Speciale Liverpool
Liverpool's 2026 Christmas markets and what to book
Liverpool swapped its chalet rows for an ice rink this year. The two rinks suit different groups, and the real makers' markets have gone elsewhere.
Di Marco FuscoThird-generation Scouse-Italian who eats for a living
The wooden chalets in front of St George's Hall have gone for 2026. An open-air ice rink has taken their place, with a short row of trader stalls, a rooftop bar and a big wheel around it. Walking in costs nothing, and you pay only if you want to skate.
Skating at St George's Hall
Skate St George's is open every day from 21 November until 3 January, and closes only on Christmas Day. It opens at noon on weekdays and 10 a.m. at weekends, closing at 10 p.m., or 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Adult tickets start at £11.50 and children are £10, with family tickets at £38.
Book online before you travel. The box office on site only sells whatever is left, and it takes cards. The last session starts 45 minutes before closing.
Around the ice you'll find local traders, a rooftop bar pouring mulled wine and hot chocolate, and a big wheel. A Christmas tree maze, a Santa train and a carousel keep younger children busy. The trader row beside the rink is much smaller than the market it replaced, so if you want a traditional chalet market, this isn't it any more. It's on St George's Place, about five minutes' walk from Lime Street station.
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Wonderland at Pier Head
Liverpool Christmas Wonderland is out on the Pier Head waterfront. Its covered rink and rides sit between the river and the floodlit Royal Liver Building. It's open from 20 November until 3 January, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and closed on Christmas Day. It replaced the Liverpool Winter Festival, which used the same quayside last season, so search the new name or you won't find it.
Getting in is free, so you can eat, drink and ride without a skating ticket. Off-peak ice is £15.50 for adults and £12.50 for children, and family tickets start at £49 with skate hire included. This is the better of the two rinks for children, partly because the ice is covered. An 85-metre star flyer, an ice maze and Santa's Grotto are on the same site. The food stalls do stone-baked pizza, loaded Yorkshire puddings and Dutch pancakes, and the licensed bar is The Winter Club. It's a flat ten-minute walk from Liverpool ONE.
Cheap ice in the Baltic Triangle
ICEBOX at BOXPARK Liverpool is the cheapest skate in the city, at £10 for anyone 13 and over and £8 for children aged 3 to 12. Students pay £10 with ID. Sessions last 45 minutes with skates included, and the rink runs from 16 November to 10 January. It opens at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and 11 a.m. from Thursday to Sunday, closing at 11 p.m., and it's shut on Monday and Tuesday.
There are adult-only sessions for stronger skaters. Skate with Santa runs from 19 to 24 December at noon and 1 p.m. A sensory-friendly session runs every Sunday at 10 a.m., with softer lighting, quieter music and fewer people on the ice. It's at Cains Brewery Village on Beaufort Street, about 20 minutes' walk south of Liverpool ONE, with street-food counters in the same building.
Baltic Market is in the same old brewery, and it's the cheap, warm place to stop between outdoor markets. Dishes are £8 to £12 and a drink £4 to £6, with wood-fired pizza, Korean fried chicken, pho and tacos. You can't book, and from early evening at weekends it's standing room only, with DJs from about 7 p.m. It opens at noon midweek and 11 a.m. at weekends, closing at 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 9 p.m. on Sunday. It's shut on Monday and Tuesday.
Markets for handmade gifts
The gift markets run on single days, most of them in November, so the dates matter more than anything.
Makers Market at St Luke's Bombed Out Church sets its stalls inside a roofless Gothic church at the top of Bold Street, with open sky where the roof used to be. It's on 14 and 15 November, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Entry is free with a £1 suggested donation, and dogs are welcome. There's a Christmas edition on 19 and 20 December. The church is on Leece Street, about eight minutes' walk from Liverpool Central station. Skip it in heavy rain.
Pop Up at the Palm House has the prettiest setting of the lot, a glass Victorian palm house in Sefton Park. Stalls go between the palms, and there's live music through the day. Entry is free, and it's on for three days only, 20 to 22 November, opening at 2 p.m. on the Friday and 10.30 a.m. on the Saturday and Sunday. The park is about three miles south of the centre, 20 to 25 minutes by bus.
Liverpool's Christmas Craft & Flea is one day only, Saturday 21 November, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It costs £3 on the door and under-12s go free. It's in the Lutyens Crypt beneath the Metropolitan Cathedral on Brownlow Hill, a huge brick undercroft of low vaults that most visitors never see. Makers and vintage sellers bring ceramics, candles and old clothes. Allow an hour, more if you walk up into the cathedral above.
The Art Quarter Christmas Market is the one to keep for a wet afternoon, indoors on the marble concourse of the Metquarter on Whitechapel. Entry is free, and it runs 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on 28 and 29 November, then again on 12 and 13 December. The stalls are local artists and small makers selling art, prints and handmade things. Half an hour is enough, so pair it with the shops around it.
Granby Street in Toxteth
Granby Street Market holds its Christmas edition on Saturday 5 December, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Stalls run down both pavements of a terraced street of brightly painted doors. They sell bric-a-brac, vintage finds and crafts, but the hot international street food is the reason to come. It's free and needs no booking. Toxteth is about two miles from the centre, roughly 15 minutes by bus. Don't expect mulled wine and decorations. This is a community market with a festive edition.
The lights at Liverpool ONE
The Christmas lights came on on 6 November, so they're up for the whole season. Liverpool ONE is free to walk around. The centrepiece is a 30-metre Christmas tree at Paradise Place, and you can walk through the middle of it. A bauble arch and a set of angel wings are the other photo stops. Festive Thursdays bring free live entertainment and choirs through December. Wishmas, a free all-day event, is on Saturday 5 December. Santa's Tea Party at the John Lewis here runs from 21 November to 24 December, and you book online in advance.
Noël at the cathedral
Noël by Luxmuralis fills Liverpool Cathedral with projected light and sound. You walk through in the dark while colour is thrown up the sandstone arches and across the floor. It's on from 27 November until 5 December, with sessions between 4.30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Adults pay £10.50 off-peak and £12.50 at peak times, and children aged 3 to 15 are £8.50 or £10.50. A family ticket for two adults and two children starts at £29.50. A quieter session with fewer visitors and lower music is on Wednesday 2 December at 4.30 p.m. If you arrive after 5 December you've missed it. The cathedral is on St James Mount at the top of Hope Street, about 15 minutes' walk from Liverpool Central station.
An indoor funfair after Christmas
Liverpool Indoor Winter Funfair doesn't open until 19 December, then runs until 9 January. It's closed on Christmas Day. One ticket from £9 buys a three-hour session with unlimited rides. Waltzers, dodgems and spinning rides fill the Exhibition Centre Liverpool on the waterfront, a 15-minute walk from Liverpool ONE. Quieter sessions with less noise and lower lighting run on 20 December at 10 a.m., 30 December at 6 p.m. and 2 January at 10 a.m. If you're here with small children in the week after Christmas, book this one.
Opening days and booking
Nearly everything closes on Christmas Day, and the Baltic Triangle venues shut on Monday and Tuesday. Book the two rinks, the cathedral show and the funfair ahead, as all of them sell timed sessions. See the Liverpool guide and the Liverpool hotel search.
Prima di partire
Is there still a Christmas market in Liverpool in 2026?
The site in front of St George's Hall is no longer chalet rows: it's an open-air ice rink with a smaller row of local traders, a rooftop bar and a big wheel around it, and it's free to walk in. The other big site is Liverpool Christmas Wonderland at Pier Head. Handmade gifts are at the one-day makers' markets, most of which fall in November.
When do Liverpool's Christmas events start and finish?
Wonderland at Pier Head runs from 20 November to 3 January and Skate St George's from 21 November to 3 January, both closed on Christmas Day. The ICEBOX rink in the Baltic Triangle runs from 16 November to 10 January, and the indoor funfair opens on 19 December and runs to 9 January.
How much does it cost to skate in Liverpool?
Skate St George's starts at £11.50 for adults and £10 for children, with family tickets at £38. Off-peak ice at Wonderland is £15.50 for adults and £12.50 for children, family tickets from £49. ICEBOX is the cheapest at £10 for anyone 13 and over and £8 for children aged 3 to 12, including skate hire.
Do you need to book anything in advance?
Both waterfront and St George's sites are free to walk into, but skating is sold by timed session and worth booking online. The cathedral light show and the indoor funfair are ticketed too. The makers' markets and Granby Street are walk-up, with £3 on the door at the Craft & Flea and a £1 suggested donation at St Luke's.
What is on between Christmas and New Year?
Both ice rinks stay open until 3 January, and the indoor funfair at Exhibition Centre Liverpool runs from 19 December to 9 January with quieter sessions on 30 December and 2 January. Everything closes on Christmas Day, and the Baltic Triangle venues are shut on Monday and Tuesday.
