Father Christmas is at York's National Railway Museum on 5-6, 12-14 and 18-23 December, £15 a child with a gift. Entry is free; relaxed visits are sold out.

Quick answer: yes, it is on. The National Railway Museum’s Christmas season runs from Thursday 12 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, and Father Christmas is in a historic train carriage in Station Hall on 5 and 6, 12 to 14, and 18 to 23 December, 11am to 4pm. It costs £15 per child, including a wrapped present; adults go free but must book. Museum entry is free. The relaxed Father Christmas session on Sunday 13 December is already sold out.

Everything here is from the museum’s own Christmas page and Father Christmas page, read on 29 October 2026.

Father Christmas: dates, price and what you get
Dates Sat 5 and Sun 6 Dec; Sat 12 to Mon 14 Dec; Fri 18 to Wed 23 Dec
Times Slots between 11am and 4pm
Price £15 per child; adults free, but they must be booked
Ages Children aged 1 to 12
Where The Guard’s compartment of the Tri-Composite carriage, Platform 6, Station Hall

The museum says each family gets its own visit of up to five minutes with Father Christmas and his elf. Each child booked gets:

  • an age-appropriate wrapped present
  • a voucher for a mini loaded hot chocolate in the Station Hall Café
  • a 10% voucher for the museum shop or its online shop

Up to two adults can go into the carriage with the children, and you can take your own photographs. Babies under one can go in with an older brother or sister but do not get their own visit or present, and the museum only sells tickets to children aged one and over. Arrive at the event area in Station Hall at least 10 minutes before the time on your ticket.

To book, you pick a free museum admission date first and then add the Father Christmas slot, through the museum’s booking page.

The relaxed session has sold out

The relaxed Father Christmas session, for children with additional needs, was set for Sunday 13 December, 11am to 1pm. The museum’s relaxed experiences page now says it is sold out. It notes that the carriage has a ramp and some visitors will need help getting in.

What else is on at Christmas, and what is free

Museum entry is free all season. Between 12 November and 3 January the museum is running free family activities: writing a letter to Father Christmas, winter science at the STEM Shed stations, and designing a calendar for the year ahead. It says a fuller programme of seasonal events and music is still being planned and will go on its Christmas page; we will add it here when it does.

Two things cost extra:

  • Wonderlab: The Bramall Gallery. Day tickets start at £9.90 and an annual pass is £17, with under-3s and carers free. If you book Wonderlab for the same day as a Father Christmas visit, in the same transaction, you get 25% off either ticket. You can also get the discount on the day by showing your Father Christmas ticket (Wonderlab).
  • Afternoon tea in the Countess of York carriage, in Station Hall. The menu page lists £38.95 a head, £46.50 with prosecco and £19.50 for the children’s menu, with bookings for up to six people (Countess of York).

Opening times over Christmas

  • Daily, 10am to 5pm, last admission 4.30pm. Wonderlab is 10am to 4.30pm, last admission 3.30pm.
  • Closed 24, 25 and 26 December. The museum says it is open seven days a week apart from those three days.
  • Station Hall is closed all day on Thursday 10 December. That is not a Father Christmas day, but it is the hall with the carriage, the café and the afternoon tea, so check before planning a visit that day.

Admission tickets are free but the museum recommends booking, especially in busy periods. It says tickets are usually released six weeks ahead, so the last days before Christmas open up in mid-November. Walk-up entry is available, with a longer wait when it is busy (visit page).

Getting there and parking

The museum is on Leeman Road, YO26 4XJ, behind York station. Its two buildings, Station Hall and Great Hall, have separate entrances, and building work for a new Central Hall entrance is still going on, so the museum asks visitors to follow its signs rather than online maps (travel information).

  • On foot from the station or city centre: go through the Marble Arch pedestrian tunnel under the railway, cross the road, turn left and follow Hudson Boulevard. This is the step-free route; the footbridge route from inside the station has stairs.
  • Bus: the 59 Poppleton Bar Park and Ride stops at the museum, seven days a week. Our park and ride at Christmas page has the festive timetable.
  • Car: the museum’s car park on Leeman Road costs £10 a day, paid inside either building before you leave, and closes at 6.30pm. Blue Badge parking there is free. Station Hall takes cards only.

From 12 November the city centre footstreets are barriered off for the Christmas Market on market days, so if you are driving across the centre, read our Christmas Market barriers story first. For every car park in town see parking in York, and for closures on the way in, York roadworks this week.

Other places to see Father Christmas in York

The railway museum is one of several. Our Santa in York page compares the rest, from Santa’s Cabin at the Designer Outlet to Murton Park’s train ride and the chocolate tour, and Christmas at York Castle Museum has its Victorian street dressed for Christmas Eve. For trains in and out of York over the holidays, see Christmas trains and travel.

Sources