Nottingham Winter Wonderland 2026

Nottingham station on Carrington Street is the one to use; it is managed by East Midlands Railway. Old Market Square is a little under half a mile north of the station in a straight line, an easy walk through the city centre. The tram also links the two: it calls at Nottingham Station and has a stop called Old Market Square right beside the stalls. The organiser warns that there are several periods of planned East Midlands Railway engineering work that could disrupt journeys into Nottingham, so check your train before you set off.

Nottingham has nine park and ride sites. Seven are on the tram, which stops at Old Market Square: parking is free as long as you hold a valid tram ticket from the moment you park. An adult day ticket is £5.80 and a single £3.60 (October 2026). All tram sites have a 2.2m height barrier and disabled spaces, and trams run every 7 to 10 minutes Monday to Saturday and every 10 to 15 minutes on Sundays. The other two sites, Queens Drive (NG2 1AP) and Racecourse (NG2 4BE), are served by Nottingham City Transport buses at £6.50 per car (October 2026).

The organiser names three car parks as the closest to Old Market Square: Lace Market, Trinity Square and Broad Marsh. All three are city council multi-storeys with no maximum stay, where you take a ticket on entry and pay at a machine before you leave. The council publishes an Early Bird rate for weekday visitors who drive in before 9.30am and leave before 6.30pm, shown below as read in October 2026. Street parking nearest the centre is £3 an hour from 8am to 10pm and free overnight. Blue Badge holders park free in on-street pay and display bays.

The organiser describes the site as pushchair and wheelchair friendly, laid out on decking and flat surfaces. The exception is the Ice Bar, whose floor is small stones. The upstairs bars, Sur La Piste and Altitude, are reached by a lift: go in by the gate nearest Slim Chickens and the lift is on the left. There is an accessible toilet downstairs in Sur La Piste. The ice rink and Sky Skate path have ramp access for wheelchairs, with assistance needed. The observation wheel cannot take a wheelchair, though staff will keep your chair on the platform. Carers go free on most attractions, but not the Ice Bar or the wheel. Assistance dogs are welcome.

Winter Wonderland is more than the stalls. The ice rink, Sky Skate path, Ice Bar, observation wheel and the two ski-lodge bars are all in Old Market Square and are paid for separately; they carry on after the market stalls finish on Christmas Eve, through to 31 December, closed on Christmas Day. Out of the centre, the Wollaton Winter Light Trail runs at Wollaton Hall and Deer Park (NG8 2AE) from Wednesday 25 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, according to the tourism board. That one is ticketed and is a bus or car journey from the square, not a walk.

Old Market Square is the middle of Nottingham, so most of the city centre is within a ten minute walk. The Lace Market and Hockley to the east, the streets around the Royal Concert Hall to the north and the area between the square and the railway station to the south are all close. Anywhere on the tram line also works, since the tram stops in the square.