Things to Do in Wokingham: 11 Days Out, Prices Checked

Wokingham’s days out are not the castle-and-cathedral kind. What the borough actually has is two big country parks, a vineyard, a dinner-theatre in a watermill, an aviation museum on an old airfield, and a market that has run for eight centuries. This guide covers the venues most worth your time in and around the borough, with the opening times and prices that apply in 2026, each checked against the venue’s own website this session so you can plan without surprises at the gate.

One date matters more than the rest this year: Grays Farm, the pick-your-own on Heathlands Road, closes for good on 31 October 2026, so this summer is the last chance at a Wokingham tradition.

Wokingham days out at a glance

Dinton Pastures Country Park

The borough’s flagship green space: 350 acres of lakes, riverside and meadow at Hurst, which the council fairly describes as “an oasis of woodland, meadow, and lakes in the midst of the most urbanised part of the Thames Valley”. Entry is free, it opens every day of the year from 6:45am to 9pm, and inside you will find a big destination play park, adventure golf, fishing and cafés (Wokingham Countryside).

You pay only to park, and the tariff went up on 1 April 2026: £3.00 for an hour, £5.50 for two, £7.00 for three, and £8.50 for anything longer; Blue Badge holders and motorbikes park free (parking page).

Round the corner on Sandford Lane, the Dinton Activity Centre does boat and paddleboard hire on the lake, open daily 10am to 5pm in the school holidays (Fridays to 7pm in summer) (Dinton Activity Centre).

What it means for you: the best free family day in the borough costs £8.50, and that is the car park. Walk or cycle in and it costs nothing.

California Country Park and the paddling pool

At Finchampstead, California Country Park is 100 acres of ancient bogland and heath around Longmoor Lake, with a lakeside path that works for buggies and wheelchairs, a play park, Jackson’s Café, and, the detail that gives it away as a dog-walkers’ park, a self-service dog wash (Wokingham Countryside). Free entry, open 7am to 10pm daily; parking is the same tariff as Dinton (£3.00 an hour up to £8.50 a day) (parking).

The summer draw is the outdoor paddling pool, in full-time operation until 6 September this year. Sessions run an hour and three quarters, the first from 10am, and 2026 works strictly on online booking only: £3.30 per person entering the water, £1.40 for a supervising adult staying dry, non-refundable, and babies need swim nappies (paddling pool).

What it means for you: do not just turn up on a hot Saturday expecting to splash; book the session before you leave the house.

Museum of Berkshire Aviation

Woodley was once the busiest private airfield in the country, and the museum on Mohawk Way keeps the proof: among the exhibits is a reconstruction of the Miles M.52, Britain’s cancelled supersonic project, alongside the Fairey Jet Gyrodyne and a Handley Page Herald. Summer opening is Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays, 10:30am to 5pm, and it is volunteer-run charity money well spent: adults £6, children £5, families £16 (Museum of Berkshire Aviation).

Grays Farm: the last pick-your-own summer

Grays Farm on Heathlands Road has picked-your-own for generations: strawberries, raspberries, currants, sweetcorn and some twenty other crops, plus a farm shop, play area and picnic fields. Open Monday to Saturday 9am to 6pm, closed Sundays, no entry charge, no booking, pay for what you pick. And the reason to actually go this year, in the farm’s own words: “Unfortunately this will be our last year and the farm will close on October 31st 2026” (Grays Farm).

Two minutes away on the same road, Holme Grange Craft Village fills converted barns with independent shops and artisan studios around a courtyard coffee house, open daily 10am to 5pm, free entry and parking (Holme Grange Craft Village).

Stanlake Park Wine Estate

England has been rediscovering its vineyards, and the borough has one of the oldest: Stanlake Park at Twyford has been producing since 1979, with forty-year-old vines and an Italian winemaker. The shop and wine bar open Tuesday to Sunday (closed Mondays, bank holidays excepted), late into the evening from Thursday to Saturday. The Wine Tour and Tasting is £25 for ninety minutes and six wines, booked online; the £30 wine and cheese dates have been selling out this August (Stanlake Park). It is a 15-minute walk from Twyford station, which settles the drink-driving question.

The Mill at Sonning

A dinner-theatre inside a working watermill on the Thames, drinks served beside the waterwheel. The format: the restaurant seats from 6pm, the show follows at 8:15pm (matinees seat at noon). For Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d this autumn, the Signature dinner-and-show ticket is £88.50, cheaper bands run through Classic at £71, and a plain show-only seat starts at £26 to £31 (The Mill at Sonning). Anything Goes takes over for Christmas, 19 November to 17 January.

An evening in town: theatre, cinema, market

• Wokingham Theatre at Cantley Park is the volunteer-run 160-seat playhouse, eight productions a year since 1947, and its outgoing artistic director notes most productions sell over 90% of seats. Tickets are a flat £17; Hansard opens the autumn on 10 September (Wokingham Theatre).
• Everyman Wokingham on Elms Walk is the sofa-seats-and-cocktails end of cinema: three screens with food served to your seat, open daily from 10am (Everyman).
• Wokingham Market has traded in the Market Place for over 800 years and still sets up every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 9am to 3pm (Wokingham Town Council).
• For a swim, Wokingham Leisure Centre at the Carnival Hub (run by Places Leisure for the council) has a six-lane 25m pool and a splash pad, open from 6am weekdays (Places Leisure).

What a family day actually costs

Getting here and getting around

Wokingham is an easy day trip by rail: direct trains from London Waterloo take about 1 hour 12 minutes, and via Reading the connection from Paddington is well under an hour; times, fares and the last train home are in our Wokingham trains guide. If you are driving, note the current roadworks around the borough before you set off. And if a visit turns into browsing estate agents’ windows, the sold-price truth is in our Wokingham house prices guide.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best free things to do in Wokingham?

Dinton Pastures and California Country Park are both free to enter, with pay-only-to-park tariffs from £3 (Wokingham Countryside). Holme Grange Craft Village is free, the Market Place market runs four days a week, and Grays Farm charges nothing to get in during its final season.

What can you do in Wokingham with kids?

The Dinton Pastures play park and lakeside trails, the California paddling pool (book online, £3.30 a swimmer), boat hire at the Dinton Activity Centre, aircraft at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation (£16 a family) and pick-your-own at Grays Farm before it closes on 31 October 2026.

What is there to do in Wokingham when it rains?

Everyman’s three sofa-seated screens on Elms Walk, the Museum of Berkshire Aviation’s hangar (Wednesdays and weekends), the shops and coffee house at Holme Grange, the pool at the Carnival Hub, and an evening show at Wokingham Theatre or the Mill at Sonning.

Is the California Country Park paddling pool open in 2026?

Yes, in full operation until 6 September 2026, with sessions from 10am. Booking is online only this year: £3.30 per person entering the water, £1.40 for dry supervising adults (paddling pool).

When is Wokingham Market on?

Every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 9am to 3pm in the Market Place; the market is over 800 years old (Wokingham Town Council).

Sources

• Dinton Pastures, activity centre, California and paddling pool: Wokingham Countryside (council-run site; parking and pool pages linked above)
• Museum of Berkshire Aviation (opening, admission)
• Grays Farm (hours and the 31 October 2026 closure)
• Holme Grange Craft Village (daily 10 to 5)
• Stanlake Park Wine Estate (hours, tour prices)
• The Mill at Sonning (programme, 2026 ticket bands)
• Wokingham Theatre (programme, £17 tickets)
• Everyman Wokingham (screens, opening)
• Places Leisure, Wokingham Leisure Centre (pool, hours, operator)
• Wokingham Town Council markets page (market days)

Opening times and prices were checked against each venue’s own website on 9 August 2026. Seasonal hours change; confirm with the venue before a special trip.