Last updated 14 October 2026. Every date below is checked against the organiser's own page. Where a 2026 date has not been announced yet, we say so rather than guess.
Hampton Court Palace is the grand end of Christmas around here: a Tudor palace with an ice rink in front of it and a fayre in the gardens. Around it, Hampton, Hampton Hill and Hampton Wick do things on a smaller, friendlier scale. Here is what is confirmed for 2026.
At Hampton Court Palace
The ice rink
20 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed on Christmas Day · Sessions from 10am, last session 8pm
A separate ticket from the palace, booked online, and palace members save 10%. Evening sessions with the palace lit behind the rink are the ones to aim for, and weekends sell out, so book ahead.
The Festive Fayre
4 to 6 and 11 to 13 December 2026, 10am to 5pm
Now in its eleventh year, in the palace gardens. Included in palace admission, and the palace advises booking because entry without a ticket cannot be guaranteed. The palace stays open late on Friday 11 December.
The Winter Palace
28 November 2026 to 3 January 2027
New this year: the Christmas Beast Ball in the Cartoon Gallery, with the palace's mythical beasts brought to life. It is included in palace admission (peak adult £35, child £17.50; off-peak £32 and £16). The palace is normally open until 4.30pm, and until 7.30pm on selected December evenings. It is closed on 30 November, 1, 7, 8, 14 and 15 December and 24 to 26 December, so check the day before you go.
A relaxed session for neurodivergent visitors runs on Tuesday 8 December, with separate booking.
In Hampton, Hampton Hill and Hampton Wick
Hampton Wick Christmas
Friday 18 December 2026, 5.15pm to 6.30pm · Free
Run by the Hampton Wick Association. A torch-lit children's procession leaves the library at 6pm, led by the Richmond Brass Band, and ends with family carols at 6.10pm outside The Foresters on St John's Place. Santa comes with gifts for the children. One of the loveliest small evenings of the season.
Santa's Enchanted Forest Grotto
Hampton Hill Theatre · 12 to 24 December 2026
£14 per child plus a booking fee, or £12.50 if you book before 31 October.
Close by
Teddington Lights Up
Thursday 26 November 2026
See our Teddington Lights Up guide.
Kingston Christmas Market
12 November 2026 to 3 January 2027
See our Kingston Christmas guide.
Christmas in Surrey at Sandown Park
21 to 24 November 2026
A big indoor makers' market. See our Esher Christmas guide.
Expected, but not yet confirmed
These ran in 2025. The organisers have not published 2026 dates yet, so please check before you go.
- Hampton Hill Christmas Parade and tree lighting. A sixty-year tradition, held on the last Friday of November with the tree switched on at 6pm and the parade after. The business association has not posted 2026 yet.
- Hampton Village Christmas. A grotto, local schools and choirs, and a craft marquee, on an early-December weekend last year.
- Bushy Park winter carriage rides. Royal Parks' Shire horses ran rides in the days just before Christmas last year, from the Pheasantry car park.
We will update this page as the dates land. If you would rather be told, the signup at the foot of this page is one short letter a month and nothing else.
Bringing a little of it home
An evening on the ice leaves you with cold hands and a good tiredness. A few things we keep for afterwards:
- Home for Christmas Mug and Cosy Socks Set, £17.95. Hot chocolate and warm feet, in that order.
- Twelve-Day Christmas Village Advent Calendar, £39.95. A little village that builds up through December, and comes back out next year.
- Lavender Wheat Bag, Gift Boxed, £17.95. Warmed and laid over cold shoulders after an evening out.
Our Christmas gift guide is grouped by what you want to spend, and the Christmas gifting collection has everything in one place. Delivery in the UK is included.
For the wider area, see Christmas markets near Sunbury-on-Thames, and what to take to a Christmas market.