Winter Wonderland 2026: dates, hours, tickets

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is London's biggest Christmas event: a fair with rides, ice shows, a giant wheel, bars and a Christmas market in the middle of Hyde Park. The short answer for 2026: it is open every day from Thursday 19 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, except Christmas Day. It closes at 22:00 every evening, and most days it opens at 10:00.

Opening days and hours 2026

All dates and times from the official Winter Wonderland tickets guide, as of October 2026 (see sources). Dates not listed open at 10:00.

The later opening times fall on weekdays; weekends and the days just before Christmas open at 10:00. The final day, 3 January, is also a Family Fun Day, with details still to be announced by the organisers.

Tickets: how entry works

The rules from the official website:

• Timed entry: entry tickets are sold in one-hour slots from 10:00 to 20:00. Arrive early within your slot. Once inside, you can stay as long as you like – up to twelve hours with a 10:00 ticket.
• Last entry is at 21:30. Some rides and attractions may close their queues early.
• Booking fees included: new for 2026, the booking fee is part of the ticket price, so the first price you see is the final one.
• Free entry: add £25 or more of rides, attractions, packages or food to one online booking and the entry is free. Ride and game credit of £30 or £50 and the packages also count.
• Book ahead: booking online in advance can save up to 25 % compared with buying later.

Tickets are sold on the official ticket shop linked from the Winter Wonderland website.

What is there

The organisers count more than 150 attractions, rides and shows. The highlights they name for 2026:

• Shows and attractions: the Magical Ice Kingdom, this year with the theme Neverland; Gandeys K-Pop Dragon Circus, new for 2026; Bar Ice; The Ice Rink; The Giant Wheel; Christmas by Candlelight; and ice sculpting workshops.
• Rides: Airborne, the Après-Ski Party Funhouse, Munich Looping, Blizzard, the Euro Coaster and The Spinning Racer, new for 2026.

Many of these shows and attractions are booked as separate tickets with their own time; if you book them together with your entry, you can make the times fit.

When to go

• Weekdays in late November: the quietest time, but some days open only at 12:00 – check the table.
• Weekday mornings in December: a good compromise before the after-work crowds.
• Friday and Saturday evenings in December: the most atmosphere, the longest queues.
• Between Christmas and New Year: open again from 26 December, with 11:00 openings from 28 December to 1 January.

Hyde Park is large, and walking from one end of Winter Wonderland to the other takes a while. Wear comfortable, warm shoes.

Weather in December

Averages 2015–2024 from the ERA5 reanalysis (via Open-Meteo), rounded.

London in December is mild, grey and damp rather than cold, and it is dark by late afternoon – which is when the lights of Winter Wonderland look best. YesTrip shows you the forecast for your actual travel days and suggests matching clothes in the packing list.

Getting there

Winter Wonderland is in the southeast of Hyde Park, close to Hyde Park Corner; Marble Arch and Knightsbridge are other nearby Underground stations. Plan your journey with Transport for London. If you come for the day and leave in the evening, there is luggage storage in central London^* (Radical Storage). Arriving by plane, our guides to Heathrow to central London and Gatwick to central London compare trains, buses and taxis.

Where to stay

• Mayfair and Marylebone: walking distance to Hyde Park, upscale and expensive.
• Paddington and Bayswater: north of the park, with more hotels and better prices.
• South Kensington: south of the park, next to the big museums.

From outside the UK, a travel eSIM for the UK^* (Airalo) is usually cheaper than roaming; our eSIM price index compares prices per gigabyte. If you plan several paid sights on the same trip, a London city pass^* (Go City) can bundle them.

More of London in December

Winter Wonderland is easy to combine with the Christmas lights on Regent Street and Oxford Street, the museums of South Kensington next to the park and a theatre evening in the West End. Our article London in December covers the weather, the lights and the Christmas Day closures, and our three-day plan for London fits around it. For the end of the year, see London New Year's Eve fireworks 2026.

London trip planDay by day, with map and tips

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