Dobbies Ashford's grotto opens Sunday 22 November at £15 to £17 a child. The Rare Breeds Centre runs from 28 November at £29; Santa trains from £100 a table.

Three places in and around Ashford have put a 2026 Santa visit on sale, and all three were taking bookings on 20 October: Dobbies at Eureka Leisure Park from Sunday 22 November, the Rare Breeds Centre at Woodchurch from Saturday 28 November, and the Kent and East Sussex Railway’s Santa Specials from Tenterden from Sunday 29 November. Everything below was read from each operator’s own booking page that day.

The quick answer

Cheapest: Dobbies Ashford, £15 to £17 a child, from 22 November to 24 December. Biggest day out: the Rare Breeds Centre, £29 a child and £18.50 an adult with the whole farm included. Most likely to sell out: the Tenterden Santa trains, where the cheapest tables for two are already gone on 29 November and Christmas Eve. Ashford Designer Outlet has not announced a 2026 grotto.

Grotto Dates Child Adult
Dobbies, Eureka Leisure Park 22 Nov to 24 Dec £15 to £17 Up to 2 adults go in with each child
Rare Breeds Centre, Woodchurch 28 Nov to 23 Dec £29 £18.50 (senior £15.75)
Santa Specials, Tenterden 10 dates, 29 Nov to 24 Dec Per table, from £100 for two Per table

Dobbies Ashford: from Sunday 22 November

Dobbies Garden Centre, Rutherford Road, Eureka Leisure Park, TN25 4BN, is running its Santa’s Grotto from 22 November to 24 December, with tickets “from £15 to £17” (Dobbies). Ashford is on the chain’s list of stores running the full grotto rather than the smaller in-store Meet Santa.

  • What happens: children make a wish at a wishing well, go through a “magic door” into a North Pole village of grotto shops, finish at a Penguin Post Office, then meet Santa. Every child with a ticket gets a penguin soft toy.
  • Sessions are ten minutes apart. The first Ashford slots are on Sunday 22 November from 12pm to 1.40pm. On Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November they run from 10am to about 4.50pm, with a lunchtime gap from 1pm to 2pm.
  • Arrive on time, not early. Dobbies says to come no more than five minutes before your slot, and you will not be let in ahead of it.
  • Two adults at most with each child, because of space in the grotto. It may be outside, so dress for the weather.
  • Photos: a printed photo with Santa costs extra; pre-booking a package saves 20%.

Quiet Grotto. For children with additional needs, Dobbies Ashford has two Quiet Grotto days: Friday 4 December, 2.10pm to 5.30pm, and Tuesday 8 December, 9.10am to 12.30pm, at £15 a child. Music is off, twinkling lights are switched off, fewer families go in each slot, and Dobbies emails photos of the grotto beforehand so children know what to expect. Pre-booked only (Dobbies).

Santa’s Breakfast is a 90-minute family breakfast with Santa, a tree-decorating activity and a gift for each child, from £16.50 a child and £9 an adult, every adult needing a ticket. The first Ashford sittings are 8.30am on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November (Dobbies).

Santa Paws, for dogs, runs at Ashford on Sundays 6, 13 and 20 December and Wednesday 16 and Tuesday 22 December, at £12 to £13.50 a dog (Dobbies).

Rare Breeds Centre, Woodchurch: from Saturday 28 November

The Canterbury Oast Trust’s farm at Highlands Farm, Woodchurch, TN26 3RJ, runs A Truly Magical Christmas from 28 November to 23 December, with standard and SEN grotto sessions both on sale (Rare Breeds Centre). Its booking site prices it at £29 a child aged 2 to 15, £18.50 an adult, £15.75 a senior (60+) and £17.50 for an under-2 with a present (booking site).

It costs more than Dobbies because it is a whole day out: the ticket includes entry to the farm, a show with Father Christmas in the Cattle Barn, a craft activity and a gift for each paying child. Which days it opens, what is in the show and how parking works are on our Rare Breeds Centre Christmas page.

Santa Specials, Tenterden: from Sunday 29 November

The Kent and East Sussex Railway runs Santa trains from Tenterden Town station, TN30 6HE, on ten dates: 29 November; 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 22, 23 and 24 December (Kent and East Sussex Railway). Santa hands each child a named present at their seat during a 75-minute steam journey.

You book a table or compartment, not a seat. On 20 October the railway’s own chart showed the cheapest option, a standard class table for two (£100 on 29 November, £115 to £120 later), sold out on 29 November and 24 December and down to the “last few” on every other date. Tables for three were “last few” on nine dates. First class tables for two (£150 to £170) were still showing “book now” on all ten. Bookings close seven days before each date. Every package, and the three-hour parking limit at the station, is on our Santa Specials page.

Ashford Designer Outlet: nothing announced

McArthurGlen’s Ashford Designer Outlet has published no 2026 Santa’s grotto. Its What’s On list, checked on 20 October, carried autumn fashion items and a children’s activity trail but nothing for Christmas, and the addresses of its old Christmas market and Santa’s Lodge pages now just send you back to that list. An older Visit Kent listing for a “Santa’s Lodge” at the outlet carries no year, so do not book on the strength of it. We will add the outlet here if it announces one (Ashford Designer Outlet).

Getting there and parking

Dobbies and the Rare Breeds Centre both have their own car parks. Tenterden Town station’s car park is free but limited to three hours, which is fine for a Santa train but not for a longer day in the town. For town centre options on a grotto-and-shopping day, our parking in Ashford page has every council car park and its charges, and Ashford roadworks and travel lists the closures to plan around.

Other Christmas pages

Sources