18 of Lauderdale House's 30 Santa's grotto slots on 5 and 6 December had sold out by 7 October. Ally Pally's grotto runs 4 to 23 December at £14 a child.

Two Santa’s grottos near Crouch End have published their 2026 dates, and one of them is already more than half sold out. Lauderdale House in Highgate has Santa in its Long Gallery on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December, and when we checked on 7 October, 18 of its 30 half-hour slots were marked sold out. Alexandra Palace runs a longer grotto in the East Court from Friday 4 to Wednesday 23 December, at £14 a child.

The third local grotto, at the St Mary’s Church Tower in Hornsey, has not announced a 2026 date yet.

Quick answer

Grotto Dates Price Booking
Lauderdale House, Highgate Hill N6 5HG Sat 5 and Sun 6 December, slots 10am to 5.30pm £12.50 per child plus £1 booking fee; parents free Half-hour slots, 18 of 30 sold out on 7 October
Alexandra Palace, East Court N22 7AY Fri 4 to Wed 23 December £14 per child; up to two adults per child’s ticket Five-minute sessions, times in the booking calendar
St Mary’s Church Tower, Hornsey N8 7NT Not announced for 2026 Not announced Run by Weston Park Primary School’s parents’ association

Lauderdale House, 5 and 6 December

Lauderdale House turns its Long Gallery into a grotto for one weekend. Children wait with free winter colouring-in, then Ken the Elf takes them in to meet Father Christmas, with a photo stop by a giant snowman on the way. Each child has a chat with Santa and goes home with a present (Lauderdale House).

How booking works. You book a half-hour slot, and within it children take turns to meet Father Christmas with the adults who came with them. It costs £12.50 per child, and parents go free. Every ticket, including any bought on the door, carries a £1 booking fee. Because Santa has a present for every child, babies need a ticket too. Phone bookings go through the house on 020 8348 8716.

What is left. Slots run every half hour from 10am to 5.30pm on both days, with no 1pm slot. On 7 October the house’s booking page showed:

Day Sold out Still bookable
Saturday 5 December 10am, 10.30am, 11am, 11.30am, 12pm, 2pm, 3.30pm, 4.30pm 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 2.30pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 5.30pm
Sunday 6 December 10am, 10.30am, 11am, 11.30am, 12pm, 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 3pm, 4pm, 4.30pm 2pm, 2.30pm, 3.30pm, 5pm, 5.30pm

Every morning slot on both days had gone. If you want this one, the afternoon is what remains.

Refunds are tight. The house refunds only if you tell it at least seven days before the event and someone on the waiting list takes your place. It changes a slot only if there is room in the new one and you ask more than six weeks ahead, or a waiting-list family takes your old slot. The house also warns that large mobility scooters may not fit its lift, and asks you to ring first if that is a concern.

Lauderdale House is in Waterlow Park on Highgate Hill, N6 5HG, on the Camden side of the hill. The same weekend, Jacksons Lane holds its first Christmas market on the Sunday, and our Christmas markets page has the rest.

Alexandra Palace, 4 to 23 December

The Palace’s grotto is in the East Court, open from Friday 4 to Wednesday 23 December 2026, and costs £14 per child (Alexandra Palace). The Palace’s rules:

  • You book one ticket per child under 16, and each child’s ticket admits up to two adults.
  • Every child must come with an adult.
  • A session lasts five minutes. Children meet Santa and get a small gift.
  • A 6x4 photo print with Santa is £15, and can be pre-booked at checkout. Other photo packages are sold on the day.

The listing does not print daily opening hours: the times appear when you pick a date in the booking calendar. Questions go to Visitor Services on 020 8365 4343.

The grotto overlaps the Palace’s Festive Skate, which starts on 9 December, and the World Darts Championship, which starts on 11 December and fills the Great Hall. Our Christmas at Ally Pally page has the rink, the workshops and the carols, and the darts page explains the crowds.

Parking. The Palace’s car parks are free for the first 30 minutes, then £2.20 an hour, and Blue Badge holders are not charged (Alexandra Palace). A five-minute grotto visit will usually run past the free half hour once you count the queue.

St Mary’s Church Tower, Hornsey: not announced

The grotto in the old church tower on Hornsey High Street is run by the parents’ association of Weston Park Primary School, which last listed it with the local estate agent Tatlers as partner. On its own booking listing, the last published run was on the first weekend of December, a Friday from 3.30pm to 6.30pm and a Saturday from 2pm to 6pm, at £11.50 a child and £8.50 for a sibling (Weston Park Primary School HSA).

No 2026 date has been published. On that pattern it would fall on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 December, but that is our reading of past years, not an announcement. We will add it here when the association posts it.

Getting about

Christmas Saturdays are busy on the Broadway and on Muswell Hill, and the controlled parking zones still apply. Zone hours are on our parking in Crouch End page, and anything dug up that week is on the roadworks and travel page.

Sources