Colchester Christmas Market 2026

Colchester has two stations that are useful here, both managed by Greater Anglia. Colchester Town, at St Botolph's, is the city centre one, about a quarter of a mile from the High Street in a straight line (worked out from coordinates). It is on a branch line. The main-line station, Colchester (also called Colchester North), is on the London Liverpool Street to Norwich line; Visit Colchester puts it around a 20 minute walk from the centre and says there are regular buses to and from it. Visit Colchester also warns that some stations have limited services on certain days, so check the Sunday trains before counting on Colchester Town.

Colchester's park and ride, at junction 28 of the A12, does not run on Sundays, so it is no help for this market on Sunday 6 December. Essex County Council gives its opening times as Monday to Friday 6.30am to 7.30pm and Saturday 7am to 7.30pm, and Visit Colchester describes it as a Monday to Saturday service. The park and ride page lists no extra Sunday buses for the market. For other days, an adult ticket is £3.20 and a group ticket for up to two adults and three children arriving in one car is £5.40 (read October 2026).

With no park and ride on a Sunday, drivers need a city centre car park. Colchester City Council charges the same rates Monday to Sunday. St Mary's and St John's are the two big multi-storeys; Priory Street and Vineyard Street are smaller. St John's is locked from 7pm to 5am, and St Mary's closes its entrance at 10pm from Friday to Sunday, though you can still drive out. Blue Badge holders park free for up to three hours in any ordinary bay with the badge and clock on display. The council also has a cheaper four-hour rate of £3.70 through the MiPermit app (read October 2026). The High Street itself is given over to the stalls.

Nothing specific has been published for the market. Visit Colchester's access page says Blue Badge holders get three hours free in all city council car parks, and in the Blue Badge bays on the High Street, North Hill and Museum Street/Castle Bailey. The page does not say whether the High Street bays stay in use when the street is filled with stalls, so plan on a car park or the other streets. St Mary's car park has 11 disabled bays and 8 Shopmobility bays. Visit Colchester adds that several local buses are low-floor, some with space for a wheelchair.

On the same day, Sunday 6 December 2026, the Moot Hall Christmas Gift Market is inside Colchester Town Hall from 10am to 4pm. The Colchester Ice Rink in Culver Square is listed from Saturday 5 December 2026 into the new year, and booking is advised. Visit Colchester's guided walk, A Colchester Christmas, is on Saturday 5 December. The season opens three weeks earlier with the Christmas Light Switch-On Parade on Saturday 14 November, from 5pm, going from the Mercury Theatre along the High Street.

The High Street runs through the middle of the old walled town, with Colchester Castle and Castle Park at its east end. Anywhere inside the line of the Roman wall is a few minutes' walk from the stalls, and so is the area around Colchester Town station. The main-line station is about 20 minutes away on foot, down the hill to the north, with buses in between.