Are Halloween Trails The New Christmas Light Trails?
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7 minutes ago
Before the spellbinding winter light trails takeover our historic houses, something wicked this way comes...
We love a winter pop-up, from magical light trails to frosty ice rinks to heated terraces serving up hot toddies and filled with blankets galore. But there’s something new brewing across the UK this spooky season: Halloween trails. Brewing for a few years, the rising trend was solidified by Kew Gardens last year, prefacing their legendary annual winter light trail with a brand new Halloween trail, which is back for 2025. ‘We were thrilled with the incredible response to the launch of Halloween at Kew last year, and we’re excited to introduce new spooky installations for 2025,’ Adam Throw says on behalf of Kew. ‘It’s a fantastic way for families and friends to enjoy the Gardens in a new light and make magical Halloween memories together.’
Bringing a spine-tingling twist to the immersive trails we know and love, expect atmospheric installations and frights around every corner at these Halloween trails in 2025.
Best Halloween Trails 2025
Kew Gardens, London
Kew Garden’s showstopping winter light trail is one of our favourite annual events, but the newer Halloween trail is creeping up our ranks after a spectacular debut in 2024. Featuring themed lights across a 1.5km trail, guests in 2025 can enjoy illuminated trees, an abandoned fairground, ‘living’ corpses, giant spiders and headless horsemen. As you move across the trail, you’ll stumble across live performers, street food stalls, hot drink options and even Frankenstein’s monster.
Details: 17 October to 2 November 2025 at Kew Gardens (Kew Rd, Richmond TW9 3AB). Tickets start from £13 for children or £18.50 for adults.
Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
A brand new Halloween trail is launching at Oxfordshire’s picturesque Blenheim Palace this season, promising immersive scares, eerie surprises and otherworldly performances. Spanning 1.3km, the trail will feature a medieval dungeon, a cursed Egyptian tomb, skeletons staggering from mausoleums and plenty more. Trail producer Simon Smalley tells us to expect ‘dark fantasy, theatre, and incredible live performances to create something truly extraordinary’.
Details: 23 October to 2 November 2025 at Blenheim Palace (Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1UL). Adult tickets are £18, children aged 3 to 16 enter for £12.50, and parking in £10.
Halloween At Kenwood, London
Hampstead Heath’s historic house is getting a wicked makeover this spooky season. Expect a spine-tingling illuminated trail featuring both frights and delights, with immersive surprises for all ages. You’ll meet the Headless Horseman, come face-to-face with a Highway Woman and avoid the wrath of a cackling Witch. Backdropped by the atmospheric house and woodlands, guests can also purchase snacks like fries and burgers as well as autumn warmers like hot toddies and hot chocolate. Taking place in October half term, kids are encouraged to come in costume, and furry friends are very welcome too.
Details: 17 October to 2 November 2025 at Kenwood House (Hampstead Ln, London NW3 7JR). Tickets are £15 for children aged 3 to 16 and £20 for adults.
Malice In Lavenderland, Epsom
One of our favourite summer lavender fields is getting an autumnal makeover, featuring pumpkins and spooky pop-ups with an Alice in Wonderland twist. Guests can pick their own pumpkins before following the White Rabbit through 15 mysterious stations, including haunted mirrors, cobwebbed tea parties, fiendish flowers, a creepy wishing well, the Mad Hatter’s Garden and even a ghost train. Afterwards the Glasshouse Cafe is the place to be for autumnal food and drinks.
Details: Open from 10am to 4pm, 4 to 31 October 2025 at Mayfield’s Secret Lavender Garden (139 Reigate Road, Epsom KT17 3DW). Tickets are £5pp and can be purchased online or on the door.
