Getting into Winter Wonderland costs between £1 and £8.25 depending on the hour you choose. Doing anything once you are inside costs a great deal more. The 2026 season opens on 19 November and finishes on 3 January 2027, with Christmas Day the only closure, and everyone needs a timed entry ticket booked online.
It is a large funfair in the south-east corner of Hyde Park, with roller coasters, an ice rink, a circus, bars, and a lot of wooden huts selling bratwurst and mulled wine. It is not a Christmas market in the German sense, whatever the huts suggest, and it is not a quiet evening out.
Our guide to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens covers what else the park offers outside the winter season, and Christmas in London puts Winter Wonderland among the season's other events. This page is about the money and the timing, because those are the two things that decide whether you enjoy it.
Winter Wonderland 2026/27
- Dates
- 19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed on Christmas Day
- Hours
- Most days 10:00-22:00. Some days open at 11:00 or 12:00, and 1 December opens at 14:00
- Last entry
- 21:30. Once inside you may stay until closing
- Entry, booked online
- Off-peak £1.00, standard £5.50, peak £8.25, booking fees included
- Off-peak slots
- Every Monday to Thursday in November
- Free entry
- Spend £25 or more online in advance in a single transaction
How the entry system works
Tickets are sold in one-hour entry slots from 10:00 to 20:00. The slot is only for getting in; once you are through the gate you can stay until the site closes at 22:00.
The opening time varies by date, which catches people out. Most days open at 10:00, but in 2026 the following opened later: 19, 20 and 23 to 26 November and 2 December at 12:00; 27 November, 3, 4, 7 to 11 and 14 to 18 December, and 28 December to 1 January at 11:00; and 1 December at 14:00. Check the date you want before you book a morning slot that does not exist.
Popular slots and attractions sell out ahead of the date, particularly on December weekends and between Christmas and New Year. This is not a place you can decide to visit on the afternoon of 27 December.
The £1 days
The cheapest entry is £1, and it applies to every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in November. The organisers say around half a million tickets across the season are sold at off-peak rates, and off-peak slots also carry reduced prices on some attractions.
That is a genuine saving and it is worth reorganising a trip around. A family of four walks in for £4 in November and for £33 on a December Saturday, for exactly the same site.
Standard slots are £5.50 and peak slots £8.25, both booked online with fees included. On-the-day prices are higher than booking in advance, and the organisers advertise savings of up to 25% for booking ahead.
A November weekday is a different event from a December Saturday. The site is fully built, the lights are on, the rides are running, and you can walk between attractions without queueing to move. If you have any flexibility at all in your dates, use it here.
The rule that makes entry free
Spend £25 or more online in advance, in a single transaction, on rides, attractions, packages or food and drink, and your entry ticket is free.
Read that carefully, because it changes the arithmetic. If your family intends to do anything at all inside, you will pass £25 immediately, and the entry fee disappears. The entry charge is therefore mostly paid by people who go to look around and buy nothing.
It also means the advertised entry price is not a useful guide to what the evening costs. The real number is what is inside.
What things cost inside
Nothing beyond entry is included. Rides, the ice rink, the ice attractions, the circus and the observation wheel are all paid separately, either individually or through a pass or package.
| Pass or package | Price (2026/27) | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Arctic Adventure Package | From £44.50 adult | Ice skating, Magical Ice Kingdom and the Real Ice Slide, plus £20 ride and game credit |
| Show Town Spectacular Package | From £40.20 adult | The circus show and the observation wheel, plus £20 ride and game credit |
| Festive Favourites Package | From £48.10 adult | An ice bar experience, the ice slide and the observation wheel, plus £20 credit and a fast-track upgrade |
| Santa Land Package | From £36.50 child | Unlimited access to 16 family rides and a meal deal |
| Coaster Pass | £43.10 | Five major roller coasters, with fast-track |
| Five Peaks Ride Pass | £49.00 | Five thrill rides, with fast-track on all of them |
| Explorer Pass | £27.45 | Five mixed attractions including the ice slide and the funhouse |
| Santa Land Unlimited Ride Pass | £27.50 | Unlimited rides on more than 16 family rides |
| Ride and Game Credit | £20, £30 or £50 | Spent ride by ride and game by game; up to 10% bonus when bought online |
Prices are those published for the 2026/27 season and are described as "from" prices, so they can vary by date. Individual attraction prices, including the ice rink on its own, appear only in the booking system; check them there for your date before you commit to a package.
Three days for a family of four, costed
Two adults and two children, to give the shape of the thing.
The look-around day. A Tuesday in November: four £1 entry tickets, £4. Walk round, look at the lights, buy two mulled wines and four hot chocolates, and go home. You will spend perhaps £30 in total and the children will ask for a ride.
The realistic day. A December Saturday with rides. Two Explorer Passes at £27.45 and two Santa Land Unlimited Ride Passes at £27.50 comes to £109.90, and because that is over £25 the entry is free. Add food and drink and you are near £160 for the day.
The full day. Two Arctic Adventure Packages at £44.50 and two Santa Land Packages at £36.50 is £162, including £40 of ride credit and a children's meal deal, with entry free. With drinks and extra food, £220 is a realistic total.
Whether that is good value depends entirely on whether your children want fairground rides. If they do, the passes are cheaper than paying ride by ride. If they do not, you are paying a great deal for lights and a hot drink, and our guide to London on a budget will point you at better ways to spend it.
When it is bearable
The site is at its worst on a December Friday or Saturday evening, when it is dark, cold, full and slow. Queues for the popular rides run long, the bars are three deep, and moving between areas takes real effort.
It is at its best on a weekday afternoon in late November, arriving around 15:00 so that you see it in daylight and then watch the lights come on at dusk. That transition is genuinely the nicest hour of the day there, and at that time of year it happens around 16:00.
The week between Christmas and New Year is busy throughout, with later opening times and heavy demand. If you are in London then, book early and go at 11:00 rather than after dark.
Check the weather before you book a fixed slot. It is an outdoor site with very little shelter, and two hours of standing in freezing rain queueing for a roller coaster is nobody's idea of Christmas. Our guide to what to pack for London covers the December basics: waterproof outer layer, proper shoes, gloves.
What is worth doing, and what to skip
The ice rink is the best thing there and also the most oversubscribed, so book a session rather than hoping. Our page on ice skating in London compares it with the other seasonal rinks, several of which are cheaper and less crowded.
The observation wheel gives a view over the park and the rooftops of Mayfair and is a reasonable five minutes. The ice sculpture attraction is a genuinely cold walk-through and works better with children than adults.
The market huts sell much the same goods as every other seasonal market in Europe, and they are the part to skip if you are short of money or time. Our guide to Christmas shopping in London has better places to buy presents.
Teenagers do well here, which is not true of much in London in December; see London with teenagers for what else works.
Food, drink and the bars
Food is fairground food at fairground prices: bratwurst, crêpes, churros, hot dogs, loaded fries. It is fine and it is not cheap.
The bars are a substantial part of the operation and a substantial part of the crowd after dark. Several are covered and heated, which matters. On December evenings the drinking crowd and the family crowd are in the same place at the same time, which is the main argument for going in the afternoon with children.
If you want a proper meal afterwards, you are in Mayfair and Knightsbridge, which is expensive, or a short bus ride from the West End. Our page on late-night food in London has options that stay open after the park closes at 22:00.
Getting there and getting away
The site occupies the south-east corner of Hyde Park, closest to Hyde Park Corner. Green Park, Marble Arch and Knightsbridge are all within a reasonable walk, and using one of those rather than Hyde Park Corner avoids the worst of the crush at closing time.
Leaving at 22:00 with several thousand other people is the least pleasant part of the evening. Either go earlier, or wait twenty minutes inside. The same logic we set out for avoiding the rush hour applies to event crowds.
Step-free access to the park is good, and Green Park and Knightsbridge stations both have lifts; our guide to step-free transport has the details. Inside, the site is on grass and temporary trackway, which becomes muddy and uneven after rain, so a wheelchair or a pushchair is harder work here than the flat map suggests. The pushchair guidance for London crowds applies.
If you would rather not
Winter Wonderland is not the only Christmas thing in London and it is the loudest. Smaller seasonal markets appear along the South Bank and in several squares, the light trails at botanic gardens and country houses are calmer, and a pantomime is a more British experience than a German-themed funfair.
For a quiet December walk instead, Richmond Park in low winter light with the deer in the bracken is the opposite of Hyde Park in December, and costs nothing.
Our month guides to November and December cover what else is on, and New Year's Eve is a separate ticketed event entirely. For the practical side of a family trip in winter, see London with kids.
Frequently asked questions
Is Winter Wonderland free to enter?
Not quite. Online entry costs £1 for off-peak slots, £5.50 standard and £8.25 peak, with booking fees included. Entry is free if you spend £25 or more online in advance in one transaction on rides, attractions, packages or food and drink, which most visitors who plan to do anything will do anyway.
When are the £1 entry days?
Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in November. Off-peak slots also carry reduced prices on some attractions. The site is fully open on those days and considerably less crowded than in December.
What are the opening hours?
Most days 10:00 to 22:00, with last entry at 21:30. Some dates open at 11:00 or 12:00, and 1 December 2026 opens at 14:00. Entry is by one-hour timed slot, but once inside you may stay until closing.
How much should I budget for a family of four?
Around £30 for a November weekday visit with no rides. Around £110 to £160 for a day with ride passes for two adults and two children, with entry free because the spend exceeds £25. Over £200 if you buy the ice and circus packages as well.
Is it suitable for very young children?
Yes, in the afternoon. There is a dedicated family ride area with its own unlimited pass, and the site is easier to manage before dark. After about 17:00 on a December weekend it is crowded, loud and dominated by the bars, which is a different proposition with a toddler.
Sources
- Hyde Park Winter Wonderland - official site (checked September 2026)
- Hyde Park Winter Wonderland - Tickets, entry prices and opening times (checked September 2026)
- Hyde Park Winter Wonderland - Packages and passes (checked September 2026)
- Hyde Park Winter Wonderland - Attractions (checked September 2026)
- The Royal Parks - Hyde Park (checked September 2026)