No Brighton rink this winter, but Worthing's covered rink opens 7 November from £7. Six rinks near Brighton with 2026 dates, prices and booking rules.

There is no ice rink in Brighton this winter, so the nearest skating is Worthing Ice Rink in Steyne Gardens, a covered rink that opens on Saturday 7 November and runs to 21 February. Winterland at Sovereign Harbour in Eastbourne follows on 1 December, and Burgess Hill has a free synthetic rink for one weekend. 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 on the rink’s own website or booking page on 3 November, and the rules that catch families out: age limits, skate aids and what booking online costs. Why the Pavilion rink is missing is on our Royal Pavilion Ice Rink page and in our story on its move to the Old Steine in 2027.

Along the coast

1. Worthing Ice Rink, Steyne Gardens

A covered rink on Steyne Gardens, just off Worthing seafront, run every winter by Town Centre Ice Rinks Ltd. The rink’s website says it will be open from Saturday 7 November 2026 to 21 February 2027, which makes it the longest season near Brighton and the only one still running after the Christmas holidays. Sessions are an hour.

Skaters must be at least four, and penguin skate aids are for children under 120cm. Its Café Ice serves hot drinks, crepes, hot dogs and chips to skaters and spectators.

Note that the online prices are a little higher than the door prices: the rink lists both. Lessons run for children at weekends and for adults on Thursday lunchtimes.

Open 7 November 2026 to 21 February 2027; term-time weekdays 1.45pm to 9pm, weekends and school holidays 10am to 9pm; last session 8pm
Price adult (16+) £12 off peak, £14.50 peak, £16.50 festive peak (19 to 24 December); child (15 and under) £11, £12.50, £14.50; family of four £42, £48, £56; Super Saver £7 for all ages, Monday and Tuesday 1.45pm to 5.30pm in term time; online prices slightly higher; penguin aid £5
Booking online or at the rink; mistakes are not refunded
Address Steyne Gardens, Brighton Road, Worthing, BN11 3EA
Website worthingicerink.com
Good for covered rink, wheelchair users on any session, carers skate free, cafe, lessons, birthday parties

2. Winterland, Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne

An open-air real ice rink at The Waterfront, Sovereign Harbour, with a Victorian funfair, Christmas market stalls and two grottos around it. The organisers’ home page gives 1 to 31 December, while the ice rink page lists prices to 2 January.

Sessions are 60 minutes with at least 40 on the ice. Skaters must be four or over, children under eight need an adult on the ice with them, and skates run from child size 8 to adult 14.

The rink says it is fully accessible and wheelchair users can go on the ice at any session. Our sister site Eastbourne Live found the booking system adding a small charge to the headline prices, so check the total before paying.

Open from Tuesday 1 December 2026; sessions on the hour from 10am, last at 8pm
Price 1 to 11 December, Monday to Thursday £8 before 3pm and £10 from 3pm, Friday to Sunday £10; 12 December to 2 January, adults £13.50, children (4 to 14) £11.50; carers' discount by email
Booking online advised; limited tickets at the rink box office
Address The Waterfront, Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne, BN23 5UZ
Website winterland.onlineticketseller.com/events/160193
Good for wheelchair users on the ice, funfair, Christmas market, Santa's grotto

3. Seal Bay Resort, Selsey

Seal Bay Resort, the holiday park at Selsey, calls this “our real ice rink” on its booking page and says it is back in the White Horse Complex from 11 December to 1 January. Day visitors can book alongside holiday home owners, who pay less.

It is the only rink here open as late as 10pm every night. Skating aids are bookable on the day, and groups of ten or more get 20% off by emailing the resort.

Bookings can be cancelled for a full refund up to 24 hours before the session.

Open 11 December 2026 to 1 January 2027; weekdays 5pm to 10pm, weekends and school holidays 12pm to 10pm
Price visitors: adult (14+) £12, under 14 £8, under 5 £5; skating aid £5
Booking online through the resort's app or website
Call 01243 606080
Address White Horse Complex, Seal Bay Resort, Warners Lane, Selsey, PO20 9EL
Website app.cove.co.uk/sealbayresort/tickets/ice-skating-2026
Good for late sessions, free cancellation up to 24 hours before, group discount

Inland

4. Burgess Hill Christmas Festival free rink

Not real ice, but free: Burgess Hill Town Council puts a synthetic rink outside its Help Point on Church Walk for the last two days of its Christmas Festival. The festival programme says “Enjoy FREE skating for the whole family”, with skates provided and “no advance booking required”.

It is partly funded by Burgess Hill District Lions. With no booking, expect to queue on the Saturday, the festival’s busiest day.

A climb-in snow globe runs alongside at the same hours. Church Walk is a few minutes from Burgess Hill station, which has direct trains from Brighton.

Open Saturday 28 November 2026, 10am to 8pm; Sunday 29 November, 10am to 4pm
Price free, skates provided
Booking none, turn up
Address Outside the Help Point, 96 Church Walk, Burgess Hill, RH15 9AS
Website burgesshill.gov.uk/the-christmas-festival
Good for free, no booking, Christmas festival, near the station

5. Icescape Tunbridge Wells, Calverley Grounds

A real ice rink in Calverley Grounds in the centre of Royal Tunbridge Wells, running this year under the name Icescape. Its What’s On page lists 45-minute sessions with skate hire included, and “Online Saver” prices for booking at least a day ahead with no booking fee.

There are parent and toddler sessions, quiet sessions at half capacity with no music, adults-only evening discos and two-for-one sessions. The booking system gives the season as 26 November to 3 January, closed on Christmas Day only.

There is no car park at the grounds, and entry to watch is free.

Open 26 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed Christmas Day; times vary by day on the booking page
Price online from £10 child (12 and under), £15 adult, £45 family; box office from £12, £17, £52; quiet sessions from £12; adult disco from £17; skate aids £5
Booking online at tunbridgewells.icetickets.co.uk, 45-minute sessions
Address Calverley Grounds, Royal Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1QY
Website icescapetunbridgewells.com
Good for parent and toddler sessions, quiet sessions, free to watch, skate hire included

6. Guildford Spectrum

The nearest permanent indoor rink to Brighton, inside the Spectrum leisure centre on Parkway, open all year. The timetable has Skate for All sessions most days, 90 minutes each, plus evening discos, and over Christmas the afternoon sessions become Snow Globe skates with falling snow.

There is no public skating from 9 to 13 December, when the ice show is on, and none on Christmas Day. Every session must be booked online.

Penguin aids are for children under 1.2m and snowman aids for taller children, and on Skate for All sessions carers of wheelchair users skate free. Our sister site the Guildford Post has every Christmas session time.

Open all year; no public skating 9 to 13 December or on Christmas Day
Price not printed on the Spectrum's timetable; shown at online booking
Booking online in advance, 90-minute sessions
Call 01483 443322
Address Guildford Spectrum, Parkway, Guildford, GU1 1UP
Website guildfordspectrum.co.uk/ice-skating
Good for indoor, all year, Snow Globe skates at Christmas, ice discos, lessons

Not confirmed yet

  • The Royal Pavilion, Brighton: not this winter. The operator, Laine Ltd, plans to return on the Old Steine in 2027.
  • South of England Winter Fair, Ardingly (21 and 22 November): the fair’s page lists ice skating at an extra cost, but on 3 November its booking link still opened the 2025 fair’s sessions, so 2026 times and prices are not out. Fair entry is £9.45 for adults if bought by 13 November.
  • Chichester: no rink in Priory Park; Seal Bay in Selsey, above, is the nearest to the city.

How we chose

These are the rinks people in Brighton and Hove search for when the city has none, chosen on the public record rather than on taste: real ice within an hour or so by car or a direct train, with a 2026 season and prices published by the operator, plus the one free rink nearby. Dates, prices and rules come from each rink’s own website or booking system, read on 3 November 2026; Burgess Hill’s rink is from the town council’s festival programme. We left out Hampton Court Palace and the London rinks as a long trip from here.

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

For more on Christmas in the city, see the Christmas lights and markets, Christmas at the Royal Pavilion, Christmas concerts and carols and Christmas trains and travel, and what’s on in Brighton this month. For the rest of the year, there are our guides to things to do in Brighton, days out from Brighton and soft play.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an ice rink in Brighton this Christmas?

No. The Royal Pavilion Ice Rink is standing down for winter 2026/27 because the Pavilion garden is being restored and the operator found no other site with enough mains power. The nearest rink is Worthing Ice Rink in Steyne Gardens, open from Saturday 7 November 2026 to 21 February 2027.

What is the cheapest ice skating near Brighton?

The free synthetic rink at the Burgess Hill Christmas Festival on 28 and 29 November, with skates provided and no booking. On real ice, Worthing Ice Rink’s Super Saver sessions on Monday and Tuesday afternoons in term time are £7 at the door (£7.42 online), and Winterland in Eastbourne charges £8 for weekday daytime sessions from 1 to 11 December.

Which ice rink near Brighton is open on Christmas Day?

None that has said so. Guildford Spectrum and Icescape Tunbridge Wells are both closed on Christmas Day. Worthing, Winterland in Eastbourne and Seal Bay in Selsey had not published Christmas Day times on 3 November 2026.