London Christmas Markets 2026: Winter Wonderland & the Best Markets 2026

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Dates: Thursday 19 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, daily except Christmas Day. Hours: closes 10pm, last entry 9.30pm; opens 10am except on a set of weekdays that open at 12pm or 11am (and 2pm on Tuesday 1 December). Entry: a ticket for a one-hour arrival slot, £1 off-peak, £5.50 standard, £8.25 peak, or free for every £25 pre-booked on attractions. Nearest Tube: depends on your gate (Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge).

This is London's big one, and it's a funfair and events site with a Christmas market inside, not a market with a few rides. There are more than 150 rides and attractions, an ice rink the organisers bill as the UK's largest open-air rink, a 70-metre Giant Wheel, a -10°C cocktail bar made of ice, the Magical Ice Kingdom (500 tonnes of ice and snow, themed around Neverland this year) and a new circus for 2026, the Gandeys K-Pop Dragon Circus. The Christmas stalls are in the Bavarian Village and Market Square, closest to the Green Gate.

The ticket rules are where most people waste money. Everyone needs an entry ticket, 'whether you're 2 or 92' in the organiser's words, and you choose a one-hour slot between 10am and 8pm to arrive in. You can buy on arrival, but popular slots sell out and on-the-day prices are higher. Once you're in, you can stay until closing. Off-peak (green) slots cost £1 and are sold every Monday to Thursday throughout November; standard (gold) slots are £5.50; peak (orange) slots, mostly later in the day and at weekends, are £8.25. Booking fees are now included in those prices. Every £25 you spend in one online booking on rides, attractions, packages, passes or meal deals unlocks one free entry ticket, so two people need £50 of pre-booked spend, and a family of four £100. That's easy to hit if you were going to skate and ride anyway.

What costs extra: nearly everything inside. Advance prices for 2026 run £12.65 to £19.25 for an adult skate (45 minutes; family ticket £37.40 to £55), £10.20 to £14.60 for the Ice Kingdom, £8.80 to £12.10 for the Giant Wheel, £17.05 to £19.80 for Bar Ice with one cocktail included, and £13.75 to £19.80 for an adult circus seat. Each attraction has its own off-peak, standard and peak rate, and prices on the day are higher than booking the day before.

How to avoid the queues: go Monday to Thursday in November. The off-peak slots are the quietest times as well as the cheapest, and the attractions are at their off-peak rates in those slots too. Arrive early in your hour, book the rink, Ice Kingdom and circus for set times before you go, and use the gate nearest what you want first: Red Gate (Bond Street, Marble Arch) for Santa Land and the thrill rides, Blue Gate (Hyde Park Corner, Green Park, Victoria) for the ice rink and the circus, Green Gate (Knightsbridge, High Street Kensington) for the market, Gold Gate (Marble Arch, Paddington) for the Ice Kingdom and Bar Ice.

Who it suits: families with a ride budget, groups, anyone who wants the full spectacle. The trade-off: December weekend evenings are packed, and the per-attraction pricing adds up quickly. If you only want mulled wine and chalets, skip it and go to the Southbank. For hotels near the park, see Paddington and Hyde Park hotels.

Southbank Centre Winter Market

Dates: 2026 not announced yet; in 2025 it ran 3 November 2025 to 4 January 2026. Hours (2025): daily 11am to 10pm, craft traders until 9pm, closed 25 and 31 December. Entry: free, it's the public riverside walk. Nearest Tube: Waterloo, or Embankment and across the footbridge.

If you want the classic Christmas market feeling, alpine-style chalets, mulled wine and the river lit up at night, this is the one I'd pick in central London. The stalls line the Queen's Walk between the Royal Festival Hall and Jubilee Gardens, with the London Eye at one end. In 2025 the food ran from duck wraps and dumplings to Dutch pancakes and churros, drinks were mulled wine, hot cider and hot chocolate, and the gift stalls were independent makers curated by South London's SoLo Craft Fair, which makes it better for presents than most chalet markets.

The Southbank Centre's winter programme says only 'From November 2026' so far, so expect a similar early-November start. My route: come at dusk, walk the chalets from the Festival Hall towards the Eye, then carry on across Westminster Bridge or back over the Golden Jubilee Bridges for the view.

Who it suits: couples, first-timers, anyone who wants a free evening out. The trade-off: the path is narrow, so evenings and weekends in December get slow. For hotels a few minutes' walk away, see South Bank and Waterloo hotels.

Covent Garden

Dates: the lights switch on Thursday 12 November 2026, for a seven-week season. Hours: the Piazza is open all day; shops keep their own hours. Entry: free. Nearest Tube: Covent Garden (Piccadilly line); Leicester Square is a short walk.

Covent Garden isn't really a Christmas market. It's the Christmas decoration I'd cross town for. The 2026 theme is 'The Theatre of Christmas', with over 300,000 lights, gold bells, mirror balls and baubles hung around the Market Building, and a British-grown Christmas tree on the West Piazza. The covered Apple Market stalls trade as usual underneath, so you can pick up gifts, but come for the lights and the tree.

It's also the natural middle of a West End evening: walk down from the Seven Dials streets, do the Piazza, and carry on to Leicester Square. Who it suits: photographers, first-timers, anyone doing a show. The trade-off: switch-on night and every December weekend are very crowded; a weekday morning is when you'll get the tree photo without a hundred people in it. Staying nearby? See Covent Garden hotels.

Leicester Square

Dates: 2026 not announced yet; in 2025 the rink and market ran 1 November 2025 to 4 January 2026. Hours (2025): 10am to 10pm. Entry: free to browse; skating is ticketed. Nearest Tube: Leicester Square (Northern and Piccadilly lines), a minute's walk.

Christmas in Leicester Square is a small ring of market chalets around a skating rink, with a Spiegeltent that has hosted cabaret shows in past seasons. It's cheerful and handy, right in the middle of theatreland, and that's the reason to go: it's a good twenty minutes before a show, not a destination.

Who it suits: theatre-goers, families who want a short skate. The trade-off: it's the smallest of the central markets and the chalets are fairly generic; I wouldn't cross London for it.

Borough Market

Dates: open seven days a week from Monday 30 November 2026 through December. Hours: Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm; Wednesday 23 December 10am to 6pm; Christmas Eve 8am to 3pm; closed 25, 26 and 27 December; 31 December 10am to 3pm; closed New Year's Day 2027. Entry: free. Nearest Tube: London Bridge (Northern and Jubilee lines).

Borough is where Londoners do their Christmas food shopping, and it's the market I'd send a food lover to over any chalet market. It's a working food market under the railway arches by Southwark Cathedral, with cheesemongers, butchers, bakers and street food, and in December it's where people stock up for the Christmas table. Come hungry, eat your way round at lunchtime and buy cheese to take home.

Who it suits: food lovers, anyone self-catering in London over Christmas. The trade-off: it's a daytime market, closing at 5pm (4pm on Sundays), and the December Saturdays and 23 and 24 December are a crush. Go on a weekday morning in early December. It pairs well with Winter by the River, ten minutes' walk east.

Greenwich Market

Dates: open daily; the Lantern Parade and Christmas lights switch-on is Wednesday 18 November 2026, with the countdown at 5pm and celebrations until 6pm. Hours: 10am to 5.30pm, closed Christmas Day. Entry: free. Nearest station: Cutty Sark (DLR), across the road; Greenwich rail station is about ten minutes' walk.

Greenwich Market is a covered market that trades all year, and at Christmas it's where I'd go for gifts that were made by the person selling them: prints, jewellery, homeware and small stocking fillers, plus a good run of street food. The market promised over 200 artisan maker stalls for its 2025 Christmas. The lantern parade on switch-on night winds through the Old Royal Naval College grounds and Cutty Sark Gardens, and it has the feel of a neighbourhood event rather than a tourist one.

Who it suits: gift shoppers, a daytime outing with a river trip. The trade-off: it closes at 5.30pm, so there's no evening market, and December weekends are tight under the roof. Make a day of it with the park and the riverside.

Winter by the River, London Bridge City

Dates: 2026 not announced yet; in 2025 it ran 13 November 2025 to 4 January 2026. Hours (2025): daily 11am to 10pm; Christmas Eve 11am to 5pm; closed Christmas Day; New Year's Eve 11am to 9pm. Entry: free to walk through; curling is paid. Nearest Tube: London Bridge.

This is the riverside market with Tower Bridge as its backdrop: chalet stalls along the Thames path, the Glasshouse, a heated two-storey bar with river views, and a curling pop-up with six lanes and its own bar. In 2025 there was live music Wednesday to Saturday. It's smaller than the Southbank's market and more of a drinks-after-work place than a gift market, which is exactly why it works on a weekday evening.

Who it suits: couples, office groups, anyone wanting the Tower Bridge view. The trade-off: the path is narrow and weekends are busy. For hotels nearby, see London Bridge hotels.

Christmas at Kew

Dates: 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed 16, 23 and 28 November and Christmas Day. Hours: entry slots 4.20pm to 7.40pm; closes 10pm (9pm on Christmas Eve). Entry: adult £29.50 off-peak or £37 peak, child (4 to 15) £20 or £24, under-4s free, family £89 or £108, including a £1 booking fee. Nearest station: Kew Gardens (District line and Overground), 500 metres from Victoria Gate.

Not a market, but my pick of London's winter light trails: a 3km route through the botanic gardens after dark, with a fairground (£4 a token). Allow two hours or more. The off-peak dates for 2026 are 17 to 19, 24 to 26 and 30 November and 1 to 2 December, and they save £7.50 an adult.

Who it suits: families and couples who want one ticketed big night. The trade-off: it's expensive for a family, there's little cover if it rains, December dates go early, and there's no level access from the westbound platform at Kew Gardens station. Staying west? See Richmond, Kew and Twickenham hotels.

Hampton Court Palace Festive Fayre

Dates: 4 to 6 and 11 to 13 December 2026. Hours: 10am to 5pm in the Great Fountain Garden; the palace itself closes at 4.30pm except on 11 December. Entry: included in palace admission, adult £36 and child (5 to 15) £18 on all six fayre days, which are peak days. Pre-book: entry without a ticket isn't guaranteed. Nearest station: Hampton Court, by National Rail from Waterloo.

A traditional Christmas fair in the grounds of Henry VIII's palace, and the only one where your ticket also gets you the Tudor kitchens and the state apartments. That makes the price fair for a full day, and poor value for a quick shop. There's a separate ice rink with its own ticket.

Who it suits: history lovers, a family day out. The trade-off: only six days, busy at weekends, and it's a train ride out of central London.

Skate at Somerset House

Dates: 11 November 2026 to 10 January 2027. Entry: the courtyard is free; skating is £11 to £28.50 depending on the session (a £1.50 per-ticket transaction fee applies), with adult tickets from £13 and children (12 and under) from £11. Nearest Tube: Temple (District and Circle lines).

To my mind the prettiest rink in London, in an 18th-century courtyard with a tall Christmas tree, and for 2026 there's a Shelter Boutique Christmas shop open daily 12pm to 8pm from 11 November to 23 December, plus The Chalet by Jimmy Garcia for food and drink and DJ Skate Lates. Walk in, see the tree and the shop, and only pay if you skate.

Who it suits: couples, groups, the classic London Christmas photo. The trade-off: sessions are short and December evening prices are at the top of the range.

Battersea Power Station

Dates: Glide at Battersea Power Station Christmas runs Friday 6 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027. Entry: free to walk around; Glide skating times and prices are on the Battersea Power Station Christmas page. Nearest Tube: Battersea Power Station (Northern line).

A newer seasonal spot, built around the restored power station. The draw at Christmas is Glide, a skating trail that winds around the site rather than a traditional rink (it launched in 2025 as a 200-metre trail). It's an easy evening: shops and restaurants inside the turbine halls, and the river outside.

Who it suits: skaters who want something different, anyone staying south of the river. The trade-off: it's a shopping destination first; the Christmas atmosphere is polished rather than old-fashioned.

Coal Drops Yard, King's Cross

Dates: 2026 not announced yet. In 2025 Club Curling ran 7 November 2025 to 1 March 2026 (daily 12pm to 9pm), The Gingerbread City ran 29 November 2025 to 4 January 2026, and there were Christmas trees in Granary Square and Coal Drops Yard. Entry: free to browse; curling and Gingerbread City are ticketed. Nearest Tube: King's Cross St Pancras.

King's Cross doesn't have a chalet market. What it has is a good cluster of independent shops in the converted coal warehouses, a curling club and, in recent years, The Gingerbread City, a whole model city built of gingerbread by architects. It's the pick for design-led gifts and an evening of curling with friends.

Who it suits: gift shoppers who dislike chalet tat, groups, families with young children (Gingerbread City). The trade-off: it doesn't feel like a Christmas market, and the 2026 programme isn't out yet. Staying here? See King's Cross and St Pancras hotels.