Christmas at Fountains Abbey runs 28 November to 3 January: A Christmas Carol at Fountains Hall at weekends, a trail and free carols. Adults £21; shut Fridays.

Fountains Abbey’s Christmas season runs from Saturday 28 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027. The headline this year is Bah, Humbug!, which turns Fountains Hall into a Victorian Christmas from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol on weekends. Around it there is a daily family trail, choirs in the abbey cellarium, free carols round the tree on three Sundays and the Boxing Day walk from Ripon. Everything below comes from the National Trust’s own Fountains Abbey listings, read on 3 November.

Two things catch people out in winter. The estate is shut every Friday from 2 November until February, and it is closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The quick answer

  • Dates: 28 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, Fountains, Ripon, HG4 3DY.
  • Open: admission 9.30am to 3.30pm. Closed every Friday, and on 24 and 25 December. Open on Boxing Day.
  • Price: adults £21, children 5 to 17 £10.50, under-5s free, family £52.50 (standard admission without Gift Aid). National Trust and English Heritage members free. No need to book a visit.
  • Included with admission: the Christmas trail (daily), A Christmas Carol at Fountains Hall (weekends, 10am to 3pm) and music in the cellarium (nine afternoons).
  • Free, no admission needed: carols round the tree, 11am on Sundays 6, 13 and 20 December, and the Boxing Day Pilgrimage.
  • Book ahead: only the craft workshops, £10 a child on top of admission.

What is on, day by day

Date What Time Cost
Sat 28 Nov Christmas market (Saturday cancelled, the Trust says), Fountains Hall, music: Thirsk RBL Brass Band Hall 10am-3pm, music 2pm Admission
Sun 29 Nov Christmas market, Fountains Hall, music: White Rosettes Market 10am-3pm, music 2pm Admission
Sat 5 Dec Fountains Hall, craft workshops, music: Ripon Choral Society Music 2pm Admission; workshops £10
Sun 6 Dec Carols round the tree (Spa Sax), Fountains Hall, workshops, music: Duchy College Carols 11am, music 2pm Carols free
Sat 12 Dec Fountains Hall, workshops, music: All Together Now Music 2pm Admission
Sun 13 Dec Carols (The Stray Notes), Fountains Hall, workshops, music: Ilkley Moornotes Carols 11am, music 2pm Carols free
Sat 19 Dec Fountains Hall, workshops, music: Leeds Festival Chorus Music 2pm Admission
Sun 20 Dec Carols (Beati), Fountains Hall, workshops, music: York Musical Society Carols 11am, music 2pm Carols free
Thu 24 and Fri 25 Dec Closed
Sat 26 Dec Boxing Day Pilgrimage from Ripon Cathedral, Fountains Hall Walk 10.15am, abbey noon Pilgrimage free
Sun 27 Dec Fountains Hall, music: Bradford Concert Band Music 2pm Admission
Sat 2 and Sun 3 Jan Fountains Hall, last weekend of the trail 10am-3pm Admission

The Christmas trail runs on every open day from 28 November to 3 January.

A Christmas Carol at Fountains Hall

Bah, Humbug! dresses the rooms of Fountains Hall, the 17th-century house built from stone taken from the abbey ruins, as a Victorian Christmas from A Christmas Carol: fires in the hearths, carols, decorations and scenes from Scrooge’s change of heart.

  • When: weekends only, 10am to 3pm: 28 and 29 November; 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26 and 27 December; 2 and 3 January. Twelve days in all.
  • Cost: included with admission. No booking.
  • Access: the Trust warns the hall has limited adaptations. There are 20 steps to the Stone Hall, a further 16 to the Minstrel Gallery and 14 more to the Great Chamber.

The Christmas trail

The Christmas trail is a clue sheet for children of all ages, picked up from Admissions and followed round the ruins and water garden. You can collect a sheet any time from 9.30am to 3.30pm, the last admission. The Trust notes the car parks stay open until 5pm. It is included with admission and needs no booking.

Music in the cellarium

On nine afternoons, a choir or band plays under the vaulted ceiling of the abbey’s cellarium from 2pm to 3pm, after which the abbey is lit in colour with fairy lights in the trees (Music at the abbey). The line-up the Trust publishes:

  • 28 November: Thirsk RBL Brass Band
  • 29 November: White Rosettes
  • 5 December: Ripon Choral Society
  • 6 December: Duchy College
  • 12 December: All Together Now
  • 13 December: Ilkley Moornotes
  • 19 December: Leeds Festival Chorus
  • 20 December: York Musical Society
  • 27 December: Bradford Concert Band

It is included with admission.

Free carols round the tree

Carols around the Christmas Tree is a sing-along round the tree in the courtyard from 11am to noon; the Trust suggests a hot chocolate to warm up first. Its listing marks the carols as not needing an admission ticket. The groups:

  • Sunday 6 December: Spa Sax
  • Sunday 13 December: The Stray Notes
  • Sunday 20 December: Beati

Craft workshops: book ahead

The Christmas craft workshops, run by Rural Arts in Swanley Workshop, are the one thing here you must book. Children make a wreath, a stocking, Christmas cards or decorations to take home, while adults wait with a hot drink in Swanley Grange.

  • Dates: Saturdays and Sundays 5, 6, 12, 13, 19 and 20 December.
  • Sessions: 10am, 11.15am, 1pm and 2.15pm, each an hour.
  • Price: £10 a child, plus standard admission. Booking is essential, online through the Trust or on 0344 249 1895.

The Christmas market: check the Saturday

Little Bird Made’s artisan Christmas market sets up west of the abbey on 28 and 29 November, 10am to 3pm, with Yorkshire makers, artists and food producers; standard admission applies. The National Trust’s events listing now says “Saturday’s event has been cancelled” (National Trust), while the organiser’s own page still lists both days on 3 November (Little Bird Made). Until the two agree, plan on the Sunday.

Boxing Day: the pilgrimage from Ripon

The Boxing Day Pilgrimage retraces the walk of the thirteen monks who left Ripon in 1132 to found the abbey.

  • 9.30am: Eucharist at Ripon Cathedral
  • 10.15am: the pilgrimage sets off from the cathedral
  • About noon: carols and prayers in the abbey cellarium

This year the route takes a diversion past St Mary’s Church in the deer park because of building work on site. The Trust’s listing says no booking is needed and marks it as not needing an admission ticket. Our carol services page has the rest of Ripon Cathedral’s Christmas.

Prices, opening and parking

Standard admission, from the Trust’s own price list (the Gift Aid prices are about 10% higher):

Ticket Standard
Adult (18+) £21
Child (5 to 17) £10.50
Under 5 Free
Family (2 adults, up to 3 children) £52.50
1 adult, up to 3 children £31.50
  • Members: National Trust, National Trust for Scotland and English Heritage cards give free entry and parking. English Heritage associated memberships such as Cadw and Historic Scotland are not accepted, and nor are newspaper “free entry” vouchers.
  • Booking: not needed for a visit; the Trust is not running a pre-booking system.
  • Winter days: admission 9.30am to 3.30pm. The estate and Visitor Centre are closed every Friday until February, which in the Christmas season means 4, 11 and 18 December (New Year’s Day 2027 is also a Friday; the Trust has not yet published its 2027 opening days). Also closed 24 and 25 December.
  • Parking: the Visitor Centre car park (and West Gate) is free and open 9am to 5pm. The Trust says the Studley tea room and the Studley admissions point stay closed until winter 2027/28, so arrive at the Visitor Centre.
  • Food: the Visitor Centre restaurant opens 9am to 4pm on open days.

Driving from Harrogate, check our Harrogate roadworks and travel page before you set off, and if you are making a day of it in Ripon, our parking guide covers the district’s car parks. For everything else on this Christmas, see the monthly What’s On listings, the Christmas markets and Santa’s grottos.

Sources