Hyde Park's rink opens 19 November from £12.65; Queens in Bayswater skates all year from £8. Seven rinks near Kensington with 2026 dates, prices and age rules.
Kensington has no ice rink of its own since the Natural History Museum’s closed, so most people skate at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, a walk across Kensington Gardens, which opens on 19 November, or at Queens on Queensway, open all year. Skate Leicester Square is open now and Somerset House opens on 11 November. Every entry checked against the rink’s own site on 3 November 2026.
We have not skated at any of these for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry gives the dates, the prices the rink’s own website or booking page showed on 3 November, and the rules that catch families out: age limits, who must skate with children, and booking fees. Seasonal rinks price by day and time, so the figure at checkout may differ.
Walking distance
1. Ice skating at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland
The rink inside Winter Wonderland, built around the Victorian bandstand, is the nearest seasonal ice to Kensington: from the High Street it is a walk through Kensington Gardens. Its ice skating page gives sessions from 10am to 9pm, each 45 minutes, and asks skaters to arrive 20 minutes early.
Skaters must be 3 or over, and children aged 3 to 12 must have a skating adult of 18 or over with them. Bags go in the cloakroom at £2 an item.
Advance prices hold until 11.59pm the day before; on the day each ticket costs £1 to £4 more.
Open 19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027; sessions 10am to 9pm
Price advance adult £12.65 off peak, £17.05 standard, £19.25 peak; child (3 to 12) £9.35, £11.55, £13.75; family £37.40, £46.20, £55; concession £11.65 to £18.25; ice guide £39.50
Booking choose a time slot online; advance prices to 11.59pm the day before
Address Hyde Park, London
Website hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/attraction/ice-skating
Good for nearest to Kensington, family tickets, wheelchair users, rest of Winter Wonderland on site
2. Queens Ice and Bowl, Bayswater
An indoor rink on Queensway, about a mile from Notting Hill Gate, that has been open since 1930 and runs all year, with bowling in the same building. Its skating page lists Monday and Tuesday “Madness” sessions from £8, Late Skate sessions from £10, off-peak skating from £11.75 and peak from £13.75, and says booking online is cheaper than on the door.
Skates and penguin skate aids are for hire. The session times are in a timetable on its site rather than on the page.
It is the only rink here you can use outside the Christmas window.
Open all year; session times in the timetable on its site
Price from £8 Monday and Tuesday; Late Skate from £10; off peak from £11.75; peak from £13.75
Booking online, cheaper than on the door
Address 17 Queensway, London, W2 4QP
Website queens.london/skating
Good for indoor, all year, late sessions, bowling in the same building
Central London, a Tube ride away
3. Skate Leicester Square
Underbelly’s open-air rink circles the Shakespeare statue in the middle of Leicester Square, with a bar and Christmas market stalls around it. It opened on 31 October and runs every day to 3 January 2027 except Christmas Day.
On 3 November the booking page listed tickets “from £7.60” plus a £3 transaction fee, the lowest start price here; peak sessions cost more. Its FAQs give weekday hours of noon to 10pm and weekends from 10am until 26 November, then 10am to 10pm daily.
Children under 3 are not allowed on the ice, and there is no cloakroom. It is a Piccadilly line ride from South Kensington or Earl’s Court.
Open 31 October 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed Christmas Day; to 26 Nov weekdays 12pm to 10pm, weekends 10am to 10pm; from 27 Nov daily 10am to 10pm
Price from £7.60, plus a £3 transaction fee (booking page, 3 November)
Booking online, or card only at the box office on the day
Address Leicester Square, London, WC2H
Website skateleicestersquare.co.uk
Good for open now, cheapest start price, Christmas market, skate aids for a small fee
4. Skate at Somerset House
The rink in Somerset House’s 18th-century Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, under a 40ft Christmas tree. Somerset House gives the season as 11 November 2026 to 10 January 2027, the latest finish of any rink here.
Skate Lates music nights run from Thursday 12 November, there is a K-Pop Party with the Korean Cultural Centre UK on 23 November, and Skate School lessons and a Kids Skate Club are listed. Concessions cover full-time students, NHS staff and PIP recipients.
From Kensington, the District and Circle lines run to Temple, a short walk away.
Open 11 November 2026 to 10 January 2027
Price adults £13 to £28.50; children £11 to £15; plus £1.50 fee a ticket
Booking online
Address Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
Website somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/skate-somerset-house
Good for Skate Lates, lessons, concessions, open to 10 January
South of the river
5. Glide at Battersea Power Station
Linked rinks and a skate trail by the Thames in front of Battersea Power Station. The Power Station’s event page gives the dates as Friday 6 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027.
Glide shows its prices only inside its booking calendar once a session is picked, so we cannot print them here. Under Glide’s terms a child ticket covers ages 3 to 12, and under-13s must be with someone aged 16 or over on the ice.
From Chelsea it is a walk over Chelsea Bridge; Battersea Power Station is on the Northern line.
Open 6 November 2026 to 3 January 2027
Price shown only in Glide's booking calendar
Booking online at glidebatterseapowerstation.co.uk
Address Circus Road West, Battersea, London, SW8 5BN
Website glidebatterseapowerstation.co.uk
Good for walkable from Chelsea, riverside skate trail, opens 6 November
Further out
6. Hampton Court Palace Ice Rink
An outdoor rink in front of the palace’s west front, run by Icebox Live with Historic Royal Palaces and ticketed separately from palace admission. Historic Royal Palaces gives the season as 20 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed on Christmas Day, first session 10am and last 8pm.
Sessions last up to 45 minutes with skate hire included. Under-3s are not allowed on the ice, under-13s must have an adult skating with them, and one adult can supervise up to five children.
The prices page does not say which days are peak. Trains run from Waterloo to Hampton Court.
Open 20 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed Christmas Day; first session 10am, last 8pm
Price adult (13+) £19.50 off peak, £21.50 peak; child (3 to 12) £14.50 or £16; student £18 or £21.50; family of four £59.50 or £65.50; wheelchair user £15 with one carer free; groups of 10+ from £13.50
Booking online
Address Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, KT8 9AU
Website hamptoncourtpalaceicerink.co.uk
Good for palace setting, skate hire included, family ticket, wheelchair users
7. Windsor on Ice
A covered Christmas rink with a fairground in Alexandra Gardens, beside the Thames in Windsor. Its own site gives the season as 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, usually noon to 9pm on weekdays and 10am to 9pm at weekends, closed on Christmas Day and from 3pm on 19 November for a gala night.
Its booking site gives a minimum age of 4 and says children under 12 must be with an adult. There are Tiny Tuesdays for toddlers and All Access Wednesdays for disabled skaters.
Trains run from Paddington, changing at Slough, to Windsor and Eton Central.
Open 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed Christmas Day; usually 12pm to 9pm weekdays, 10am to 9pm weekends
Price adult £17; child (17 and under) £15; family of four £56; four adults £64; plus £1.50 booking fee
Booking online at citiesonice.digitickets.co.uk
Address Alexandra Gardens, Windsor
Website windsoronice.com
Good for fairground, toddler sessions, sessions for disabled skaters, Santa visits
Not running
- Natural History Museum, South Kensington: the museum says its rink “has now closed”; the last season was 2021 to 2022 and the site is now its gardens. More on what happened to the rink.
- Westfield London, White City: no rink has been announced for 2026.
- Canary Wharf: its rink is not returning this winter, Londonist reports.
How we chose
These are the rinks people in Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill and Earl’s Court search for when the borough has none of its own, chosen on the public record rather than on taste: real ice within a walk, a Tube ride or a short train ride, with a 2026 season or year-round sessions published by the operator. Dates, prices and rules come from each rink’s own website or booking page, read on 3 November 2026; Hampton Court’s dates are from Historic Royal Palaces and Glide’s from Battersea Power Station.
Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@thekensingtonpost.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@thekensingtonpost.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.
More for Christmas around Kensington: Christmas markets, Kensington Palace at Christmas, Royal Hospital Chelsea Christmas events, the Chelsea lights switch-on, pantomimes and Christmas shows, carol services and Christmas travel. For the rest of the year: things to do in Kensington, what’s on this month, days out, soft play, playgrounds and the local directory.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an ice rink in Kensington?
No. The Natural History Museum rink in South Kensington closed after the 2021 to 2022 season and the site is now the museum’s gardens. The nearest ice is Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, from 19 November 2026, and Queens on Queensway in Bayswater, which is open all year.
What is the cheapest ice skating near Kensington?
Skate Leicester Square listed tickets from £7.60 plus a £3 transaction fee on 3 November. Queens in Bayswater has Monday and Tuesday sessions from £8, and Winter Wonderland’s off-peak advance adult ticket is £12.65.
Which rink opens first this winter?
Skate Leicester Square opened on 31 October and Glide at Battersea Power Station opens on 6 November. Somerset House follows on 11 November and Hyde Park Winter Wonderland on 19 November.
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