Ready to hop into Easter? We’ve compiled a cracking list of free activities to help you make the most of the long weekend, and keep the choruses of ‘I’m bored’ to a minimum. From wonderful walks to egg-cellent (yup, we went there) Easter egg hunts and exhibitions, here’s the lowdown on Berkshire’s best fee-free activities.

For the kids

Flock to Bracknell’s swanky shopping quarter for a free Easter egg hunt which promises “larger than life” eggs waiting to be found across the town centre. The date is yet to be revealed, so keep an eye on The Lexicon’s Facebook page or pick up a leaflet at brand new noodle bar Chopstix for more info (plus the chance to win one of three family meal vouchers). While you’re there, hop on board the popular Lexicon Easter Express for a mini tour around town. It costs £1 per passenger, but everyone who rides gets a free mini Easter egg or vegan-friendly sweets (while stocks last) and proceeds go to The Lexicon Charity Fund. Runs now 16 Apr.

Over at Cobbs Farm in Hungerford it’s their Charity Emergency Services Day. Explore a fire truck, police car, police van and responder car, plus meet a firefighter or two (bringing the kids: optional). This free event runs on Sat 15 Apr from 10am-4pm, with donations welcome but not necessary. Cobbs recommends booking a table in advance if you want to chow down on a seasonal homemade meal at their café.

Release the children. This could be a sanity saver if you have kids with more energy than Joe Wicks on Haribo. Thatcham Youth Family Fun Day has bouncy castles, games, arts & crafts, sports and more – drop in on Thu 13 April at Moorside Community Centre. Entry is free, but you’ll need to book a slot.

Make Good Friday a great Friday by securing a spot along the annual Berkshire Egg Run route on 7 Apr. A convoy of motorbike, scooter and quad bike riders – some in fancy dress – will set off from Stadium Way in Tilehurst at 12.30pm for a slow, marshalled ride through Reading, ending at The Abbey Rugby Club in Emmer Green where Easter eggs will be donated to disadvantaged children. In 2022, over 300 vehicles took part and close to 1,300 eggs were donated.

With a treasure hunt, face painting, bunny mask painting, fairground rides, stalls, games and more, this Easter egg-stravaganza on Sat 8 Apr promises a fun-filled day out for young families. Mingle with the community, soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the great outdoors – plus treat yourselves to ice cream or hot food and drinks (depending on what the weather has in store). Runs 11am-3pm.

Look for lambs

It’s baby animal season! Go for a drive through the countryside (lucky there’s plenty of it) and make spontaneous pitstops when you spot miniature fluffballs wobbling or frolicking through the fields. Top tips: throw your wellies in the boot in case an impromptu walk piques your fancy. No mint sauce jokes, they’ll never eat Sunday roast again.

Fresh air fitness

With any luck, the weather should be warming up by now, and the clocks have gone forwards which means longer, lighter days (hurrah!). There’s no better time to shake off those winter blues, get outside and enjoy being active with Berkshire’s bounty of free facilities. Gee yourself up for a jog or power walk at Braywick Park’s free running track, enjoy a knock-about on one of Cippenham Recreation Ground’s seven free tennis courts, head to your nearest local green with an outdoor gym, register for a Park Run or plunge into a river for a refreshing (translation: freaking freezing) wild swim. Check out our round-up of the best outdoor swim spots in the county.

The best thing about this time of year? Guilt-free chocolate scoffing. The second best thing? Bluebells. If they haven’t already broken cover, they’ll be bursting into bloom soon: find them for free at Pope’s Meadow in Binfield, Cabbage Hill in Bracknell, Keephatch Woods in Wokingham, Bisham Woods in Cookham, Bowdown Woods in Newbury…the list is endless. In fact, we’ve got an entire article dedicated to Berkshire bluebell walks – read it here. If the bluebells aren’t out yet, don’t despair – there are plenty of walks that are stunning in their own right. Wander down the Windsor Long Walk, ramble round Reading’s Circular River Walk or mosey from Marlow to Hurley Island (incidentally a gorgeous spot for a wild swim). Read our round-up of show-stopping walks in Berks here.

Mountain biker riding on flow single track trail in green forest, POV behind the bars view of the cyclist.

Dust the cobwebs off that old mountain bike you’ve been hiding in the shed and get out in the woods. Swinley Forest in Bracknell has a number of free trails to suit beginners and more advanced riders. Although you have to pay for parking, use of the trails will not cost you a penny. There’s also a free children’s woodland play area and several walks marked out – the Forest Walk, the Heritage Trail, The Nature Trail and Ramblers Route

Get creative

Dream of being the next Harry Styles or fancy rocking out on the guitar, drums of bassoon? Berkshire Maestros offers all ages little and large free taster sessions for anyone keen to learn an instrument or sing. Book online and use the code FREETASTER in the note box to claim the offer.

Great Pottery Throwdown contestant Cait Gould resident artist at The Base Greenham Common Newbury

Free entry and free parking? That’s what we like to hear. Muddy’s national award-winning art gallery, The Base at Greenham is hosting a Festival of Arts & Crafts from 1-16 April. Head to The Gallery to admire work by local artists and make your mark on the giant chalkboard doodle wall. For a small fee, you can also join the arty party at fun taster sessions – pottery, macrame, linoprinting, resin dipping and more (sessions cost £7.50/£15)

With Netflix and Kindles, it’s easy to forget that libraries even exist anymore, but it’s definitely worth checking out what’s on at your local. If you got swept up in the knitting craze during lockdown (and with Tom Daley caught purling poolside at the Tokyo Olympics, who didn’t) you might be interested to know that lots of libraries run sessions devoted to this newly cool craft – try Caversham’s Sit & Stitch session on 13 April, or check out Twyford’s Knit and Natter or Wargrave’s Knit Wits. Reading Central Library also has some interesting things in the diary: there’s a Welcome to Reading Coffee Morning on Saturday 15th April and an exhibition from 3-24 Apr. Or, simply go and borrow some books and spend your Easter weekend curled up on the sofa with a page-turner. Bliss.

Museum mooch

Top of our list for a mosey around is the MERL in Reading. Loads of kids of activities including the Our Green Stories Gallery trail – exploring climate change, sustainability, and biodiversity loss through collections. Plus Biscuit Town 200 celebrates Reading’s biscuit history and Care highlights the climate crisis, guarding green space, the future of farming and food security. There’s also workshops and spring activities to keep your kids occupied.

Turns out you’re never too old to draw some wonder from drawers of preserved beetles and butterflies and the occasional stuffed deer. Reading Museum, with its full size Victorian copy of the Bayeux Tapestry, has more than its fair share of stuffed animals, art and biscuits. This Easter they also running a number of spring-themed activities for a few quid. West Berkshire Museum with its Greenham Common Peace Camp collection and Woolly Mammoth tusks are a fascinating and free way to spend an hour (donations are welcome). They also run lots of kids activities over the school holidays (not free but many are a super reasonable £2.)

History lessons

Art, History and Politics lesson rolled into one. Runnymede is home to the Magna Carta, the cornerstone of liberty, democracy and freedom. Speaking for all us right now. Head to the ancient Ankerwycke Yew (rumoured to be the spot where Henry VIII courted Anne Boleyn), Hew Locke’s art installation of 12 engraved bronze chairs, The Jurors and the JFK Memorial – set in a acre of land that is officially US soil. School’s out, without doubt it’s an interesting stroll.

The ancient city walls of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, Silchester England

The Romans are coming! Well actually they have been and gone. But head over to the village of Silchester and you’ll find one of Berkshire’s hidden gems – the Silchester Roman City Walls and Amphitheatre. After the Roman conquest of AD 43 it became the large and important town of Calleva Atrebatum. Unlike most Roman towns, it was never re-occupied or built over after it was abandoned in the 6th or 7th century. The complete circuit of the Roman walls and remains of the amphitheatre still stand.

Image: Greenham Control Tower/ Lee Sainsbury /Oxygen Photography

Greenham Control Tower is under the radar (pardon the pun) attraction well worth a visit. After sitting unused for almost three decades, the 1950s Military Control Tower has been restored as a visitor centre and community café. See the history of the tower, visit our observation deck and a cuppa and cake. Open Fri 7 Apr (10.30am-3pm) Sat 8 to Sun 9 Apr, 10am-4pm,

A little further afield, The National History Museum‘s outpost in Tring is a fascinating and free way to spend an hour (donations are welcome). Head to Oxford for the The Ashmolean and Pitt Rivers Museum, both packed full of ancient treasures and fine art. Great Missenden’s Roald Dahl Museum is free for children under five and if you can stomach a train journey into London, the Wellcome Collection and Science Museum offer floors of entertainment for zero pence.

Royal walks

The Changing of the Guard is a very British tradition that takes place every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The new guard set off from Victoria Barracks on Sheet Street and march through the Town Centre to the Queen’s des res. The Changing the Guard ceremony takes place at 11am inside the castle and the old guard head back to barracks at 11.25am. Always a fabulous site that brings this royal town to a standstill. Over the Easter hols you can see them on 4, 5, 6, 8 Apr and 10, 11, 13, 15 Apr.

Statue of King George III on Horseback in Royal Windsor Great Park in England

If you miss the military showstopper, take a stroll in the King’s backyard. Start at the castle gates at the end of Park Street and walk to the Copper Horse – an imperiously camp statue of (mad) King George III on horseback. It’s a 2.64 mile-long stretch down the chestnut tree-lined Long Walk, flanked by grazing deer. Your reward? Panoramic views back to Heathrow, Wembley, west London and the Windsor Castle money shot. The round trip takes 2-3 hours, so make the most of the nearby watering holes including Bel and the Dragon.

Donnington Castle Newbury 14th century ruin

At the opposite end of the county, you’ll find the striking twin-towered gatehouse of Donnington Castle Perched on a hill overlooking the Lambourn Valley, it’s a landmark that’ll entice the most reluctant walkers to put one foot in front of the other. Pack a picnic and enjoy the circular stomp takes in Snelsmore Common, woodland and the castle ruins (a bigger player in the Civil War) and rumour has it Henry VIII and Elizabeth I both stayed here. Free entry, parking £2. There are more stunning walks with pubs nearby in our guide here.

Find period drama

Ah, the National Trust where children under 5 go free and frazzled parents weep quietly in gratitude. Sanctuary of the bored, saviour of many a wet weekend. And this August will be no different. Cliveden was home to a Prince of Wales, two Dukes, an Earl, the party loving Astors, and the setting for the Profumo Affair. With 375 acres of gardens, woodland, a maze many garden sculptures to explore, it’ll wear out any irritable, screen-saturated children. Basildon Park (an architectural star of the big and small screens) has 400 acres for free range kids with den building, ball runs and hill rolling to enjoy. Just over the Bucks border The Gardens at Stowe has 250 acres to explore and simultaneously tire out little legs. Other NT favourites of mine include Greys Court in Henley, The Vyne near Basingstoke. Go visit them all!

Break for the borders

Breaking out of Berkshire? Pile into the car and pootle up to South Oxfordshire where you’ll find Island Farm Donkey Sanctuary, a registered charity that cares for abused and ill-treated donkeys. Go anytime between 11am and 4pm, then drive six minutes south to Wallingford, a charming market town on the River Thames ripe for exploring, or eight minutes north to the Wittenham Clumps for a walk.

Be in-spired

Want to give the kids something to aim for? Head to Oxford and spend the afternoon strolling around the University Colleges that are open to the public to subliminally implant your expectations for their academic achievements! Or, if you’re happy with them just being happy, you could just wonder at the architecture and immaculate lawns while hearing about the illustrious alumni such as Sir Christopher Wren, J. R. R. Tolkein and… Dr Seuss.

35 fabulously free things to do this Easter in Berkshire

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