Hyde Park Winter Wonderland charges up to nine pounds fifty a head to walk through the gate. It also publishes four separate ways to get in for nothing, in four different places on its own website, and almost nobody reads them together.
The event runs from Thursday 19 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, every single day except Christmas Day, closing at 10pm each evening. Here is how not to pay for the bit that should be free, which gate to use, and why the opening time on your date is probably not ten in the morning.
The four ways in free
One. Go off peak in November and pay a pound. They have released half a million one pound entry tickets for off peak slots, available all day Monday to Thursday throughout November, with no extra booking fee. Attraction prices are lower in those slots too. Look for the green time slots when booking.
Two. Spend twenty five pounds on anything. Add twenty five pounds of rides, attractions, packages or food to an online booking and the entry is free, saving up to nine pounds fifty a head.
Three. Buy ride credit instead of a ticket. Ride and Game Credit comes in twenty, thirty and fifty pound blocks, and the thirty and fifty pound options include free entry automatically. It works on any ride and at more than seventy game stalls by QR code, and unspent credit stays valid all season, so it carries to another visit rather than expiring at the gate.
Four. Buy a package. Every online package qualifies for free entry. The Arctic Adventure package starts at 44.50 pounds for adults and covers Ice Skating, the Magical Ice Kingdom and the Real Ice Slide, with ten per cent off those attractions, five per cent off any further ride credit, and twenty pounds of ride credit included. A family of four booking packages can save up to forty five pounds against on the day prices, plus up to thirty eight pounds of free entry on top.
The common thread is that all four require booking online, by 23:59 the night before. Turn up on the day and you pay the gate price and the full attraction price. Every entry ticket, free or not, is for a one hour arrival slot between 10am and 8pm, and once you are in you can stay as long as you like.
Which gate to use
The park is large and the four gates are not interchangeable. Each one is published with its nearest stations and the zones behind it.
Red Gate, east. Bond Street and Marble Arch. Opens onto Santa Land and Thrillville, so this is the gate for families heading to Santa and for the big rides.
Blue Gate, south. Hyde Park Corner, Green Park and Victoria. Opens onto Skater’s Corner and Show Town, which means the ice rink and the Circus Megadome.
Green Gate, west. Knightsbridge and High Street Kensington. Opens onto the Bavarian Village and Market Square, which is where the Christmas markets are.
Gold Gate, north. Marble Arch and Paddington. Opens onto the Arctic Circle and Luminarie Lane, so the Magical Ice Kingdom, Bar Ice and the Real Ice Slide.
Pick the gate for what you came for rather than the station you happen to be at, and you save a long walk through a crowd.
The opening time is not ten
It closes at 10pm every night, but the morning varies across the six weeks and the default is the exception rather than the rule.
Opening at midday: 19 and 20 November, 23 to 26 November, 30 November and 2 December.
Opening at 11am: 27 November, 3 and 4 December, 7 to 11 December, 14 to 18 December, and 28 December to 1 January.
Opening at 2pm: Tuesday 1 December, the latest start of the whole run.
Everything not listed above opens at 10am, which in practice means weekends and the days closest to Christmas. A weekday visit in late November planned around a ten o’clock start will find the gates shut for two hours.
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland
- Address
- Hyde Park, London. Four gates: Red east, Blue south, Green west, Gold north
- Nearest
- Hyde Park Corner, Green Park and Victoria for Blue Gate. Bond Street and Marble Arch for Red. Knightsbridge and High Street Kensington for Green. Marble Arch and Paddington for Gold
- Hours
- 19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, every day except Christmas Day. Closes 10pm nightly. Opening varies by date between 10am and 2pm
- Booking
- Online, by 23:59 the night before, to get advance prices and guarantee a slot. Entry sessions sell out
- Price
- Entry up to 9.50 pounds, or 1 pound off peak Monday to Thursday in November. Free entry with a 25 pound spend, with 30 or 50 pounds of ride credit, or with any package. Arctic Adventure package from 44.50 pounds for adults
- Standing
- More than 150 attractions, rides and shows across six weeks, with over 70 game stalls
How to get in
Book online the night before at the latest, because the advance prices and the free entry routes all disappear on the day, and popular sessions sell out ahead of the date. New for 2026 are the Gandeys K-Pop Dragon Circus and an Escape to Neverland theme at the Magical Ice Kingdom, run with Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity. The final day, 3 January, is a Family Fun Day. There is an app that tracks your ride credit balance and lets you share it across a family, which is worth having if you have bought a block of credit rather than individual tickets.
What to know
Never buy entry on its own. Four published routes make it free or a pound. Paying the full gate price is a choice, and an avoidable one.
Monday to Thursday in November is the cheap window. One pound entry all day, quieter park, and lower attraction prices in the same slots.
Book by 23:59 the night before. That is the deadline on every advance price and every free entry offer. There is no same day equivalent.
Ride credit does not expire at the end of the day. It is valid all season, so a leftover twelve pounds is a reason to come back rather than money lost.
Check your date’s opening time. Ten in the morning applies to weekends and the run up to Christmas. Most November weekdays open at midday, and 1 December not until two.
Choose the gate by zone. Christmas markets are behind Green Gate in the west. The ice rink is behind Blue Gate in the south. Santa and the big rides are behind Red Gate in the east.
Everything here was taken from Hyde Park Winter Wonderland’s own published information for the 2026 to 2027 season, and rechecked on 28 September 2026. Prices, offers and opening times change between seasons and occasionally within one. Confirm before you book.
Hyde Park is the free park all this sits inside, open from five in the morning to midnight for the eleven months a year Winter Wonderland is not there.
Where to go next
The ice rinks covers Somerset House and Hampton Court, with dates and prices.
Christmas at Kew is the quieter light trail, and it is ticketed separately from the Gardens.
London Christmas markets sorts the genuinely free ones from the ones with a ticket on the gate, and things to do in London at Christmas covers the rest of the season.
New Year’s Eve in London picks up where the Winter Wonderland run nearly ends, and free things to do in London covers what costs nothing the rest of the year.
The best views in London and The Shard are the other way to spend a winter afternoon, and two of the three platforms are free.
Questions we get asked
When is Winter Wonderland 2026?
Thursday 19 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, open every single day except Christmas Day, which is six weeks. It closes at 10pm every evening. The final day, 3 January, is designated a Family Fun Day. Opening times in the morning vary by date between 10am and 2pm rather than being fixed.
Can you get into Winter Wonderland for free?
Yes, by four published routes, all of which require booking online in advance. Spend 25 pounds on rides, attractions, packages or food and entry is free. Buy 30 or 50 pounds of Ride and Game Credit and entry is free. Any online package includes free entry. And off peak slots Monday to Thursday throughout November cost one pound rather than up to 9.50.
How much is Winter Wonderland entry?
Up to 9.50 pounds per person at the gate, but one pound during off peak sessions, which run all day Monday to Thursday throughout November. Entry is free altogether if you add 25 pounds of anything else to an online booking, buy 30 or 50 pounds of ride credit, or book any of the online packages. All advance prices close at 23:59 the night before.
What time does Winter Wonderland open?
It closes at 10pm every night, but the opening time moves. Weekends and the days nearest Christmas open at 10am. Most November weekdays open at midday, several December weekdays at 11am, and Tuesday 1 December not until 2pm. Check the published list for your specific date rather than assuming a ten o’clock start.
Which gate should you use at Winter Wonderland?
It depends what you came for. Green Gate in the west, from Knightsbridge or High Street Kensington, opens onto the Christmas markets and the Bavarian Village. Blue Gate in the south, from Hyde Park Corner, Green Park or Victoria, is nearest the ice rink and the Circus Megadome. Red Gate in the east is for Santa Land and the thrill rides. Gold Gate in the north serves the Arctic Circle.
Does Winter Wonderland ride credit expire?
Not at the end of your visit. Ride and Game Credit is valid for the whole season, so unspent credit carries over to another day rather than being lost. It comes in 20, 30 and 50 pound blocks, works on any ride and at over 70 game stalls by QR code, and the 30 and 50 pound blocks include free entry to the event.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 131 in the guide.
Last checked 28 September 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
