Santa in Cheltenham 2026: Steam Trains and Grottos

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway’s Santa trains are already selling out. Sunday 20 December is gone at every departure, and three more sessions have no seats left. The railway has also made one big change for 2026: every Santa train now leaves from Toddington, near Winchcombe, not from anywhere in Cheltenham. Closer to town, Webbs garden centre on Evesham Road has its grotto booking open from 5 December. This page has the dates, times and prices for both, taken from the operators’ own booking pages.

The quick answer

GWSR Santa Express: weekends from 28 November, then every day from 19 to 23 December. Trains leave Toddington (GL54 5DT) at 10:00, 11:45, 13:45 and 15:30. Tickets are £32 for adults and children alike, babies under 12 months free, plus a £1.50 booking fee. Webbs grotto, Evesham Road: 5 to 24 December, £15 a child, £9 for a baby, £5 for each adult or teenager. Book both in advance.

GWSR Santa Express, from Toddington

The heritage railway runs its Santa Express from Saturday 28 November to Wednesday 23 December 2026. New for 2026, “all trains will depart from Toddington Station”. It is a three-mile steam run to Winchcombe, which is dressed as the North Pole. The ride takes 10 to 15 minutes each way, and you get about an hour and twenty minutes there (GWSR, Santa Specials).

Every child meets Santa and gets a gift and an activity book. Children aged 12 months and over get a snack and a drink. Adults get a hot drink and a mince pie, with mulled wine as an option. The railway says check-in is in the morning and asks you to arrive in good time.

These are the departures and what was sold out on 25 September (GWSR booking system):

Prices. Adults and children are both £32.00. A child under 12 months travels free, but you still book a ticket and give the month and year of birth. Online bookings carry a £1.50 booking fee. A carer ticket is £6 and has to be arranged by email with the railway’s office. The booking page also says the event “is designed solely with Children in mind, unaccompanied adults will not be allowed entry” (GWSR, Santa Specials 2026).

A family of two adults and two children therefore pays £128 plus the £1.50 fee. The weekday dates just before Christmas, 21 to 23 December, had every departure still on sale when we checked. They fall after Gloucestershire’s state schools break up on Friday 18 December (see term dates).

Webbs grotto, Evesham Road

Webbs’ Cheltenham garden centre is on Evesham Road, GL50 4SJ (Webbs Cheltenham). Its Christmas grotto runs from Saturday 5 to Thursday 24 December 2026 (Webbs, the Christmas Grotto):

• Saturday 5 December: 9.30am to 5pm
• Saturdays 12 and 19 December: 9am to 5pm
• Sundays 6, 13 and 20 December: 10am to 4pm
• Weekdays from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 December: 9am to 5pm (Friday 18, then Monday 21 to Wednesday 23)
• Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December: 9am to 4pm

Tickets are £15 per child, which covers the visit to Santa, a gift and two activities. A baby under 12 months is £9, with a gift. Every adult and every teenager aged 13 and over needs a £5 ticket, and that ticket includes no present. You can bring up to four adults per booking. There are no weekday sessions before Friday 18 December. The activities are posting a letter to Santa, making reindeer food, choosing a toy and decorating gingerbread. Parking on site is free.

What is still to confirm

Webbs has not published how many sessions remain on each day. The GWSR trains will keep selling out. We will check both again in early November, and add any other Cheltenham grottos as their organisers publish 2026 dates.

More Christmas in Cheltenham

• Cheltenham Christmas market, on the Promenade from 10 to 23 December
• Christmas lights and pantomimes
• Christmas trains and buses

Checked on 25 September 2026 against the GWSR and Webbs booking pages.