We checked 8 ice rinks near Tunbridge Wells, from Calverley Grounds to Tulleys Farm and Bluewater, for dates and prices. Updated November 2026.

Eight ice rinks are within reach of Tunbridge Wells in 2026, and this guide puts them in one place with dates, prices and age rules. Most people land on Icescape in Calverley Grounds, Tulleys Farm for shorter, cheaper sessions, or Bluewater, which is open now. Every entry was checked against the rink’s own site on 5 November 2026, except where it gives another date.

We have not skated at any of these for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Seasonal rinks price by day and time, so check the figure when you book. Distances and drive times are by road from Calverley Grounds, without traffic. Our Icescape page has that rink’s full calendar and rules.

In Tunbridge Wells

1. Icescape Tunbridge Wells, Calverley Grounds

The town’s Christmas rink has a new name this year, and it is the only one we found in the borough. It is about 15 miles from Cranbrook.

Sessions last 45 minutes, skate hire is included and there is no online booking fee. Watching is free.

The opening night, Thursday 26 November, has Team GB skaters on the ice at about 6.30pm, free to watch, then public sessions at 7pm and 8pm. Children aged 8 and under need an adult ticket holder on the ice, and those aged 9 to 12 need an adult watching.

The rink is about five minutes’ walk from the station. It has no car park, so see our parking page.

Open 26 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed Christmas Day; times vary, for example session starts from 4pm to 8pm on 30 November and 10am to 8pm on 28 November
Price online a day ahead: off peak adult £15, child (12 and under) £10, family £45; peak £17, £12, £52.50; super peak £19, £14, £59.50; adults and children £2 more at the box office, families £7 more; 2-for-1 sessions £17 for two; skate aid £5 (booking system, 5 November)
Booking online at least a day ahead for the saver price; skate aids at the box office on the day
Address Calverley Grounds, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1QY
Website icescapetunbridgewells.com
Good for skate hire included, parent and toddler sessions, quiet sessions, disco nights, wheelchair tickets, free to watch

A drive from Tunbridge Wells

2. Tulleys Farm, Turners Hill

A real ice rink at the Tulleys Christmas Experience, 19 miles away and about 36 minutes by car. It opens on weekends from 21 November, then daily from 19 to 24 December.

Sessions are 30 minutes, and Tulleys asks you to arrive 15 minutes early to get your skates on. Skates run from a child’s size 8 to an adult’s 12.

The site does not say whether hire is included or whether you can come for skating alone, so ask before you book.

The booking page says under-12s need an adult on the ice, and 12 to 16s need an adult on site. The farm’s FAQs ask that all under-16s skate with an adult, so plan for that.

Open 21, 22, 28 and 29 November; 5, 6, 12 and 13 December; daily 19 to 24 December
Price adult (16 and over) £9.95; child (under 16) £8.95; skating aid £5.95 (booking page, 5 November)
Booking online in advance advised; limited tickets on the day
Call 01342 718472
Address Tulleys Farm, Turners Hill Road, Turners Hill, RH10 4PD
Website tulleyschristmas.co.uk/explore/ice-skating
Good for short sessions, Santa Experience the same day, real ice

3. The Ice Rink at Ruxley Manor, Sidcup

A covered real-ice rink at Ruxley Manor Garden Centre, 30 miles away and about 38 minutes by car. The centre’s page advertises tickets from £6 for 45-minute sessions, with skate hire included. Standard sessions take up to 175 skaters. Little Penguin sessions for first-timers and SEN sessions, with lower lighting and music, take up to 80, and carers go free on SEN sessions.

Skaters must be at least 3. Our sister site Bromley Online read on 5 November that children aged 8 or under need a paying adult with them on the ice.

The centre asks you to arrive 20 minutes early. It does not print a price for each session, so £6 is the only figure we can give.

Open 13 November 2026 to 4 January 2027
Price from £6 a ticket; skate aids £5 a session (centre's page, 5 November)
Booking online in advance advised; you can book on your phone at the venue if places remain
Address Maidstone Road, North Cray, Sidcup, DA14 5BQ
Website ruxley-manor.co.uk/pages/events/ice-rink
Good for covered rink, skate hire included, first-time skaters, SEN sessions

4. The Ice Rink at Bluewater

Open now, and the first of the Christmas rinks to start. It is 30 miles away and about 39 minutes by car, outside The Village at the shopping centre. Bluewater’s page gives 45-minute sessions with skate hire included, and says it is open on Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

The calendar has parent and toddler, quiet, Skate & Sing and disco sessions. Children aged 8 and under must have an adult ticket holder on the ice, and those aged 9 to 12 need an adult watching.

Open 5 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed Christmas Day; times vary, for example session starts from 4pm on 10 November and 10am to 8pm on 14 November
Price off peak £15 adult, £13 child, £46 family; peak £17, £15, £56; £1.50 more per ticket on the day, £6 more for a family (booking system, 5 November)
Booking online, cheapest a day or more ahead
Address Bluewater, Greenhithe, DA9 9ST
Website bluewater.co.uk/en/the-ice-rink-at-bluewater
Good for skate hire included, parent and toddler sessions, quiet sessions, disco nights

5. Planet Ice Gillingham

A permanent indoor rink, 29 miles away and about 48 minutes by car, or 27 miles and 39 minutes from Cranbrook. It is the one to use outside the Christmas season, and the only rink here with a Christmas Day session published so far.

Sessions are longer than at the Christmas rinks: the booking system listed 11am to 1pm and 1pm to 4.30pm on Saturday 7 November. Under-8s must have an adult on the ice and under-12s must wear gloves.

Under-13s need an adult in the building, a rule read on 3 November.

Open all year; public sessions most days, times vary; Christmas Day 10am to 12pm
Price adult (16 and over) and child (4 to 15) £15.40 on Saturday 7 November, £11.75 on Tuesday 10 November; student £10; Christmas Day skate £10; skate hire extra and a 4% online booking fee (booking system, 5 November; fee and hire 3 November)
Booking online or at the rink
Address Ambley Road, Gillingham Business Park, Gillingham, ME8 0PU
Website planet-ice.co.uk
Good for all year, longer sessions, Christmas Day skate, student price

6. Winterland, Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne

An open-air real-ice rink at The Waterfront, 32 miles away and about 52 minutes by car, with a funfair and Christmas stalls around it. Winterland’s rink page says sessions last 60 minutes, with at least 40 on the ice. Skaters must be four or over.

The page says under-8s need an adult on the ice, but its safety rules say children aged 14 and under must be accompanied at all times, so plan for the stricter rule. Our sister site Eastbourne Live found the booking system adding a small charge to the headline prices in September, so check the total before paying.

Open from Tuesday 1 December 2026; prices listed to 2 January 2027; session times shown when you book
Price 1 to 11 December, Monday to Thursday £8 from 10am to 3pm and £10 from 3pm to 9pm, Friday to Sunday £10; 12 December to 2 January, adults £13.50, children (4 to 14) £11.50; carers' discount by email (website, 5 November)
Booking online advised; limited tickets at the rink box office
Address The Waterfront, Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne, BN23 5UZ
Website winterland.onlineticketseller.com/events/160193
Good for wheelchair users on the ice, funfair, Christmas stalls

7. Burgess Hill Christmas Festival free rink

Not real ice, but free, 26 miles away and about 45 minutes by car. Burgess Hill Town Council puts a synthetic rink outside its Help Point on Church Walk for the last two days of its Christmas Festival.

The festival programme promises free skating for the whole family, with skates provided and no advance booking.

Open Saturday 28 November 2026, 10am to 8pm; Sunday 29 November, 10am to 4pm
Price free, skates provided
Booking none, turn up
Address Outside the Help Point, Church Walk, Burgess Hill, RH15 9AS
Website burgesshill.gov.uk/the-christmas-festival
Good for free, no booking, synthetic ice, Christmas festival

By direct train

8. Skate at Somerset House, London

The rink in the courtyard of Somerset House sits under a 40ft Christmas tree, and it is the last of these to close. Charing Cross is 52 to 58 minutes from Tunbridge Wells on a normal day, as our train times page shows, and Somerset House is on the Strand nearby.

It is the dearest rink here at busy times, so compare dates before you book.

Check the trains first. There are no trains at Charing Cross on 14 and 15 November.

National Rail also shows none there on 27 and 28 December or 1 to 3 January, with Hastings line trains running to Victoria. It had not published its plans for Christmas Eve or Boxing Day when we checked.

Open 11 November 2026 to 10 January 2027
Price adults £13 to £28.50; children £11 to £15; plus a £1.50 fee per ticket (Somerset House, 5 November)
Booking online
Address Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
Website somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/skate-somerset-house
Good for open to 10 January, direct train, festive food and drink

Not confirmed for 2026

  • Eastwell Manor, near Ashford: older listings show a Christmas rink here. The hotel’s home page mentioned none when we read it on 5 November, and we found no 2026 listing.
  • Hastings Pier: the only rink we found on record was an old plan that was reported cancelled, and the pier’s site did not load when we tried it.

How we chose

These are the rinks people around Tunbridge Wells, Paddock Wood and Cranbrook search for, chosen from the public record rather than on taste. We took ice within about an hour by car with a 2026 season published by the operator, plus one London rink on the direct train and the one free rink nearby. Dates, prices and rules come from each rink’s own website or booking system. We left out Worthing, which is about 66 minutes by car, and the other London rinks as longer trips from here.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@twellstoday.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@twellstoday.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.

More for Christmas around Tunbridge Wells:

Frequently asked questions

Is there an ice rink in Tunbridge Wells this Christmas?

Yes. Icescape Tunbridge Wells is in Calverley Grounds from 26 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed on Christmas Day. Tickets booked online a day ahead start at £10 for a child and £15 for an adult, with skate hire included. It is the only rink we found in the borough.

What is the cheapest ice skating near Tunbridge Wells?

The Burgess Hill Christmas Festival rink is free on 28 and 29 November, but it is synthetic. On real ice, Ruxley Manor advertises tickets from £6, Winterland in Eastbourne lists £8 for Monday to Thursday sessions before 3pm from 1 to 11 December, and Tulleys Farm charges £8.95 for under 16s and £9.95 for adults for 30 minutes. Icescape’s 2-for-1 sessions are £17 for two skaters online.

Which ice rink near Tunbridge Wells is open on Christmas Day?

Planet Ice Gillingham lists a £10 Christmas Day skate from 10am to 12pm, with skate hire extra. It is the only Christmas Day session we found published on 5 November 2026. Icescape and Bluewater are closed that day, and Tulleys Farm’s last skating day is Christmas Eve. No trains run on Christmas Day.