The quick answer
| Where | When | Price per child | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Festival Place | 1 Nov – 24 Dec (weekends only until 22 Nov) | £8, present included | Strongly recommended |
| Milestones Museum | 28 Nov – 23 Dec | £18 (under 5) to £35.25 (5 to 15) | Essential |
| Miller’s Ark, Hook | 28–29 Nov, 5–6 and 12–13 Dec | £14 farm entry + £8 grotto | Essential |
| Hatch Warren Christmas Market | Sunday 22 Nov, 12pm – 4pm | £1 entry, Santa booked separately | Santa only |
| 4 Kingdoms, near Thatcham | 22 Nov – 24 Dec | From £35 a person | Essential |
Dates and prices were checked on 4 November 2026. They change, and the popular ones sell out, so check the official sites before you set off.
- Cheapest grotto: Festival Place, at £8 with a present included.
- Santa plus a day out: Milestones, where most tickets include the museum’s new Christmas Carol experience, or 4 Kingdoms.
- Dog in tow: Festival Place says its grotto is dog friendly. Miller’s Ark doesn’t allow visiting dogs on the farm.
- Calmer visits: Festival Place has a quiet session at the start of every Sunday, and 4 Kingdoms runs SEND sessions.
Festival Place
Santa is in Festival Place from 1 November to Christmas Eve: at weekends until 22 November, then every day from 27 November. Tickets are £8 per child, including a present and a wishing coin, and booking ahead is strongly recommended.
It’s the cheapest of the dedicated grottos and the easiest to fit around a shopping trip. The first 30 minutes of every Sunday is a quiet session.
Our Festival Place grotto page has the full opening times, quiet session start times and parking.
Milestones Museum
Milestones runs Meet Father Christmas from 28 November to 23 December. His grotto is inside the museum’s recreated streets, and every ticketed child gets a gift.
New for 2026, on most days a grotto ticket also includes A Christmas Carol Experience, a walk-through Dickens experience in the museum. That explains the price: around £18 for under-5s and £35.25 for children aged 5 to 15, with adult tickets around £31. The listing says a visit also includes free return visits to Milestones for 12 months.
On the Christmas Market weekend (5 and 6 December) the Christmas Carol experience doesn’t run, and grotto tickets for those days include entry to the market instead.
Book early. Last year’s sessions sold out. Parking at the Leisure Park is free.
Miller’s Ark, Hook
Miller’s Ark is a working farm at Manor Farm, Blackstocks Lane, Hook (RG27 9PH), and Santa visits on six Santa Special Open Days: 28–29 November, 5–6 and 12–13 December.
Farm entry is £15 for adults and £14 for children aged 2 and over, and the grotto is £8 extra per child. Only under-10s get grotto presents. Everything has to be pre-booked; a booking gives you an hour and a half on the farm, Santa included. Families who would rather not meet Santa until Christmas Day can come for the animals.
Visiting dogs aren’t allowed on the farm.
Hatch Warren Christmas Market
The Hatch Warren Christmas Market is on Sunday 22 November, 12pm to 4pm, at £1 a person. Santa is there, but his slots are booked separately and bookings opened in October, so check availability before promising anyone.
4 Kingdoms, near Thatcham
Over the Berkshire border at Headley, near Thatcham (RG19 8JY), 4 Kingdoms Adventure Park runs The Magical Christmas Adventure from 22 November to Christmas Eve. It’s a full walk-through Christmas experience with a visit to Santa as part of it, rather than a grotto, and priced accordingly: classic tickets from £35 a person, toddler sessions £29.95 and VIP from £90. There are toddler-friendly and SEND sessions.
Breakfast with Santa
Several pubs and restaurants around Basingstoke, Tadley, Overton, Oakley and Sherborne St John do breakfast or lunch with Santa on December weekends, mostly at around £11 to £13 a child. Love Basingstoke keeps the full list with dates.
Know one we’ve missed?
If there’s a grotto at a school fair, a village hall or a garden centre that deserves a mention, tell us.
Sources
- Visit Santa at Festival Place this Christmas, Festival Place
- Events, Milestones Museum
- Meet Father Christmas, Visit South East England
- The best places to see Father Christmas in Hampshire 2026, Visit Hampshire
- Santa’s Arrival and Open Days, Miller’s Ark Animals
- Where to see Santa in Basingstoke and Deane, Love Basingstoke, October 2026
- Basingstoke Christmas markets 2026, Basingstoke Online