Santa in Farnham 2026: Sleigh Routes From 8 December

Farnham Round Table’s Santa’s Sleigh is touring six parts of Farnham on Tuesday to Thursday evenings from 8 to 17 December 2026, starting in Chantrys and finishing in the town centre. It is free, and the collection goes to Farnham Foodbank. Godalming has a free grotto with a gift on Saturday 28 November, and Birdworld’s Santa show runs for six days before Christmas.

Updated 7 October: the Rural Life Living Museum at Tilford has put its Santa Specials on sale, on five days from 12 to 20 December, adults £17 and children £20. Its earlier listing for 11 December has gone.

Updated 17 October: Squire’s has published its 2026 grottos and Breakfast with Santa for Badshot Lea, Frensham and Milford, from Saturday 21 November. Grotto tickets are £14 a child in November and £17 in December, up from £10 last year. Details are in the Squire’s section below.

The quick answer

• Santa’s Sleigh 2026: Chantrys on Tuesday 8 December, then Folly Hill, Rowledge, Heath End and South Farnham, with Central Farnham on Thursday 17 December. Santa is out from about 6pm.
• Free grotto, gift included: Godalming Museum garden, Saturday 28 November, 10am to 4pm, last entry 3.30pm.
• Birdworld’s Santa show: 19 to 24 December, included with admission.
• Squire’s grottos at Badshot Lea, Frensham and Milford: from Saturday 21 November, £14 a child in November, £17 in December, two adults free.
• Steam train to Santa’s grotto: Rural Life Living Museum, Tilford, 12 to 20 December, pre-booked only, adults £17, children £20.

Santa’s Sleigh routes 2026

The 2026 dates are on the Round Table’s live Santa Tracker, which also shows each street map and, on the night, where the sleigh is. The Round Table says Santa is out between about 6pm and 8pm, and that bad weather may stop the sleigh covering every road (Farnham Round Table, Santa’s Sleigh).

Watch the dates. The Round Table’s own event page still shows last year’s routes, which ran a day later, from Folly Hill on 9 December to Central Farnham on 18 December. The tracker was updated for 2026 on 18 September, so use it.

Volunteers collect cash on the route, or you can give online. The Round Table says it raised over £4,000 a year for Farnham Foodbank between 2021 and 2024.

Godalming’s free grotto, Saturday 28 November

Godalming Town Council’s Christmas Festival Market has a free Santa’s Grotto, with a gift, in the Godalming Museum garden from 10am to 4pm. Last entry is 3.30pm. Go in through the rear entrance off South Street car park. Children can write a wish letter there and post it to Reindeer Land (Godalming Town Council, Christmas Festival 2026). The rest of that day’s market, and Farncombe’s lights switch-on on 4 December, when the Round Table’s sleigh visits, are on our Godalming Christmas page.

Birdworld: Santa’s Magical Christmas Show, 19 to 24 December

Birdworld at Holt Pound runs an interactive Santa show, with a gift for every child, from Saturday 19 to Thursday 24 December. There are five shows a day, at 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm, and you choose a time when you arrive. There is no separate ticket: the show comes with Birdworld admission (Birdworld what’s on). Birdworld calls it six days only and advises booking early.

Entry booked at least a day ahead costs £22.95 for adults and for children aged 2 to 15, £20.95 for over 60s and students, and nothing for under 2s. On the day, every ticket is £2 more (Birdworld FAQs). In winter the park closes at 4.30pm, with last entry at 4pm.

Squire’s garden centres: Badshot Lea, Frensham and Milford

Squire’s put its 2026 Christmas events on sale in mid-October. Its online listings show the grotto, the quiet grotto and Breakfast with Santa at all three of its centres near Farnham: Badshot Lea, Frensham and Milford (Squire’s Christmas events).

Meet Santa in his Magical Grotto runs from Saturday 21 November to Christmas Eve (Squire’s grotto page):

• Saturdays, 10am to 4pm
• Sundays, 11am to 4pm
• every day from Monday 21 to Thursday 24 December, 10am to 4pm

Each child gets a wrapped gift and an “I’ve Seen Santa” badge, and new this year makes reindeer food to take home.

Last year the grotto was £10 a child and Breakfast with Santa £20 a child and £11 an adult (Squire’s, Festive Fun Awaits, 2025). Booking in November is the cheaper option this year.

The grotto rules worth knowing before you book:

• groups are capped at five people
• tickets cannot be refunded or transferred
• a baby under one needs a ticket only if you want them to get a gift
• grotto photo booklets cost £9 for one when bought online, or £10 on the day

Breakfast with Santa is a cooked breakfast with Santa visiting each table (Squire’s Breakfast with Santa page). It starts at 8am on Saturdays and 9am on Sundays from 21 November to 20 December, then 8am every day from 21 to 24 December. Every ticket must be bought at least 48 hours ahead, and Squire’s says it suits children aged 3 to 10.

A quiet grotto for children with additional needs runs from 1pm to 4pm. Squire’s page gives the dates as “Friday 29 November” and Monday 21 December. 29 November 2026 is a Sunday, so check the date in the booking calendar.

£1 from each grotto ticket and each child’s breakfast ticket goes to the centre’s charity of the year:

• Badshot Lea: Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity
• Frensham: Woodlarks Accessible Campsite
• Milford: The Green Hub Project for Teens

Rural Life Living Museum, Tilford

The museum’s Santa Specials are on sale for five days in December, and only pre-booked tickets get in (Santa Specials, Christmas 2026):

At your booked time a steam-hauled train leaves Reeds Road Station, by the main entrance, for the North Pole Station, and from there it is a short walk through the trees to the grotto. Families go in one group at a time. Every child up to 12 gets a named gift, so the museum takes names and ages when you book. On the museum’s booking page an adult ticket is £17 and a child’s, from age one, is £20, or £20 and £21 if you add the optional donation. Babies under one do not need a ticket, but put their name and age in the booking notes so there is a present ready.

The Santa Special is not included in an annual pass or a normal admission ticket. Wheelchairs cannot go on the heritage carriages, though wheelchair users can reach the grotto by the footpaths, and pushchairs have to be folded and handed to the guard. The museum’s earlier listing for Friday 11 December has been taken down. On the evening of Friday 18 December, after that day’s Santa sessions, it holds A Night before Christmas: the historic buildings lit up, live music, mince pies, mulled wine and marshmallows by the campfire, with the Old Kiln Light Railway running after dark (A Night before Christmas). The museum then closes from 24 December to 16 January (opening times).

Santa at the lights switch-on

Farnham’s switch-on in Gostrey Meadow on Saturday 14 November has Santa in his grotto among the afternoon’s attractions. Times and parking are on our Christmas lights switch-on page.

Still to be confirmed

• Nothing outstanding: every grotto on this page now has its 2026 dates and prices.

We will update this page as each is published. For getting about in December, see our Farnham parking page and Farnham Christmas trains.