Queen's House Ice Rink Greenwich - London Skating Review

Table of Contents

Welcome to my review of The Queen’s House pop-up ice rink in Greenwich, London. To help us to feel a bit more Christmassy we love to ice-skate each year. For 2023 and 2025, we’ve picked The Queen’s House Ice Rink and combined it with a festive day out with the kids in the capital. So here’s my review of everything that you need to know about Christmas skating in London at the Queen’s House Ice Rink – including photos and popular questions like: where is it; how much does it cost (+ money-saving tips!) and is it any good?

Visits: December 2023 and December 2025

Where is The Queen’s House Ice Rink?

The Queen’s House Ice Rink is in the grounds of Greenwich’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, surrounded by museums and beautiful buildings, with a stunning view over the Canary Wharf. Skating is available this Christmas at The Queen’s House Ice Rink from 21 November 2025 – 4 January 2026.

To save money, by avoiding the main train, we drove up to North Greenwich Tube Station and got the bus to The Queen’s House Ice Rink, which was about a 10 minute ride. You’ll need the 188 bus – which stops at Trafalgar Estate bus stop, right by the skating rink. Kids under 11 travel for free, and adult tickets are only £1.75 – with a £5.25 price cap if you want to use the buses to get around all day. There’s also a nearby car-park available for the ice-rink, only open until 5pm, where parking is £12 for the day. It’s close to Greenwich pier too, if you’d like to arrive in style by boat! The nearest tube stations are: North Greenwich, Cutty Sark DLR and Maze Hill Station.

How much does it cost to skate at The Queen’s House Ice Rink?

For 2025, The Queen’s House Ice Rink is running a ‘kids go free’ deal for Monday-Thursday skates between 4-5pm with a paying adult until 11th December. These are the current Christmas 2025 peak and off peak ticket prices – they have increased since our 2023 skate so try to visit off-peak (or on a kids go free date) to get the best prices. Otherwise, a family ticket (for those with kids 12 and under) offers the best value for money.

Children: £16.60 off peak / £19 peak
Adults: £19 off peak / £21.95 peak
Family ticket: £49.95 / £63 peak
Students: £15.20
Parent & mini skater: £15

Children’s penguin skating aids are available to pre-book for £5 – however when we skated there were lots of children (for a school trip) so the penguins were just scattered everywhere and kids were able to use them as and when they wanted without pre-purchasing. Helmets are limited but are available free of charge too if required – it may be preferable to bring your own if you’d like to guarantee a helmet for your little one. Skate hire is also included in the cost – just head inside the main tent to swap your shoes for skates and you’re good to go! If your children are aged 3-5, look at their website for the ‘parent and mini-skater’ skating times – for safer, cheaper and quieter sessions.

Is The Queen’s House Ice Rink any good?

Our 2023 visit to The Queen’s House Ice Rink was the first time that the kids had ever skated and they absolutely loved it – we’ve skated every Christmas since! Both kids love to roller-skate but that was their first time ice-skating, and it was something Finn had wanted to try for a while. They really enjoyed it and were pretty good by the end of the 45 minute session. In 2024 we visited SKATE Tunbridge Wells but for 2025 we headed back to The Queen’s House Ice Rink again. This time I joined in too – I decided to be brave as I hadn’t skated since my teen years! We had such a brilliant time and I’ve definitely got over my fear of falling over.

Our first session was booked for 1pm on a term-time December Friday – it was comfortably busy – there were other children there on a school trip but other than that there were very few people on the ice. The kids had enough space to get around without it being too crowded, so I would definitely recommend trying to avoid peak times if possible. The ice rink itself was good to skate on and seemed well maintained, it was resurfaced straight after our session before the next skaters.

For our 2025 visit, we booked a 5pm slot on a Wednesday in December – opting for a evening skating session instead – and it was so magical with the Christmas lights. The views are amazing and it was definitely the perfect way to get into the festive spirit. Children aged 3-12 must be accompanied by an adult, children aged 13-15 will still need to be supervised by an adult, but they are able to spectate if they don’t want to skate.

What else should I be aware of?

There’s a cafe area directly next to The Queen’s House Ice Rink for those not skating, or wanting something to warm them up. The toilets are next to the entrance so you have to go back through the tent – it would be a bit of a faff to go mid-skating so you’ll want to make sure the kids have visited the loo before they begin their skate. You’ll also want to check out the peak / off-peak days and times to try and avoid the busiest skating days and times.

The rink is open from 10am to 9pm (last skate 8pm) so you can also choose whether you’d prefer to skate in the daytime or when it’s lit up and dark in the evening. It’s advisable to arrive around 30 minutes before your skate to get organised and avoid delays with queues for skates etc. I hope that my review and guide to skating at The Queen’s House Ice Rink in London has been helpful and, for even more festive fun, check out my article: London with kids – the 15 best things to do at Christmas! (2025).

Useful information for your visit:

Website: https://www.rmg.co.uk/queens-house/attractions/queens-house-ice-rink
Facilities: Cafe, toilets, parking
Address and Post Code: Romney Rd, London SE10 9NF
For up-to-date opening times and information, please check their website.