Liverpool Christmas Market 2026: Skate St George's, Big Wheel and Dates to New Year

Skating under St George's Hall

Skate St George's (St George's Hall plateau) sets the ice directly below the neoclassical Corinthian colonnade, with the Lime Street station facade opposite. It is the city's headline rink for 2026. Adult tickets start at £11.50, children at £10, and a family ticket at £38.

You can buy on the day or book a slot online in advance. The box office takes card only. There is no published group rate, so a big party should still pre-book a session.

The rink is open-air, so dress for Mersey weather. On a wet night, take the party to the Pier Head or the Baltic Triangle instead. Non-skaters have the big wheel and the rooftop bar beside the ice.

A covered rink at the Pier Head

Liverpool Christmas Wonderland (Pier Head) has the only big covered rink in Liverpool itself, which counts for a lot on a wet December night. Icebox Live has run the site since 2016. The white roof sits on the waterfront with the Three Graces and the Royal Liver Building clock towers rising behind it, and an 85-metre Star Flyer spins above the Mersey.

Entry to the site is free and the rink is ticketed separately. Off-peak adult skating starts at £15.50 and children at £12.50. Family tickets start at £49, with skate hire included.

The season runs from 20 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. The site holds 36 attractions and 28 food units, and it handles families and large groups well. A dozen people can wander the funfair without a plan, then take the ice at a booked time.

Ice and street food in the Baltic Triangle

ICEBOX at BOXPARK Liverpool (Cains Brewery, Baltic Triangle) sets the rink inside the red-brick Victorian brewery building, with street-food counters and neon signage around the edge and festoon lights strung above the ice. It is the cheapest real ice in the city, £10 for an adult and £8 for a child. A slot is 45 minutes with skate hire included. This is the biggest the rink has ever been.

It opens on 16 November 2026 and runs to 10 January 2027, a week past the other seasonal rinks. New Skate with Santa slots run from 19 to 24 December. Skate aids are limited, so book ahead if a child needs one.

Private rink hire is available for families, schools, corporate parties and charities, through [email protected]. Early-bird tickets at half price are released each September.

Baltic Market (Cains Brewery Village, Baltic Triangle) shares the brewery site and makes the before-and-after stop for a skate. Long communal bench tables run beneath hanging festoon bulbs in the cast-iron hall, and independent street-food counters line the walls. Entry is free, there is no door policy, and a large group can land here without booking.

Christmas at Baltic Market runs from 1 November to 31 December, with a winter cocktail list and seasonal Sunday gift markets. The hall closes on Mondays through December.

Curling and karaoke at Liverpool ONE

Stone's Throw Social (Chavasse Park, Liverpool ONE) pitches eight ice-free curling lanes on the park lawn, beneath a 30-metre Christmas tree with a bauble arch and a light curtain. Six timber karaoke huts and two shuffleboard tables sit alongside. Liverpool ONE has no ice rink in 2026, and the curling here is synthetic.

It opens earliest and closes latest of anything here, running from 3 October 2026 to 3 January 2027. You book lanes and karaoke huts by the party, not by the head, which suits a work night out or any drinking group that wants to stay in the city centre. Prices sit in the ££ band.

Short-window markets at Sefton Park and Birkenhead Park

Pop Up at the Palm House Winter Market (Sefton Park) threads maker stalls between tall palms and tree ferns under the glazed Victorian dome. Independent makers, food and live music fill the glasshouse, and it is free to wander. It is the most photogenic market in the city and a real local favourite. The window is three days, 20 to 22 November 2026. The glasshouse floor is narrow, so keep the party small.

Winter Wonderland Wirral (Birkenhead Park) is a short hop under the Mersey and the cheapest festive outing here, a flat £7 a person on any day. Under-1s enter free, and carers enter free with proof. An illuminated trail winds through the Grade I listed Victorian park, past alpine market huts, a walk-in snow globe and an owl sanctuary pen. A funfair, a grotto and a food village sit on the same ground.

The run is five days, 9 to 13 December 2026. No ice rink operates anywhere on the Wirral this year.

Full-size rinks within 40 minutes

Planet Ice Widnes (Venture Fields, Widnes) keeps a full-size pad behind hockey boards and plexiglass in a blue-and-white industrial shed, with Widnes Wild club banners over the seating. It is the nearest proper full-size rink to Liverpool at 20 minutes out, and the fallback when the seasonal pop-ups sell out. Weekday sessions are £11.75 and weekend sessions £15.40. The calendar carries 57 public sessions for the coming month, and the ice discos suit teen and adult groups. The rink takes birthday parties and block bookings alongside the public sessions.

Planet Ice's own site still carries a stale "temporarily closed" notice dated July 2025. The booking calendar and the Widnes Wild home fixtures are both live. Ring ahead if you are travelling far.

Deeside Ice Arena (Deeside Leisure Centre, Queensferry) holds North Wales' only permanent Olympic-sized rink, a 60 by 30 metre pad under a wide clear-span roof with pale blue barriers and sports-hall lighting. It is 30 to 40 minutes from Liverpool. Christmas sessions return on 21 November 2026. A session is £13 a person with skate hire included, and a family ticket is £48. That is the most ice per pound in the region.

Gwella runs the arena now, after the operator rebranded from Aura. Last year's Christmas sessions took 21,000 attendances, and the arena takes parties, clubs and school groups.

Planet Ice Altrincham (beside Altrincham Interchange) is the only rink in the region teaching all year round, a 1960s hall with a low ceiling, exposed roof trusses and rink-side wooden benches. Book it when someone in the party wants a lesson. Sessions start at £9.85, and skate hire is charged on top at £2.70, where the seasonal rinks include hire in the ticket price. It closes on Mondays, so build any group trip around the timetable.

Dates, closures and booking

Baltic Market closes on Mondays through December, and Planet Ice Altrincham closes on Mondays all year. Pre-book a session slot for any group, carry a card for the St George's box office, and ring Planet Ice Widnes before you travel out to it.

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