Chelsea Winter Village is free from 25 November, the Physic Garden fair runs 26 to 29 November, and Portobello Road has Sunday markets on 6, 13 and 20 December.

Kensington and Chelsea’s Christmas market season has three confirmed dates so far. Chelsea Winter Village opens on Wednesday 25 November in Ranelagh Gardens and is free to walk into. The Chelsea Physic Garden Christmas Fair runs from Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 November. And the council has booked Portobello Road to close for a Sunday street market on 6, 13 and 20 December.

Kensington High Street’s Phillimore Walk, which had a Santa’s grotto at its winter market last year, has not announced a Christmas edition for 2026.

The dates at a glance

Market Where When Cost
Chelsea Winter Village Ranelagh Gardens, Royal Hospital Chelsea 25 November to 28 December, from 4.30pm daily Village free; light trail from £18
Chelsea Physic Garden Christmas Fair Royal Hospital Road 26 to 29 November £6 early bird, £8 pre-booked, £10 on the door
Portobello Road Sunday markets Portobello Road, Westbourne Grove to Oxford Gardens Sundays 6, 13 and 20 December Free
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, nearest big one outside the borough Hyde Park, Westminster 19 November to 3 January Free entry; rides and rink extra

Chelsea Winter Village, Royal Hospital Chelsea

Wednesday 25 November to Monday 28 December 2026, in Ranelagh Gardens at the Royal Hospital Chelsea (Chelsea Winter Village). It comes in two parts:

  • The Winter Village is free for everyone: a Christmas market, fire pits, mulled wine and festive bars, a bandstand with live performances, traditional fairground rides and a Curling Club. Rides, family activities and artisan workshops need their own tickets.
  • Chelsea Winter Illuminations is the ticketed part, a light trail of about a kilometre and a half with large-scale works by British light artists. Tickets are from £18 an adult and from £37.50 for a family of four, with cheaper off-peak dates. Under-3s go free but still need a ticket.

Gates open daily from 4.30pm and stay open for entry until 8pm or 8.30pm; the trail and village close at 10pm. Trail tickets are sold online in advance; the organiser says some walk-up tickets may exist but cannot be guaranteed. It also runs neuro-inclusive slots from 4.30pm to 5.45pm on Thursday 26 November, Wednesday 2 December and Thursday 17 December.

One knock-on for locals: Ranelagh Gardens is closed to the public through late November and December while it runs, apart from the free village entry from 4.30pm, according to the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Our earlier story covers the closure dates.

Chelsea Physic Garden Christmas Fair

Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 November, 10am to 5pm, and Sunday 29 November, 10am to 4pm (Chelsea Physic Garden). The garden promises over 100 stalls of gifts, festive food and drink.

Ticket Price
Early bird £6
Pre-booked £8
On the door £10

Friends of the Garden get in free, but their guests pay. The garden keeps only a limited number of walk-up tickets and says it cannot guarantee entry without a booking. Entry is through the main entrance on Royal Hospital Road, and there is no parking at the garden.

One trap on the same page: its FAQ still reads “Thursday 21 to Sunday 24 November”, with a 4pm last entry. Those are 2024’s dates. The dates at the top of the page, 26 to 29 November, are this year’s.

Portobello Road Christmas Sundays

The council’s own works and events bulletin of 1 October lists Portobello Road closed every Sunday from 6 to 20 December, 7am to 4pm, between Westbourne Grove and Oxford Gardens, for a street market run by the council’s street trading team (RBKC works and events bulletin, entry 215). That is three Sundays: 6, 13 and 20 December.

The council said in 2022 that the market “has historically not been open” on Sundays, which is why a Sunday market needs its own road closure. It has run Christmas Sunday markets before: in 2021 on 28 November and 5, 12 and 19 December (Kensington and Chelsea Council), and in 2020 on the first three Sundays of December, from 10am to 5pm (Kensington and Chelsea Council). No 2026 programme, stall list or trading hours have been published yet; the road closure hours are not the same thing as market opening hours.

Treat the market’s own site with care: on 3 October visitportobello.com still showed a “Winter Sundays” panel saying the market opens on Sundays “from Sunday 1 December”. 1 December was a Sunday in 2024, not this year.

Kensington High Street: no Christmas market announced

Last year Opportunity Kensington ran a Kensington Vintage Winter Market with a free Santa’s grotto on Phillimore Walk on Saturday 29 November 2025, with carols by Opera Holland Park and London City Brass (High Street Kensington).

For 2026 the district’s markets calendar lists only the regular Big Kensington Flea Market on Saturday 28 November and the Sunday farmers market to 20 December. The council’s Saturday road closure for Phillimore Walk also ends on 28 November. So nothing festive is announced yet; if the 28 November flea becomes a winter market again, we will add it. Our Phillimore Walk markets page has every date.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

The biggest Christmas market near Kensington is just over the borough boundary in Westminster. Hyde Park Winter Wonderland runs from 19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 (Hyde Park Winter Wonderland). Its ice rink prices are on our where to skate page.

Getting there

For the Royal Hospital and the Physic Garden, Sloane Square is the nearest tube. For Portobello, Notting Hill Gate and Ladbroke Grove. December parking near any of them is scarce: see parking in Kensington for the borough’s charges and roadworks and travel for closures, and our Christmas travel page for festive tube and rail changes.

Still to come

We will add the Chelsea Christmas lights switch-on when Cadogan dates it (see our switch-on page), Portobello’s trading hours and stall programme when published, and any Kensington High Street winter market.