Greek winter in London has its own sound: skates scraping the ice under fairy lights, kids pushing penguin skating aids, and the argument about whether a freddo still counts in November. This winter London has seven outdoor and indoor rinks worth your time, from the palace rinks at Hampton Court and Greenwich to the giant one at Winter Wonderland. Secret London collected the 2026 opening dates, and we added what matters to us: how to get there and where the nearest Greek coffee, souvlaki or bouzouki night is when your toes give up.
A few rules before you lace up. Every rink sells timed sessions of about an hour, and the weekend evening slots in December go first, so book the first week after a rink opens for cheaper tickets and shorter queues. Gloves are compulsory at most rinks and skate hire is included almost everywhere. The dates below are the official 2026 dates at the time of writing, but check each site before you drag the whole family across London.
The rinks are in order of opening date. One that is not coming back this year: Canary Wharf, which is taking a break.
The first rink of the season runs from 31 October to 3 January in the middle of the West End, a compact rink ringed by the Christmas market stalls of Leicester Square. It is not the prettiest, but it is the easiest to combine with a show, the cinema or a late dinner, and the natural choice for a weeknight skate with colleagues.
Getting there: Leicester Square (Northern and Piccadilly lines) is next to the rink; Charing Cross and Piccadilly Circus are a five minute walk.
Greek stop nearby: Elysée on 13 Percy Street in Fitzrovia, a fifteen minute walk up Charing Cross Road. Greek food, a roof terrace and live Greek music: this is where a skate turns into a proper evening out.
Glide opens on 6 November and runs to 3 January under the four white chimneys of Battersea Power Station. This is the rink for a date: the backdrop is spectacular after dark, the bars around it are warm, and the shops and cafes inside the power station give parents somewhere dry to sit while the teenagers do another session.
Getting there: Battersea Power Station on the Northern line extension, or the Uber Boat river bus to Battersea Power Station pier.
If you only skate once, this is the one. The courtyard of Somerset House on the Strand becomes a rink from 11 November to the second weekend of January, with a giant Christmas tree at one end and the lit facades all around you. It is the rink Londoners photograph, and the DJ nights are for people who want to skate to something other than Mariah Carey. Tickets go through a sign up on the Somerset House site, so register early.
Greek bonus: the Parthenon Marbles are fifteen minutes away on foot.
Getting there: Temple (District and Circle lines) is three minutes away; Charing Cross and Covent Garden are both under ten minutes on foot.
Greenwich gets its rink from 18 November to 3 January in front of the white colonnades of the Queen’s House, with the park rising behind it. It is the calmest rink on this list, loved by families from south east London, and the Cutty Sark, the market and the climb to the Observatory make it a full day out.
Getting there: Cutty Sark on the DLR is a five minute walk; Greenwich station (Southeastern and DLR) and the Uber Boat pier are both close.
The biggest open air rink in the country opens with Winter Wonderland on 19 November and runs to 3 January, wrapped around the Victorian bandstand in Hyde Park. It is loud, busy and enormous fun with a big parea. Entry to Winter Wonderland is ticketed at peak times, so check whether your skating slot includes it. The Greek angle is the geography: three Greek List members sit on the edges of the park.
Getting there: Hyde Park Corner and Marble Arch for the main gates; Lancaster Gate for the north side of the park.
Greek stop nearby: Chill House Coffee on 10 Shepherd Street in Mayfair, a short walk from the Hyde Park Corner gate, for a freddo or a Greek coffee before you skate. Halepi on 18 Leinster Terrace in Bayswater, next to Lancaster Gate, is the classic Greek Cypriot taverna for dinner afterwards. It’s All Greek To Me on 101 Praed Street by Paddington does the souvlaki wrap to eat on the way home.
The rink in front of the Tudor west front of Hampton Court Palace runs from 20 November to 3 January, extended by eight metres this year and strung with 18,000 fairy lights. It is the furthest from central London, but the train from Waterloo takes about 35 minutes and the palace, the maze and the riverside pubs make it a full winter Sunday, ideal for grandparents visiting from Greece or Cyprus.
Getting there: Hampton Court station (South Western Railway from Waterloo) is across the bridge from the palace, about five minutes on foot.
The indoor rink at Alexandra Palace is the local secret of the north London Greeks: open all year, cheaper than the pop up rinks, with public sessions every day and disco nights. Plenty of Greek Cypriot kids from Palmers Green and Southgate learned to skate here, and the view over the city from the terrace is free. When the December crowds put you off, this is where a Greek winter in London continues in January.
Palmers Green and its Greek bakeries are a short bus ride away; our North London Greek weekend guide has the full plan.
Getting there: Alexandra Palace station (Great Northern from Moorgate or Finsbury Park) and a ten minute uphill walk, or Wood Green on the Piccadilly line and the W3 bus to the door.
The classic shots are the Somerset House facade from the far end of the ice and Hampton Court at blue hour with the palace lit behind the rink. Phones struggle with dark sky and bright lights, so for a proper family portrait book a photographer: a shoot by the ice is the kind of Greek winter in London picture the grandparents in Greece keep on the fridge for years.
Greek photographers in London: Manos Photography shoots weddings and portraits across London in a natural, unposed style. Aneliza Photography, led by Eirini Gianni, specialises in family and maternity sessions, and a session by the Hampton Court rink is a very different Christmas card.
Most rinks have a bar next to the ice with mulled wine, the closest London gets to rakomelo, but you skate worse after it, so save it for the end. The DJ sessions at Somerset House and Battersea sell out weeks ahead, so put the date in the group chat now. With children under five, Alexandra Palace and Greenwich are far more relaxed than the central rinks.
Not a skater? The rest of your Greek winter in London is in our guides to the Christmas markets and the Christmas lights cover the rest of the season, Greek stops included.
A Greek winter in London is not only skating. The Greek List events page is the most complete list of Greek events in the UK. The next ten days:
Wednesday 4 November: Poetry Evening, The Orpheus Series at Ivy and the Wolf, Crystal Palace, 19:00.
Thursday 5 November: Evangelia: The Parea Tour at XOYO, Shoreditch, 19:00.
Thursday 5 November: Georgia Metaxas: Mnemosyne Grove talk at the Hellenic Centre, Marylebone, 19:00.
Friday 6 November: Gidiki live at Brixton Jamm, 19:30.
Thursday 12 November: Naxatras live at Dingwalls, Camden.
Running a Greek night or a bazaar? Listing an event on Greek List is free.
The restaurants, cafes and photographers in this guide are Greek List members. More than 100,000 Greeks and Cypriots in the UK read Greek List every month on the site, in the newsletter and in the Ellines sto Londino Facebook group, and Greek List listings rank first on Google. Pick a plan and we do the rest.
Which rink is your favourite, and which Greek place do you go to afterwards? Tell us in the Facebook group Ellines sto Londino.
