Planet Ice Gillingham skates all year from £15.40; Bluewater's covered rink opens 5 November from £13. Seven rinks near Medway with 2026 dates and prices.

Medway has one ice rink, Planet Ice in Gillingham, and it skates all year from £15.40. For a Christmas rink, the nearest is the covered one at Bluewater, open from Thursday 5 November with tickets from £13, and the Queen’s House rink in Greenwich is a direct Thameslink ride away. 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 website or booking system showed, 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. There is no outdoor or pop-up rink in Medway this Christmas: Visit Medway’s events listing shows none.

In Medway

1. Planet Ice Gillingham

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

Planet Ice warns that a session may include a 15-minute break while the ice is resurfaced. 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.

Over Christmas it skates every day from 19 December to 4 January, including a £10 Christmas Day session. Our Medway ice rink page has every Christmas and New Year session time.

Open all year; public sessions most days, times vary; daily 19 December to 4 January, Christmas Day 10am to 12pm
Price adult (16 and over) £15.40, child (4 to 15) £15.40, student £10 online, under 4s £3.20, families of three to five £14.70 each; Christmas Day £10; skate hire extra and a 4% online booking fee (booking system, 3 November)
Booking online or 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, Christmas Day skate, carers free with an Access Card

A short drive

2. The Ice Rink at Bluewater

Bluewater builds its rink outside The Village under a roof canopy, so it skates whatever the weather. The centre’s page gives 5 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 with pre-bookable 45-minute sessions and skate hire included, and says it is open on Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day; 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. Bluewater asks skaters to arrive 20 minutes early at busy times so skates are fitted before the session starts.

Open 5 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed Christmas 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 a day or more 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

3. Icescape Tunbridge Wells

The Christmas rink in Calverley Grounds returns under a new name, Icescape Tunbridge Wells, from 26 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. The operator’s page says booking online at least a day ahead saves £2 on each adult or child ticket with no booking fees, and that sessions do sell out.

It runs parent and toddler sessions where one toddler under 5 skates free, half-capacity quiet sessions with no music, adult disco evenings and 2-for-1 sessions. Skate aids for children under 1.4m cost £5 from the box office, first come first served.

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; groups of 10 or more 10% off (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, adult disco, 2-for-1 sessions

A train ride into London

4. 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.

The booking page says sessions last 45 minutes and lists special sessions for toddlers, students and SEND families. Thameslink trains from Rainham, Gillingham, Chatham, Rochester and Strood run direct to Greenwich, about a 10-minute walk away.

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 Medway

5. Skate at Somerset House

The rink in Somerset House’s 18th-century courtyard, under a 40ft Christmas tree, and the last of these to close. Somerset House gives 11 November 2026 to 10 January 2027. Skate Lates with music 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, Skate School from 14 November, and wheelchair users are welcome at any session.

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
Address Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
Website somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/skate-somerset-house
Good for Skate Lates, relaxed sessions, wheelchair users welcome, open to 10 January

6. 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, with sessions every 15 minutes through the day and some evening slots already sold out. Prices change between quieter and busier days.

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

7. Ice skating at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland’s rink runs around the Victorian bandstand 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.

Bags go in the cloakroom at £2 an item, and phones and cameras are not allowed on the ice.

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 open-air rink, funfair day out, free entry with £25 of activities

Christmas trains

Southeastern runs no trains on 25 and 26 December, and engineering works can change Medway’s services between Christmas and New Year. Check our Medway Christmas trains guide before planning a trip to a London rink between Christmas and 3 January.

How we chose

These are the rinks people in Medway 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 Glide at Battersea, which publishes no flat price list, and rinks further into Kent that have not yet announced a 2026 season.

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

For more on Christmas locally, see the Rochester Christmas market, the Dickensian Christmas festival, Christmas at the Historic Dockyard, Santa’s grottos in Medway, the Medway pantomimes, Christmas dinner in Medway and what’s on in Medway this month. For the rest of the year, see things to do in Medway, days out near Medway and soft play in Medway.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an ice rink in Medway?

Yes, one: Planet Ice on Ambley Road, Gillingham Business Park, ME8 0PU, which runs public skating 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, plus skate hire. It also runs a £10 Christmas Day skate from 10am to 12pm. There is no outdoor or pop-up Christmas rink in Medway in 2026.

When does the Bluewater ice rink open in 2026?

Thursday 5 November 2026. It runs to Sunday 3 January 2027 outside The Village, under cover, with 45-minute sessions and skate hire included. Bluewater says it is open on Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day; its booking system lists no sessions on Christmas Day. Off-peak tickets are £15 for adults and £13 for children booked a day or more ahead.

Which London ice rink is easiest to reach from Medway?

The Queen’s House rink in Greenwich, open 18 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. Thameslink trains from Rainham, Gillingham, Chatham, Rochester and Strood run direct to Greenwich, and the rink is about a 10-minute walk from the station.