Father Christmas in the New Forest 2026: Exbury, Beaulieu, Grottos

The New Forest’s best-known Father Christmas is at Exbury, in a railway carriage in the engine shed, and this year’s dates and prices are already out: two weekends, 28 to 29 November and 5 to 6 December 2026, at £12 a child. Beaulieu, the district’s biggest attraction, has said plainly that there is no Father Christmas meet and greet this Christmas. The two town events that traditionally include a grotto, Ringwood’s Winter Wanderland and New Milton’s Lions festival, both fall on Sunday 29 November. Everything else is either last year’s information or not yet announced, and this page says which.

The quick answer

Exbury Gardens: Meet Father Christmas on 28 and 29 November and 5 and 6 December 2026, £12 a child (£11 for Friends), plus a Christmas Fair ticket for entry (Exbury Gardens). Exbury’s Christmas Night Train runs Monday 30 November to Friday 4 December at 5.15pm, 6pm, 6.45pm and 7.30pm, £21 a person, with a send-off from Father Christmas (Exbury Gardens). Beaulieu: “There are currently no plans for a Father Christmas meet and greet” (Beaulieu). Ringwood Winter Wanderland and the New Milton Lions Christmas Festival are both on Sunday 29 November 2026.

Updated 29 September: Exbury has published 2026 prices for its Christmas Fair (£7 an adult, children free) and Festive Express (£10), and Lyndhurst has listed Father Christmas down the High Street on Saturday 5 December.

Exbury Gardens: confirmed and on sale

Exbury’s Christmas is a fundraising event for the gardens and it has two halves.

By day, on the two weekends of 28 to 29 November and 5 to 6 December, Father Christmas is in “his special railway carriage in the engine shed, which will be transformed into a festive winter wonderland”. Each child gets “a lovely festive gift”. Tickets are £12 a child, £11 for Friends of Exbury, and a Christmas Fair ticket is required as well, because the fair ticket is what gets you into the gardens (Exbury Gardens). The Festive Express, the steam train with the “elves of Exbury”, runs the same two weekends (Exbury Gardens), as do the Christmas Fair and Meet the Donkeys. Updated 29 September: the 2026 prices are now out. The Christmas Fair, open 10am to 4.30pm, is £7 an adult (£7.50 with Gift Aid) and free for children under 16, Friends and carers, pre-booked or paid on arrival, with free parking; it includes the gardens, a family Christmas trail in the Rock Garden, crafts in the engine shed and the donkeys (Exbury Gardens). The Festive Express, a 30-minute interactive ride, is £10 a person, £9 for Friends, free under 3, on top of a fair ticket (Exbury Gardens). Last year the fair was £6.50 and the train £9.50.

In the evening, Monday 30 November to Friday 4 December, the Christmas Night Train runs an illuminated 30-minute ride through the woodland at 5.15pm, 6pm, 6.45pm and 7.30pm, with entry from 4.45pm, festive food and drink, and “a personal send-off from Father Christmas” at each departure. It is £21 a person, £19 for Friends, free under 3, and Exbury notes it “features some flashing lights”. Meeting Father Christmas in the evening is a separate ticket, not included in the train (Exbury Gardens, Meet Father Christmas in the Evening).

Exbury says advance booking is recommended because availability on the day cannot be guaranteed. The gardens otherwise close for the winter after 31 October.

Beaulieu: Alice, not Santa

Beaulieu’s Christmas offer for 2026 is Palace House Presents: Alice’s Christmas Wonderland, from 21 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, 10am to 5pm and closed on Christmas Day, with Palace House open 10.30am to 4pm. It is included in normal admission, and the house is dressed as Wonderland with a rabbit hole, the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter’s hat shop and a 20ft real tree. Character meet and greets happen “only on peak sessions”. On Father Christmas the FAQ is direct: “There are currently no plans for a Father Christmas meet and greet” (Beaulieu). Peak and off-peak prices for the Christmas period are on our Beaulieu in winter page.

The one Santa fixture at Beaulieu is a car event: the New Forest VW Santa Run leaves the estate on Sunday 29 November, 8.30am to 11am (Beaulieu).

Ringwood Winter Wanderland: Sunday 29 November

Ringwood Town Council has confirmed the date and nothing else: “2026 Event - Sunday 29th November - Further information to follow.” Last year’s Wanderland, on Sunday 30 November 2025, ran from 11.30am with more than 80 stalls, a stage, the Polar Express miniature steam train, a circus workshop and a Santa’s grotto, and Santa led the parade to the lights switch-on at 6pm in the Market Place (Ringwood Town Council). Whether the grotto returns, and whether it is free or ticketed, should be in the council’s October announcement. The switch-on itself is covered on Christmas lights switch-ons.

New Milton: the Lions on Sunday 29 November

The Lions Club of New Milton and District lists its Christmas Festival, Parade and Lights Switch-On for Sunday 29 November 2026 in New Milton town centre, 12 noon to 5.15pm, with the note that “timings are currently provisional”. The same club runs a Halloween and Christmas Market at the New Milton Hub on Saturday 31 October, 10.30am to 4pm (Lions Club of New Milton and District). In 2024 the festival included a Santa’s grotto and tombola alongside the illuminated parade (Advertiser and Times, 27 October 2024); the 2026 line-up has not been published.

Lyndhurst: Father Christmas down the High Street, Saturday 5 December

Lyndhurst Parish Council lists a Family Christmas Fun Day for Saturday 5 December 2026, “a whole day of activities in the village ending with Father Christmas travelling down the High Street”. The High Street is closed to vehicles from 4.45pm to 5.30pm for it, with traffic sent along Romsey Road towards Cadnam (Lyndhurst Parish Council). The programme has not been published.

Paultons Park: shows included, grotto extra

Christmas at Paultons runs on selected dates through December to 3 January 2027, opening at 10am with rides closing at 4.30pm. Two Santa stage shows, Christmas Wish and Santa’s Storytime, run until 24 December and are included in admission. The grotto, where children meet Santa, is a separate booking on selected December dates and costs extra, added at the “Any Extras” step of the ticket checkout, and Paultons says to book early (Paultons Park). Prices are only shown once you pick a date.

Moors Valley Railway: Santa Specials on sale, dates not listed

The narrow-gauge railway at Moors Valley Country Park, Horton Road, Ashley Heath, Ringwood BH24 2ET, is selling Santa Special tickets for 2026: a train to Kingsmere station and “Santa’s Railway Grotto”, a present for every adult and child, mince pies, mulled wine and hot drinks, and free car parking (Moors Valley Railway). The dates and prices are only on the booking system, not the event page, so we have not quoted them.

Hanger Farm, Totton: nothing listed yet for 2026

Hanger Farm Arts Centre in West Totton has staged a Santa show each December, Santa’s Christmas Cracker in 2024 and Santa’s Christmas Party on 23 December 2025, both with a present for every child and family tickets under £50 (Hanger Farm). Its 2026 Christmas programme, read on 24 September, lists the Pocket Panto, a Christmas crooners night, a family Christmas show and a Christmas film, but no Santa event yet. The panto is on New Forest pantomime.

Longdown Activity Farm: “dates to follow”

Longdown’s Christmas page says only: “Once the elves have confirmed, we will update you on our Christmas plans” (Longdown Activity Farm).

Still to be confirmed

• Exbury’s 2026 donkey ride price (the fair and train prices are above).
• Lyndhurst Christmas Fun Day programme for 5 December.
• Ringwood Winter Wanderland details, including the grotto: expected in October.
• New Milton Lions festival timings and grotto: marked provisional.
• Moors Valley Santa Special dates and prices, Hanger Farm’s Santa show and Longdown’s Christmas: expected in October.

This page will be updated as each organiser publishes. Nearby dates: Bonfire Night fireworks, Christmas lights switch-ons and Christmas bin collections.