Our House, Grounds and Outlets have variable opening times over the festive period. Please see our Opening Times and Prices page for full details.

Christmas in Neverland: £19 - £32
Gardens Only Tickets: £12
Christmas in Neverland Guided Tour: £55
Christmas in Neverland Meet the Creatives: £55
Car parking: £6 (free for Gardens Only Tickets, Members and Blue Badge holders)

All tickets are subject to a small Seetickets booking fee.

£6, subject to a Seetickets booking fee. Gardens Only Tickets, Members and Blue Badge holders don’t pay for parking.

We charge for car parking at Christmas to help support our additional infrastructure, including Car Park Attendants, lighting, and trackway, and to help us improve our car parking facilities for everyone’s safety and comfort in the future. Revenue from last year’s car parking allowed us to create more disabled car parking spaces and supported the resurfacing of part of the car park.

Admission for all our affiliate schemes can be redeemed on the day at the Ticket Office by presenting a valid
membership card or proof of entitlement:

• Max Card holders are entitled to one free visit for one adult and up to three children, but as walkups only and excluding Super Peak days. Please check availability online in advance before you travel.
• Yorkshire's Great Houses, Castles & Gardens pass holders are entitled to one free visit for two adults and up to three children, as walkups only and excluding Super Peak days. Please check availability online in advance before you travel.
• Stay Play Explore vouchers can be redeemed on arrival for Gardens only.
• Guests at our Holiday Cottages are entitled to a free visit during their stay.
• Guests at our Lakeside Holiday Park get 2 for 1 admission to the Grounds and Skelf Island
  Adventure Playground.
• Please note: Visit York VIP and York Pass holders admission is suspended for our Christmas
  period.

Pushchairs, prams, and large rucksack-style baby carriers are not allowed in the main House for our Christmas in Neverland or Father Christmas. Please leave your pushchair, carrier or pram in the dedicated covered space in the Christmas Marquee. 

Pushchairs, carriers, and prams are not permitted in Santa’s Grotto. You can leave your pushchair, carrier, or pram outside the space.

Small baby carriers and hip seats are available to borrow from the House entrance. Please return it when you collect your pushchair or pram. No food or drink is allowed in the House. Breast feeding is welcome anywhere on site, but if you’d prefer a private place, please ask a staff member. 

The Kelly Car will run every day, subject to availability. When the Boathouse Café & Kitchen are open, the last departure leaves from the Boathouse area at 3pm. When the Boathouse isn’t open, the last departure leaves from the House entrance at 3pm.

We have dedicated blue badge car parking spaces. Please display your badge in your window. There are limited blue badge parking spaces so please arrive early if you would like to secure one. If you struggle with mobility but don’t have a blue badge, you can drop-off at the Courtyard before parking elsewhere. Blue badge holders do not need to pay for car parking.

Our disabled car parking spaces are closest to the ticket office. They are 2.4m wide by 4.8m long with hatching to one side and rear of 1200mm.

If you require a carer or companion, they can visit for free. We ask all carers to bring with you evidence of carer status, which we will check in the Ticket Office.

Some pathways are rutted and much of the building and landscape is historic, with uneven and bumpy surfaces. Please see the Access page on our website for more information.

Our North Drive is lined with lit Christmas trees. We ask visitors to take care walking to and from the car park after dusk, some pathways are rutted and much of the building and landscape is historic, with uneven and bumpy surfaces.

The Darling’s Afternoon Tea is available on the following dates:

11th 12th 18th 19th 25th 26th November

2nd 3rd 9th 10th 11th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th December

It will appear bookable when you select a corresponding date of your booking. You can add afternoon tea to Gardens tickets and Christmas in Neverland tickets, and we highly recommend confirming an afternoon tea when you make your ticket booking. Subject to availability.

Snacks and treats on the go:

Our Coffee Shop is open daily, serving take-away cakes, hot drinks, and snacks. Our Courtyard Trailer, open during weekends in November and daily in December, serves hot drinks including delicious hot chocolate, and marshmallows for toasting on our Brazier. The Boathouse Café and Kitchen at our Adventure Playground are open during weekends, serving hot drinks, cakes, and hot take-away treats including pizzas and hotdogs. Our beautiful Nyetimber Bar will be serving cold glasses of Nyetimber Classic Cuvee daily.

Sit down and enjoy a meal:

Our cosy Courtyard Café is open daily, serving a delicious seasonal menu including breakfast, brunch, lunch, and afternoon treats. Our Christmas Marquee is serving full Christmas Dinners daily from 11am – 4.30pm, and other light snacks and treats including hot Yorkshire Turkey Rolls, Criss Cross Fries, sandwiches and cakes all day.

Please note, food and drink is not allowed inside the main House.

Our Farm Shop is open daily, with a dedicated Butchery, delicious fresh vegetables, and well-stocked deli counter with Yorkshire produce, and a range of gifts. Our House Gift Shop is open daily (excluding Christmas Day and Boxing Day), with a fantastic collection of beautiful gifts and souvenirs. Our Bauble Emporium, open daily, is located in the Christmas Marquee, showcasing decorations from our Christmas displays and more. Our Garden Centre has British-grown Christmas trees, Christmas house plants, gifts and more, open daily (excluding New Years Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day).

Castle Howard is a cashless venue. We can only accept card payments.

We strongly recommend booking tickets in advance. Walk-up tickets are subject to availability, and at busy times we cannot guarantee entry.

The Ticket Office will remain open until the last Christmas in Neverland entry or Father Christmas show time, whichever is later. For example, if the last Father Christmas show is at 6.30pm, the Ticket Office will also close at 6.30pm. We recommend you arrive at least 15 minutes before your House entry slot or Father Christmas showing, because latecomers will not be admitted.

Yes. Please do this via the Seetickets Customer Service Centre. You will need your booking confirmation and email address.

A Members Preview of Christmas in Neverland is bookable on a first-come-first-serve basis via the Castle Howard website. Silver Members are entitled to one free visit at Christmas for each person in the active Membership, Gold Members are entitled to two for each person in the active Membership. Enter your Membership Card Number when making your booking. Members don’t need to pay for car parking. 

All visitors must be valid members and Membership cards must be presented on arrival to Castle Howard; failure to have a valid membership will result in that day’s ticket price being charged per non member.

There is only one Ticket Type for Members which covers both Adults and Children. For example, if you’re bringing one adult and two children, you would book three Members tickets.

Members receive discounts on Father Christmas and Santa’s Grotto tickets. Enter your Membership Card Number when making your booking. Adult Members can redeem their free Christmas in Neverland tickets on Father Christmas Adult tickets. 

Members are also invited to our Members Carol Concert on Monday December 4, 6.30pm.  We’ll share more information later in the year.

New members will be able to book member tickets once their membership has been activated with SeeTickets. This may take up to 14 working days.

If you are experiencing issues when booking online using a your membership number, please ensure the following:

• Please use the lead members number when making your booking
• Include the MEM without spaces (not all membership numbers include this)
• Select 'use code'
• If an error message appears with 'Invalid code' in red and you are a new/newly renewed member, it can take up to ten working days for your membership to be validated with SeeTickets. If it has been more than two weeks, please email marketing@castlehoward.co.uk.

Please visit https://castlehowardchristmas.seetickets.com/customerservice and enter your booking reference and email address. 

Once logged into your booking, scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you will see a black button saying ‘Contact our Customer Service team’. Please click this and it will take you to the contact form.

We charge for car parking at Christmas to help support our additional infrastructure, including Car Park Attendants, lighting, and trackway, and to help us improve our car parking facilities for everyone’s safety and comfort in the future. Revenue from last year’s car parking allowed us to create more disabled car parking spaces and supported the resurfacing of part of the car park.

Blue-badge holders and Castle Howard Members don’t pay for car parking.

On arrival, please bring your car parking confirmation to the Ticket Office for inspection, either on your phone or printed.

Members can visit up to two times during Christmas for free. Find out more about Membership.

Super Off Peak tickets are available: 13th – 17th, 20th – 24th November
Off Peak tickets are available: 11th, 12th November

Admission for all our affiliate schemes can be redeemed on the day at the Ticket Office by presenting a valid membership card or proof of entitlement:

•Max Card holders are entitled to one free visit for one adult and up to three children, but as walk-ups only and excluding Super Peak days. Please check availability online in advance before you travel. 
•Yorkshire's Great Houses, Castles & Gardens pass holders are entitled to one free visit for two adults and up to three children, excluding Super Peak days.
•Stay Play Explore vouchers can be redeemed on arrival for Gardens only.
•Guests at our Holiday Cottages are entitled to a free visit during their stay. 
•Guests at our Lakeside Holiday Park get 2 for 1 admission to the Grounds and Skelf Island Adventure Playground. 
•Please note: Visit York VIP and York Pass holders admission is suspended for our Christmas period.
•Art Pass discount is not accepted during the Christmas period.

Our main House is decorated with floral displays, props, crafts, stage lighting and installations, inspired by the story of Peter Pan. As you travel around the House, each space tells a story. We use costumes, sound, and projections to create a theatrical and immersive effect. The spaces also are intended to inspire you to use your imagination, with some areas open to your interpretation.

Entry to the main House for Christmas in Neverland is timed in 15-minute slots. We do this to manage the number of visitors in the House, stagger entry throughout the day, and to prevent queues. Sometimes queues do occur, due to a higher number of walk-up visitors, a late coach party, and more. We kindly ask for your patience if you do encounter a queue. The queue into the main House is outdoors, so we recommend dressing warmly.

If you are running late, you do not need to call us or contact us to let us know – we’ll happily admit you to a later time slot. If you’re running late for the last slot of the day we might not be able to guarantee your entry. We highly recommend arriving in plenty of time of the Father Christmas Show and Santa’s Grotto with Storycraft Theatre, as latecomers to these events will not be admitted.

We recommend 40 minutes to enjoy the whole experience at a steady pace. Some visitors move more quickly, others more slowly.

There is limited seating available, and there isn’t seating in every room. There are some places where visitors can temporarily rest, but we can’t guarantee this at our busiest times.

Portable stools can be borrowed from our House entrance, please ask a member of staff. Please note these are camping-style stools with no arms or back. Please return the stools to the Gift Shop or House entrance. Manual wheelchairs are available to borrow from the Ticket Office of House Entrance – please ask a member of staff.

Level access to Christmas in Neverland is via the Christmas Marquee. The Marquee entrance is equipped with two sets of double doors – please note that these doors are not automatic and open outwards. Please ask a member of staff in the Gift Shop for level access assistance through to the visitor route.   

Wheelchair users (under 225kg including visitor and equipment) can use our House stair lift which takes visitors to the main floor of the House, operated by Castle Howard staff. Electric wheelchair / scooter users will need to transfer into a manual wheelchair to use the House stair lift, and we have plenty of manual wheelchairs which can be borrowed if required. We regret that access to the Chapel is restricted, information on these areas is available to view in portfolios from within the House – please ask a volunteer or Visitor Assistant.

Please see full Christmas access guide for full details – this will be available from October 2023.

Photography is welcome in the House. Please keep your flash turned off and do not use a tripod or a selfie stick. Professional photography of any kind needs to be arranged and agreed in advance. If you’re a professional photographer, please contact Georgie Sykes gsykes@castlehoward.co.uk.

Babies and children until 24 months can visit Christmas in Neverland for free. We ask you to kindly book a Under 24 Months ticket so we can manage our capacities. This rule is different for Father Christmas in the Castle and Santa’s Grotto, where only children under 12 months are able to visit for free. 

You can see Father Christmas in two places at Castle Howard. 

Father Christmas in the Castle is inside our main House and is a 20-minute performance, followed with a one-to-one moment with Father Christmas and Mrs Claus. The whole experience can last up 35 - 55 minutes, depending on the number of groups, and at which point you have your moment with Father Christmas and Mrs Claus. Tickets to Father Christmas in the Castle include entry to Christmas in Neverland. We ask all Father Christmas in the Castle bookers to visit Christmas in Neverland first, if your show slot is in the afternoon. 

Santa’s Grotto with is in our Stable Courtyard and includes a 20-minute experience including puppetry and storytelling, with the first 10 minutes performed by jolly Christmas elves, with Santa joining the performance for the remaining time. The whole experience can be up to 30 minutes, depending on the number of groups, and at which point you have your moment with Santa. Tickets to Santa’s Grotto with do not include tickets to Christmas in Neverland or the Gardens. These tickets should be booked in addition if you’d like to add them to your visit. 

Santa’s Grotto is accessible for wheelchair users. Father Christmas in the Castle is sadly inaccessible for wheelchair users; the show location is up two flights of stairs. We understand that this is disappointing, and it’s our ambition to make adjustments in the future. We invite wheelchair users to enjoy Santa’s Grotto with Storycraft Theatre and Christmas in Neverland.

We want to make your visit special and memorable and help where we can. You can contact us directly about your booking to discuss the particulars of access required, and if any solutions or arrangements can be made.

Yes, your group will have a private interaction with Father Christmas in his study, separate to the performance space.

A beautiful Wild Republic soft toy. 

Yes. Your ticket includes access to the Gardens, Skelf Island Adventure Playground and Christmas in Neverland. Please double check your ticket time, as our Playground closes after dark for safety reasons. We ask all Father Christmas in the Castle bookers to visit Christmas in Neverland first, if your show slot is in the afternoon.

Yes. There will be seating available for children and accompanying adults.

As often as possible, the Front of House team will ensure that groups are sat together. We cannot guarantee this for latecomers.

No. Entrance and exit to the Father Christmas show will be separate to the Christmas in Neverland experience and you will leave back the way you entered.

Father Christmas, WonderPhil and Mrs Claus.

Two accompanying adults per booking.

We recommend the Father Christmas show for ages 4+. If you would like to bring a newborn or baby to meet Father Christmas, we would recommend Santa’s Grotto in the Stable Courtyard.

All Father Christmas in the Castle bookings require a paying child ticket to make the booking. If you have a babe in arms as well as a paying child ticket, you will be able to add the babe in arms to the booking. 

Gifts are available for paid tickets only. For example, if you bring a babe in arms and one child, one gift will be given. 

Babe in arms tickets are valid for children under 12 months. Older children must have a Child ticket.

Yes. Your ticket includes access to Christmas in Neverland, however, these are separate experiences and have different meeting points. Christmas in Neverland starts at the main House entrance, accessible via the North Drive. The Father Christmas Show meeting point is accessible via our Christmas Marquee, where signage will point you in the right direction.

You will not need to queue in the House entrance queue if you are on your way to the Father Christmas Show. The meeting point for Father Christmas show can be accessed via the Christmas Marquee. Please follow the signs and you will be greeted by a Castle Howard member of staff.

When you are ready to visit Christmas in Neverland, make your way to the regular House entrance.

Please arrive at the meeting point 15 minutes prior to your booking slot.

No. Tickets to Santa’s Grotto with Storycraft Theatre do not include tickets to Christmas in Neverland or the Gardens, these tickets should be booked in addition if you’d like to add them to your visit. 

Yes, your group will have an interaction with Santa, but this might be in the presence of other groups.

A beautiful Wild Republic soft toy. 

The meeting point is inside the Stable Courtyard, please follow the signs and you will be greeted by a Castle Howard staff member. You do not need to visit the Ticket Office unless you’d like to upgrade your ticket to visit the Gardens or House.

Please arrive 10 minutes before your show time. 

All Santa’s Grotto bookings require a paying child ticket to make the booking. If you have a babe in arms as
well as a paying child ticket, you will be able to add the babe in arms to the booking.

Gifts are available for paid tickets only. For example, if you bring a babe in arms and one child, one gift will
be given.

Babe in arms tickets are valid for children under 12 months. Older children must have a Child ticket.

The Gardens are open to everyone from 9am. Please check our opening times page for up-to-date closing times.

We line our North Drive with lit Christmas trees, and light a beautiful, large Christmas tree on our North Front.

Yes. Please double check your ticket time, as our Playground closes after dark for safety reasons.