Chatsworth Christmas Market 2026

There is no station at Chatsworth, so the train only gets you part of the way. Chatsworth says Matlock is the nearest station, with the Stagecoach 160 bus running from Matlock to the house on Mondays to Fridays only. For most people Chesterfield is the more useful railhead: it is on East Midlands Railway's main line, about 30 minutes away by road, and the Stagecoach 170 runs from Chesterfield station to Bakewell via Chatsworth. From Sheffield, the 218 to Bakewell leaves the Interchange across the road from the station and stops at Chatsworth daily. The bus stop is at the house car park, a short walk from the market on Lodge Hill. Check timetables with the operators before you travel.

For 2026 Chatsworth runs its own park and ride from Calton Lees car park (DE4 2NX), at the southern end of the park off the B6012 between Edensor and Beeley. It operates on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only, from Saturday 7 November to Sunday 13 December. The price is per vehicle, not per person: £20 on Fridays and £25 on Saturdays and Sundays (October 2026), and it must be booked online beforehand. Buses run from 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm and drop you beside the market. The last bus back leaves at 5pm, there is no other transport if you miss it, and the bus is not wheelchair accessible. Vehicles with ten or more seats are not accepted.

Walking into the market is free, but you cannot simply drive up. Every car parking at Chatsworth during the market must have a ticket bought on the Chatsworth website before the day; none are sold at the gate and Chatsworth asks people without a booking not to drive there. Full day parking is from £25 a car and parking after 3pm from £15 (October 2026), with the exact price for each date shown in the booking calendar. Chatsworth Friends park free but must still book. There is no re-entry once you leave. When the main car park fills, cars go onto trackway in the parkland with a tractor and trailer shuttle. Expect mud and bring sturdy shoes.

The market is on a slope, Lodge Hill, and pedestrian trackway covers the unpaved parts. Ramps from Lodge Hill onto the trackway are available for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and pushchairs: ask anyone in a Chatsworth hi-vis top. Accessible toilets and a Changing Places toilet are by the house entrance at the bottom of the hill. Blue Badge holders pay for parking like everyone else and must book ahead; show the badge on arrival and marshals will direct you to the disabled area in the main car park or, once that is full, to a space near a shuttle stop. The tractor and trailer shuttle takes wheelchairs. The Calton Lees park and ride bus does not.

The market runs alongside Christmas at Chatsworth, the decorated house with a light and sound trail in the garden, from 7 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. Tickets for that are £40 for adults and £12 for children aged 3 to 16 (October 2026), must be booked ahead, and include one parking space and entry to the market on dates up to 13 December. Christmas in the Garden, the light trail without the house, covers the same dates at £24 and £12. Storytime with Father Christmas at the farmyard runs from 28 November to 13 December and again from 18 to 23 December. A market parking ticket on its own does not get you into the house, garden or farmyard.

Chatsworth is in open parkland, so very little is within walking distance. The estate villages of Edensor, Pilsley and Baslow are the nearest places to stay, and buses to Chatsworth stop in all three. Bakewell is the nearest town and is linked by the 218 and 170 buses. Staying further out, in Matlock or Chesterfield, means a bus or a pre-booked parking space.