We checked 7 ice rinks near Crowborough, from Tunbridge Wells to Tulleys Farm and Eastbourne, for 2026 dates, prices and age rules. Updated November 2026.

Seven ice rinks are within reach of Crowborough in 2026, and this guide puts them in one place with dates, prices and age rules. Most people land on Icescape Tunbridge Wells, the nearest, Tulleys Farm for short, cheaper sessions, or Winterland in Eastbourne from Hailsham. Every entry was checked against the rink’s own site on 5 November 2026.

We have not skated at any of these for this guide, and nothing here is a review. We found no rink in Crowborough, Uckfield, Hailsham, Heathfield or Forest Row this Christmas. Seasonal rinks often price by day and time, so check the figure when you book. Distances are straight-line from Crowborough town centre.

Closest to Crowborough

1. Icescape Tunbridge Wells, Calverley Grounds

The nearest real ice, about 7 miles north, and the Christmas rink that has a new name this year. Its What’s On page lists 45-minute sessions with skate hire included and no booking fee online. The calendar has parent and toddler sessions, half-capacity quiet sessions with no music, adult disco nights and 2-for-1 sessions.

Children aged 8 and under need an adult ticket holder on the ice, and those aged 9 to 12 need an adult watching. Watching is free.

There is no rink car park, so use a town centre one. The rink says Tunbridge Wells station is about five minutes’ walk away, and the Regency 29 bus links Crowborough High Street with Tunbridge Wells.

Check the last bus on our Christmas travel page if you are going late in December.

Open 26 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed Christmas Day; times vary, for example session starts from 4pm to 8pm on 30 November and 10am to 8pm on 28 November
Price online a day ahead: off peak adult £15, child (12 and under) £10, family £45; peak £17, £12, £52.50; super peak £19, £14, £59.50; at the box office: off peak £17, £12, £52; peak £19, £14, £59.50; super peak £21, £16, £66.50; skate aid £5 (booking system, 5 November)
Booking online at least a day ahead for the saver price; skate aids at the box office on the day
Address Calverley Grounds, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1QY
Website icescapetunbridgewells.com
Good for skate hire included, parent and toddler sessions, quiet sessions, wheelchair tickets, free to watch

2. Tulleys Farm, Turners Hill

A real ice rink at the Tulleys Christmas Experience, about 12 miles north-west of Crowborough and 6 from Forest Row. It opens on weekends from 21 November, then daily from 19 to 24 December.

Sessions last 30 minutes and the rink runs in all weathers. Skates run from child size 8 to adult 12, or you can bring your own, and the booking page lists no separate hire charge.

Skating is bought separately from the Santa tickets, and Tulleys advises leaving an hour between a skate and a sleigh ride.

The booking page says under-12s need an adult on the ice, and 12 to 16s need an adult on site. The FAQs ask that all under-16s skate with an adult, so plan for that.

Tulleys does not say whether you can come for skating alone, so ask before you book.

Open 21, 22, 28 and 29 November; 5, 6, 12 and 13 December; daily 19 to 24 December; farm hours 8.45am to 6pm, 4pm on Christmas Eve
Price adult (16 and over) £9.95; child (under 16) £8.95; skating aid £5.95 (booking page, 5 November)
Booking online in advance advised; limited tickets on the day
Call 01342 718472
Address Tulleys Farm, Turners Hill Road, Turners Hill, RH10 4PD
Website tulleyschristmas.co.uk/explore/ice-skating
Good for short sessions, one non-motorised wheelchair per session, Santa Experience the same day

3. Burgess Hill Christmas Festival free rink

Not real ice, but free, about 14 miles south-west of Crowborough. Burgess Hill Town Council puts a synthetic rink outside its Help Point on Church Walk for the last two days of its first Christmas Festival.

The festival programme says “Enjoy FREE skating for the whole family”, with skates provided and no advance booking. It is partly funded by Burgess Hill District Lions, and a Christmas snow globe runs alongside it at the same hours.

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, Church Walk, Burgess Hill, RH15 9AS
Website burgesshill.gov.uk/the-christmas-festival
Good for free, no booking, synthetic ice, Christmas festival

Hailsham and the coast

4. Winterland, Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne

The closest rink to Hailsham by a distance, at about 6 miles, and about 13 from Heathfield and 20 from Crowborough. It is an open-air real ice rink at The Waterfront, with a Victorian funfair, Christmas market stalls and two grottos around it. Winterland’s rink page says sessions last 60 minutes, with at least 40 on the ice.

Skaters must be four or over, and skates run from child size 8 to adult 14.

The page says under-8s need an adult on the ice, but its safety rules say children aged 14 and under must be accompanied at all times, so plan for the stricter rule. The home page gives 1 to 31 December, while the rink page lists prices to 2 January.

Our sister site Eastbourne Live found the booking system adding a small charge to the headline prices in September, so check the total before paying.

Open from Tuesday 1 December 2026; session times shown when you book
Price 1 to 11 December, Monday to Thursday £8 from 10am to 3pm and £10 from 3pm to 9pm, Friday to Sunday £10; 12 December to 2 January, adults £13.50, children (4 to 14) £11.50; carers' discount by email (website, 5 November)
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

5. Worthing Ice Rink, Steyne Gardens

A covered rink just off Worthing seafront, about 29 miles from Crowborough, and the longest season here, running to 21 February. It opens on Saturday 7 November.

Sessions are an hour. Its website says skaters must be over four, under-8s need an adult on the ice, and under-12s need an adult at the rink. Penguin aids are for children up to 120cm.

Wheelchair users are welcome on any session, and carers skate free without booking. Online prices are about 6% above the prices at the rink.

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 at the rink, adult (16+) £12 off peak, £14.50 peak, £16.50 festive week (19 to 24 December); child (15 and under) £11, £12.50, £14.50; family of four £42, £48, £56; Super Saver £7, Monday and Tuesday afternoons in term time; penguin aid £5 (website, 5 November)
Booking online or at the rink; booking mistakes are not refunded
Address Steyne Gardens, Brighton Road, Worthing, BN11 3EA
Website worthingicerink.com
Good for covered rink, longest season, carers skate free, cafe, lessons, birthday parties

A longer drive into Kent

6. The Ice Rink at Bluewater

Open now, and the first of the Christmas rinks to start. It is about 27 miles north of Crowborough, outside The Village at the shopping centre. Bluewater’s page gives 45-minute sessions with skate hire included, and says it is open on Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Children aged 8 and under must have an adult ticket holder on the ice, and those aged 9 to 12 need an adult watching. The calendar has parent and toddler, quiet, Skate & Sing and disco sessions.

Spectators have a raised viewing platform.

Open 5 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed Christmas Day; times vary, for example session starts from 4pm on 10 November and 10am to 8pm on 14 November
Price off peak £15 adult, £13 child, £46 family; peak £17, £15, £56; £1.50 more per ticket on the day, £6 more for a family (booking system, 5 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 skate hire included, parent and toddler sessions, quiet sessions, disco nights

7. Planet Ice Gillingham

A permanent indoor rink about 28 miles from Crowborough, the one to use outside the Christmas season and the only rink here with a Christmas Day session published so far. Sessions are longer than at the Christmas rinks: the booking system listed 11am to 1pm and 1pm to 4.30pm on Saturday 7 November.

Under-8s must have an adult on the ice, under-12s must wear gloves, and under-13s need an adult in the building. Weekday prices can be lower, as on Tuesday 10 November, so compare days before you book.

Open all year; public sessions most days, times vary; Christmas Day 10am to 12pm
Price adult (16 and over) and child (4 to 15) £15.40 on Saturday 7 November, £11.75 on Tuesday 10 November; student £10; under 4s £3.20; Christmas Day skate £10; skate hire extra and a 4% online booking fee (booking system, 5 November; fee and hire 3 November)
Booking online or at the rink
Address Ambley Road, Gillingham Business Park, Gillingham, ME8 0PU
Website planet-ice.co.uk
Good for all year, longer sessions, Christmas Day skate, student price

Not running or not confirmed

  • Crowborough, Uckfield, Hailsham, Heathfield and Forest Row: we found no ice rink for 2026. Uckfield’s and Hailsham’s town council websites list none. Uckfield’s late-night shopping evening had a roller rink in 2025; we found no 2026 listing.
  • South of England Winter Fair, Ardingly (21 and 22 November): the fair’s page has an “Ice Skating Tickets 2026” button, but on 5 November it still opened a booking page dated 22 November 2025, so 2026 times and prices are not out.
  • Crawley: we found only old seasons at Goffs Park and Tilgate Park, and nothing for 2026.

How we chose

These are the rinks people around Crowborough, Uckfield and Hailsham search for when the area has none, chosen from the public record rather than on taste. We took real ice within about 30 miles with a 2026 season 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 5 November 2026, except where an entry gives an earlier date; Burgess Hill’s rink is from the town council’s festival programme. We left out the London rinks as a longer trip from here.

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

More for Christmas around Crowborough:

Frequently asked questions

Is there an ice rink in Crowborough this Christmas?

We found none in Crowborough, Uckfield, Hailsham, Heathfield or Forest Row for Christmas 2026. The nearest is Icescape Tunbridge Wells in Calverley Grounds, about 7 miles from Crowborough, open 26 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 and closed on Christmas Day. Tickets start at £10 for a child and £15 for an adult, booked online at least a day ahead, with skate hire included.

What is the cheapest ice skating near Crowborough?

The Burgess Hill Christmas Festival rink is free on 28 and 29 November, with skates provided and no booking, but it is synthetic. On real ice, Worthing has £7 Super Saver sessions at the rink on Monday and Tuesday afternoons in term time, Winterland in Eastbourne lists £8 for Monday to Thursday sessions before 3pm from 1 to 11 December, and Tulleys Farm charges £8.95 for under 16s and £9.95 for adults for 30 minutes.

Which ice rink near Crowborough is open on Christmas Day?

Planet Ice Gillingham, about 28 miles away, lists a £10 Christmas Day skate from 10am to 12pm, with skate hire extra. Icescape Tunbridge Wells, Tulleys Farm and Bluewater are closed that day. Worthing Ice Rink and Winterland had not published Christmas Day times on 5 November 2026. No trains run that day.