Christmas skating at Hampton Court ice rink

As an adult, it’s easy to lose the magic of Christmas. While my daughter is making endless present lists and scoffing mince pies, I’m wrestling endless To Do lists and trying to avoid peeling sprouts.

review visit*

So ice skating is my traditional way to get my festive spirit back, at one of London’s Christmas ice rinks – most recently skating at Hampton Court ice rink.

With Hampton Court palace lit up in the background, and the fields and river at Hampton off to the side as you whizz around the ice, it’s easily one of the most scenic winter rinks in London.

Carols and Christmas tunes played and as we prepared for our own session, we could hear everyone’s laughter from the ice. Who needs to wait for the Thames to freeze over, as famous former owner Henry VIII had to, when you’ve got seven weeks of guaranteed skating?

For more of the best things to do for Christmas in London with kids, check out my top picks

At five and a half, my daughter, trying ice skating for the first time, was far from the youngest one there. Fortunately there are penguin skate aids – on our visit in 2017, you couldn’t reserve them in advance, but that’s changed since, which is great if you’ve got nervous little skaters – and children’s skates come in size 8 up.

If I’m honest, I was quite glad of the penguin myself as I got my confidence back, trying to remember my rusty skating skills since my last whirl on the ice the year before.

With around 45 minutes in each session, you can enjoy the ice as long or as little as you want until your time is up. My daughter decided one circuit was quite enough after the penguin saved her from a mini fall and she’d prefer to watch from the viewing platform.

Which meant I got to show off my moves solo under her admiring eyes. Well, at least until I lost my balance entirely as I soaked up the views of the Tudor facade and sun setting behind the trees… and came down hard on my bum.

As two ice marshals skated over to check if I was OK (just my dignity was bruised but it was a nice touch), I decided I’d earned my hot chocolate.

That’s where having my own private chef, Tudor monarch-style, would have come in handy.

We weren’t the only ones to fancy a hot drink (there are alcoholic options as well) so the staff seemed to be struggling with demand – and the prices made me wince more than the earlier fall.

But some things are inevitable at Christmas. And they certainly didn’t stint on the marshmallows!

So if you’re losing your ho ho ho to the ‘how am I going to get all this done’, there are few things which make me feel as festive as this unique ice skating spot.

Ice skating at Hampton Court Palace: Need to know

The ice rink is usually open from mid November until the first week of January, closed on Christmas Day. Sessions run from 10am to 8.45pm, last session begins at 8pm.

Sessions last for 45 minutes and skaters are asked to arrive 30 minutes beforehand – if you’re earlier, you can watch the skating from the viewing platform, or there are sometimes combined tickets available including entry to the palace.

Tickets for the Hampton Court ice rink cost from £19 for adults (and teens aged 13 and above), and from £14 for children aged three to 12 – children aged under three aren’t allowed to skate. There are also family tickets which cost from £53.

Penguin skate aids cost £5 but skate hire is included. Click here to book your tickets.

No bags are allowed on the ice and the cloakroom costs £2 per item.

Popular sessions sell out quickly and you’re advised to book online in advance. You can change your booking online (or by email) as long as you do it at least 48 hours in advance.

Hampton Court Palace is walking distance from Hampton train station – regular trains run from London Waterloo, with a journey time of 30 minutes.

There are also two car parks, one smaller one in the palace grounds and a larger car park along Hampton Court Road at Hampton Court Green car park. Both have a fee to park.

For more of the best things to do for Christmas in London with kids, check out my top picks

PIN FOR LATER: ICE SKATING AT HAMPTON COURT PALACE

Disclosure: Our tickets were free for the purposes of review – all opinions and inability to keep my feet at Hampton Court Palace ice rink are my own

Images copyright MummyTravels

LIKED THIS? SIGN UP FOR MY EMAIL NEWSLETTER