! Covering 370 hectares (or 3.7km²), we would recommend you bring or hire a buggy as little legs will get tired, and take advantage of the brilliant Skyride. You just need to hop on board the Skyride and you'll be floating hundreds of feet up in a gondola. You will see the most spectacular views across the theme park – who says you ever have to walk to the next attraction? You will find Skyride stations on Towers Street, In the Forbidden Valley and in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Whether you are a family of daredevils or you need a little more encouragement to get on a ride, this is a fun-packed day for everyone. Part of the Merlin Entertainments family, you are sure to have an unforgettable experience.

Looking for more brilliant theme parks? Check out Thorpe Park, Chessington and Paultons Park.

What to know before you go

Alton Towers is suitable for all ages. Plus, if your child is under 3, they can visit for free!
The park opens at 10am. Closing times vary depending on the time of year. Summer closing times are typically around 5 - 6pm.
Alton Towers will close for winter on 8th November and reopens again in March.
If you're looking for hotels near Alton Towers, the Alton Towers Hotel is set on the grounds of the theme park and Travelodge Ashbourne is only 6 miles away.
You will discover 12 brilliant themed areas that contain a variety of rides and attractions at the resort.
If for some reason, you want or need to leave the resort and come back on the same day, please speak to a member of staff who will give you a hand stamp.
There is a great resort app that you can download on your smartphone. You can use it to find out attraction queue times.
Baby-changing facilities are situated in all the resort toilets.
There are private feeding rooms available in the toilets in CBeebies Land located in Big Fun Show Time and in the toilets located next to Justin’s House Pie-o-Matic Factory. All the restaurants and cafes are breastfeeding-friendly and there is comfortable seating available in certain baby-changing rooms around the park, such as those in CBeebies Land.
Buggies are available to hire at Towers Trading Co., which is near the main entrance. Single buggies cost £10 and double buggies cost £15. You will find buggy parks throughout the park and next to most of the family rides in CBeebies Land.
There are benches throughout the park if you wanted to bring a picnic with you. You'll also find a variety of restaurants – including Woodcutter’s Bar & Grill and Explorer's Pizza Pasta Buffet.
You will find accessible toilets at the entrance and at CBeebies Land, X-Sector, Cloud Cuckoo Land, Dark Forest, Forbidden Valley, Gloomy Wood, Mutiny Bay and at the Monorail station.
There are changing places facilities located in the Dark Forest and the X-Sector. A RADAR Key is required. You can hire these for a £10 refundable deposit from the resort box office.
Bear in mind school holiday and event periods are busier than mid-week term time dates.

Getting there

Alton Towers is situated near the village of Alton in Staffordshire.
The three closest train stations are Stoke-on-Trent, Uttoxeter and Derby. A bus service will need to be used for the rest of the journey.
If you are travelling from Manchester, you can take the train directly from Manchester Piccadilly to Stoke-on-Trent and then jump on the bus (X71) directly to the resort. A local taxi would take around 25 minutes to the theme park from the station.
If you are travelling from London, you can take the train directly from London Euston to Stafford and then jump on the bus (X41) directly to the resort. The bus takes over 1 hour.
If you are driving, it’s located between the M1 and the M6 and is well signposted from both motorways.
The distance between Birmingham and Alton Towers is just 35 miles, and takes approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes by car.
Standard parking is charged at £6. Standard parking is between 15-25 minutes’ walk to the theme park entrance.
There are bicycle racks close to the theme park entrance free of charge.