Hamleys' Regent Street grotto opens 14 November at £75 for three, rising to £120 in the last 11 days. Its Langham grotto is £275, from 12 December.

The best-known Santa’s grotto in Westminster, at Hamleys on Regent Street, opens on Saturday 14 November and runs to Christmas Eve. A 15-minute visit costs £75 for up to three people on weekdays to 4 December, £85 at weekends and in the week of 7 December, and £120 in the last 11 days. Hamleys also runs a 30-minute grotto at The Langham hotel on Portland Place from 12 December, at £275 for three. Both are booked and paid for in advance, and both are on sale now. All details below are from Hamleys’ own 2026 terms, read on 4 October.

The quick answer

  • Hamleys Regent Street: Saturday 14 November to Thursday 24 December 2026, 15 minutes, best for ages 2 to 8. From £75 for three people, plus £25 for each extra person, six maximum.
  • Hamleys at The Langham: selected dates from Saturday 12 December to Thursday 24 December, 30 minutes with tea, coffee and hot chocolate, ages 2 to 10. £275 for three, plus £75 per extra person.
  • Booking: Regent Street opened on 23 September; The Langham opened on 1 October. No walk-ups at either.

Hamleys Regent Street

The Santa’s Grotto at Hamleys runs from Saturday 14 November to Thursday 24 December 2026. Sessions are 15 minutes long, at selected times between 10.15am and 8pm. Each booking gets the room to itself: you meet the Hamleys elves, then Santa, and each child takes home a gift bag. No food or drink is served.

The price depends on the date. One ticket covers up to three people, whatever their age, and that is the minimum booking:

Dates Price for 3 people Each extra person
Weekdays, Mon 16 Nov to Fri 4 Dec £75 £25
Weekdays Mon 7 to Fri 11 Dec, and the weekends of 21-22 Nov, 28-29 Nov, 5-6 Dec and 12-13 Dec £85 £25
Mon 14 Dec to Thu 24 Dec £120 £25

The terms list no price for the opening weekend of 14 and 15 November; check the booking page for those dates.

The rules that catch families out:

  • Everyone who goes into the room needs a ticket, including parents and younger siblings. Anyone not on the booking is turned away.
  • Six people maximum per booking, with at least one adult. The person booking must be over 18.
  • Arrive no more than five minutes early. An elf meets you on the ground floor. Sessions are staggered, so yours may not start exactly on time.
  • Late arrivals lose the booking and it cannot be rearranged.
  • The grotto is pitched at ages 2 to 8.

Hamleys at The Langham

Hamleys runs a second, longer grotto at The Langham, London, the hotel on Portland Place at the top of Regent Street. It runs on selected dates from Saturday 12 December to Thursday 24 December 2026, at times between 9am and 6.30pm.

  • 30-minute sessions, with tea, coffee and hot chocolate.
  • £275 for a group of up to three, including at least one adult. £75 for each extra person, six maximum.
  • Ages 2 to 10. Every child gets a gift bag and meets Father Christmas.
  • Arrive 15 minutes before your session.
  • Bookings opened on Thursday 1 October, through the Langham grotto booking page.

Just over the border: London Zoo

London Zoo, on the Camden side of The Regent’s Park, lists Meet Santa at London Zoo from 21 November to 24 December on its events page. Its Meet Santa page says only that Meet Santa “will be returning in 2026”, and that people who registered interest will hear first when tickets go on sale. The prices on that page, such as £19.50 per child for a 30-minute session, have not been confirmed for this year. A zoo entry ticket is needed on top.

What we could not confirm

  • Selfridges: the Oxford Street store has not published a 2026 grotto on its own site.
  • Hyde Park Winter Wonderland: its Santa Land is a zone of family rides, from £27.50 for unlimited rides, not a grotto. Details are on our Winter Wonderland page.

Getting there

Hamleys is two minutes’ walk from Oxford Circus. Oxford Street closes to traffic from 26 October and buses are rerouted: see our Oxford Street story. Hamleys points drivers to the car park on Brewer Street. Council bay prices are on our pay-to-park page, and Christmas closures on our roadworks and travel page and Christmas travel page.

While you are on Regent Street, the West End lights switch-on dates are on our Christmas lights page.