A trip to Alton Towers is a great day out, whether you’re letting loose with friends or spending time with the family. But all those big rides can come with a pretty big price tag!
And since I love nothing more than finding affordable hacks for any adventure, here are my top tips for saving money on Alton Towers tickets.
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9 Ways to Save Money on Your Next Alton Towers Trip
1. Book tickets in advance
If you do nothing else – do this!
Buying Alton Towers tickets at the gate on the day can cost more than three times as much as booking online. You’re looking at prices from around £32 online versus up to £68 on the gate, which is a huge difference for something that takes a couple of minutes to sort in advance.
Prices do fluctuate depending on demand. So if you can be flexible with your dates, it’s worth checking a few options to find the cheapest one.
2. Go off peak
Did you know the advance price of Alton Towers tickets changes according to demand? Weekends, school holidays and summertime are always pricier, and they’ll be busier too.
If you opt to go on a weekday you’ll generally find tickets about £9 cheaper – which mounts up if you’re buying a few. And, there’ll be shorter queues to boot.
3. Snag an Alton Towers offer
Alton Towers – and Merlin, the company that owns it – run promotions throughout the year.
You can see current offers on Alton Towers tickets on their website, which include offers like Twice the Fun – getting to spend a free second day at a theme park of your choice.
In the past offers have included:
- A free Merlin Annual Pass for each family member when booking an overnight stay.
- CBeebies land entry for £18 (normally from £32)
4. Use a promo code or partner offer
Keep an eye out for promotions that get you money off Alton Towers tickets – and don’t forget to check voucher sites too.
At the time of writing, these brands are running offers.
Kelloggs
Get 25% off up to 2 tickets to Merlin attractions with a unique code from promotional packs of Kelloggs.
Offer expires: 30 June 2026.
Cadbury
Get up to 50% off up to 4 tickets to Merlin attractions with a unique code on promotional packs of Cadbury chocolate.
Offer expires: 30 June 2026.
National Rail
Save 33% on entry to Alton Towers for up to 6 people when you present a valid train ticket, thanks to National Rail Great Days Out.
Offer expires: 31 May 2026.
Tastecard
Ok this one’s a bit different, but if you have a tastecard you can get 53% off entry to Alton Towers. You just have to book in the Days Out section of the tastecard app.
5. Check cashback sites
Don’t forget to check cashback sites when you’re shopping to see whether you can save on your purchases – big or small, a few % cashback here and there really does add up.
Right now you can get 2.1% back with TopCashback on Alton Towers tickets.
Just remember to check the cashback terms as sometimes if you use another offer, you won’t get the cashback too.
6. Book parking in advance
It’s not just the tickets to the park that are cheaper when you book them in advance – the same goes for parking.
Book standard parking in advance and it costs £13, versus £15 on the day.
Interestingly, if you book Extraordinary Golf – which costs from £5pp for 9 holes – you get free standard parking.
You have to show a completed scorecard at the golf reception, and they’ll issue you your parking ticket – so that could be a good trick to get parking for less!
7. Get an annual pass
If you plan to visit Alton Towers several times in a year, then an annual pass can work out cheaper overall.
You can get an annual pass just for Alton Towers, or for even more value you can get a Merlin annual pass that gets you in to all Merlin attractions.
A Merlin annual pass gets you 12 months’ unlimited entry and there are three tiers – Essential, Gold and Platinum – so you can choose the offering that most suits you.
Pass type | Price | Entry | What’s included |
|---|---|---|---|
Access to Alton Towers | £64/ year | 339 days | Alton Towers |
Merlin Essential Pass | £139/ year | 339 days | Access to 20+ attractions |
Merlin Gold Pass | £239/ year | 364 days | Access to 20+ attractions Free parking Up to 20% off food / shopping Additional perks & benefits |
Merlin Platinum Pass | £299/ year | No exclusion dates | All Gold pass perks 4 free Bring a Friend tickets per year 1 free Fastrack per visit |
You can sometimes find promotions running on these annual ticket types as well.
8. Think about where you'll stay
You might want to stay overnight as part of your trip to Alton Towers. Maybe you’ve travelled a long way, or you’re making the most of their Twice the Fun spring promotion (where you can visit for a second day for free). You’ve got a couple of options…
Alton Towers Short Break
You can stay at Alton Towers itself – they’ve got a range of accommodation from a themed room at Alton Towers Hotel to treehouses and even stargazing pods!
Alton Towers hotel stays include free breakfast and parking – meaning you could save money if you were going to buy those anyway.
Now their Short Breaks don’t include entry to the theme park itself, so you’ll still need to buy tickets for your group. But with accommodation starting at £42pp, it’s a competitive price for a night’s stay.
Plus, you’re right on site to make the most of the action – and the free monorail will shuttle you to the park each day.
Stay off site
If you’d prefer to stay off site, some top picks nearby include Chained Oak B&B (2 minutes’ drive), The Bridge House Restaurant and Hotel (3 minutes’ drive) and Peakstones Inn (10 minutes’ drive).
9. Convert Tesco Clubcard points
Tesco has a scheme where you can get 2x the value of your Tesco Clubcard points when you convert them to spend with one of their partners – which includes Alton Towers, and some other Merlin attractions too.
For every £0.50 of Clubcard vouchers you can get £1 to use at Alton Towers.
That means if your Alton Towers ticket is £32, you would only need £16 worth of Tesco Clubcard vouchers!
10. Bring a packed lunch
If you’re serious about saving money, then packing food to bring along for the day is a smart move.
Paying for food, drinks and snacks inside Alton Towers won’t be cheap – and adds up quickly across the day, especially if you’re paying for a family.
You might still want to grab a drink or snack when you’re inside, but if you at least bring some food along with you, you’ll keep costs down.
11. Sign up for deals and alerts
Sign up to the Alton Towers newsletter and you’ll get deal alerts straight to your inbox.
These change across the year and don’t always stick around for long, so it pays to get in there first!
Save Money on Your Next Alton Towers Trip with These Top Tips
A day out at Alton Towers doesn’t have to make a huge dent in your wallet.
Plan ahead, keep an eye out for deals and be flexible with your dates, and you can enjoy a day full of adrenaline without feeling like you spent too much.
