Bluewater's rink opens 5 November from £13 a child; Gillingham skates all year from £15.40. Seven rinks near Dartford with 2026 dates, prices and booking rules.

The rink most Dartford families use is the covered one at Bluewater, open from Thursday 5 November with tickets from £13. For skating all year, Planet Ice Gillingham is the nearest permanent rink, and the Queen’s House rink in Greenwich is a direct train from Dartford. Seven rinks below, every entry checked against the rink’s own site on 3 November 2026.

We have not skated at any of these for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry gives the dates, the prices the rink’s own booking system or website showed on 3 November, and the rules that catch families out: booking fees, on-the-day surcharges and age limits. Seasonal rinks price by day and time, so check the figure when you book.

In Dartford borough

1. The Ice Rink at Bluewater

Bluewater builds its rink outside The Village, near Zizzi, under a roof canopy, so it skates whatever the weather. The centre’s page gives 5 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 with 45-minute sessions and skate hire included; the booking system lists no sessions on Christmas Day.

The rink’s calendar tags parent and toddler sessions, quiet sessions, adult disco nights and 2-for-1 Thursdays, and its FAQ asks you to arrive 20 minutes early at busy times so skates are fitted before your session starts. Our full Bluewater ice rink page has every session time.

Open 5 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed Christmas Day; sessions from 4pm to 8pm on the opening day
Price off peak £15 adult, £13 child (12 and under), £46 family; peak £17, £15 and £56; £1.50 more per ticket bought on the day, £6 more for a family (booking system, 3 November)
Booking online, cheapest booked a day ahead
Address Bluewater, Greenhithe, DA9 9ST
Website bluewater.co.uk/en/the-ice-rink-at-bluewater
Good for covered rink, skate hire included, parent and toddler sessions, 2-for-1 Thursdays

Open all year

2. Planet Ice Gillingham

A permanent indoor rink on Gillingham Business Park, run by Planet Ice, which operates 14 rinks around the country. Public sessions run most days and are longer than the Christmas rinks: on 3 November the booking system listed a Saturday 7 November skate from 11am to 1pm and another from 1pm to 4.30pm, and an evening session from 8.15pm to 10.15pm on Monday 9 November.

Planet Ice warns that a session may include a 15-minute break while the ice is resurfaced. All under 13s must be with an adult in the building, under 8s need an adult on the ice, and children under 12 must wear gloves.

The rink runs a £10 Christmas Day skate from 10am to 12pm.

Open all year; public sessions most days, times vary by day
Price adult (16 and over) £15.40, child (4 to 15) £15.40, student £10, under 4s £3.20, families of three to five £14.70 each; Christmas Day skate £10 (booking system, 3 November, online prices)
Booking online prices can differ from the price at the rink; one free spectator ticket for the parent of an under 13
Address Ambley Road, Gillingham Business Park, Gillingham, ME8 0PU
Website planet-ice.co.uk
Good for all year, longer sessions, student price, carers free with an Access Card

A train ride away

3. The Queen’s House Ice Rink, Greenwich

An open-air rink in front of the Queen’s House inside Greenwich’s World Heritage Site, run for Royal Museums Greenwich. The museum’s page gives the season as 18 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, 10am to 9pm, with special sessions for toddlers, students and SEND families.

The booking page says sessions last 45 minutes and the rink is a 10-minute walk from Greenwich and Maze Hill stations, both on Southeastern’s direct line from Dartford.

Open 18 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, 10am to 9pm
Price adult £16.80 standard, £24.64 peak, £26.88 super peak; child £11.20, £19.60 and £22.40 (booking page, 3 November)
Booking online, 45-minute sessions
Address Romney Road, Greenwich, SE10 9NF
Website rmg.co.uk/queens-house/attractions/queens-house-ice-rink
Good for toddler sessions, SEND sessions, student sessions, direct train from Dartford

4. Skate at Somerset House

The rink in Somerset House’s 18th-century courtyard, under a tall Christmas tree, and the last of these to close. Somerset House gives 11 November 2026 to 10 January 2027. Skate Lates with DJs run from 12 November with sessions from 8pm, 90-minute Extended Skate Sessions run from 12pm on 11, 17 and 23 November, and there are relaxed sessions and wheelchair user skates, booked by phone.

It is a walk from Charing Cross, which has direct trains from Dartford.

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, 3 November)
Booking online; wheelchair user sessions on 0343 208 1497
Address Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
Website somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/skate-somerset-house
Good for Skate Lates, relaxed sessions, wheelchair user skates, open to 10 January

5. Skate Leicester Square

Underbelly’s open-air rink in the middle of Leicester Square, with a Christmas market around it. It opened on 31 October and runs to 3 January 2027.

The booking page listed tickets “from £7.60” plus a £3 transaction fee on 3 November, and several evening sessions had already sold out. Prices change between quieter and busier days.

Charing Cross is a short walk away.

Open 31 October 2026 to 3 January 2027
Price from £7.60, plus a £3 transaction fee per booking (booking page, 3 November)
Booking online
Address Leicester Square, London, WC2H
Website skateleicestersquare.co.uk
Good for lowest start price, Christmas market, open now

6. Ice skating at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland calls its rink around the Victorian bandstand “the UK’s largest open-air ice rink”. It runs from 19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027.

Its own ticket table gives advance and on-the-day prices for three price tiers, and says every £25 spent online on activities unlocks a free entry ticket to the site.

Open 19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027
Price adult £12.65 off peak, £17.05 standard, £19.25 peak; child (3 to 12) £9.35, £11.55 and £13.75; family from £37.40; £1 to £2 more each on the day (Winter Wonderland, 3 November)
Booking online in advance
Address Hyde Park, London
Website hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/attraction/ice-skating
Good for biggest rink, funfair day out, free entry with £25 of activities

A drive into Kent

7. Icescape Tunbridge Wells

The Christmas rink in Calverley Grounds returns this year under a new name, Icescape Tunbridge Wells. Its booking system gives the season as 26 November 2026 to 3 January 2027.

The operator’s page says sessions are 45 minutes, entry to the grounds to watch is free, and booking at least a day ahead online saves £2 on each adult or child ticket, with no booking fee. It also runs parent and toddler, quiet, adult disco and 2-for-1 sessions.

Open 26 November 2026 to 3 January 2027
Price child (12 and under) from £10, adult from £15, family from £45 online; £12, £17 and £52 at the box office; parent and toddler from £15; quiet sessions from £12 (operator's site, 3 November)
Booking online a day ahead for the saver price
Address Calverley Grounds, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1QY
Website icescapetunbridgewells.com
Good for parent and toddler sessions, quiet sessions, free to watch, 2-for-1 sessions

Christmas trains

If you are going to a London rink by train, there are no trains at Charing Cross or Cannon Street on 27 and 28 December or from 1 to 3 January. Our Christmas trains guide has the day-by-day detail.

How we chose

These are the rinks people in Dartford search for, chosen from the public record rather than on taste: real ice within reach by car or a direct train, with a 2026 season and prices published by the operator. Dates, prices and rules come from each rink’s own website or booking system, read on 3 November 2026. We left out Sapphire Ice and Leisure in Romford and Lee Valley Ice Centre in Leyton, both open all year, because neither publishes a public session price we could check outside its booking app, and Glide at Battersea, which publishes no flat price list.

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

For more on Christmas locally, see Winterland at Bluewater, Santa in Dartford, the Christmas lights switch-on, the Orchard pantomime, Christmas dinner in Dartford and what’s on in Dartford this month. For the rest of the year, there are our guides to things to do in Dartford, days out near Dartford and soft play.

Frequently asked questions

When does the Bluewater ice rink open in 2026?

Thursday 5 November 2026. It runs to Sunday 3 January 2027 with 45-minute sessions and skate hire included, and its booking system has no sessions on Christmas Day. Off-peak tickets are £15 for adults and £13 for children booked a day or more ahead, £1.50 more on the day.

Is there an ice rink open all year near Dartford?

Yes. Planet Ice Gillingham, on Gillingham Business Park, runs public sessions all year. On 3 November 2026 its booking system showed adult and child tickets at £15.40 online, students £10 and under 4s £3.20, with a £10 Christmas Day skate from 10am to 12pm.

What is the cheapest ice skating near Dartford?

Skate Leicester Square’s booking page lists tickets from £7.60 plus a £3 transaction fee. Closer to home, Bluewater’s 2-for-1 Thursday sessions and Planet Ice Gillingham’s £10 student and Christmas Day tickets are the lowest prices, and Icescape Tunbridge Wells starts at £10 a child booked online.