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Winter can be cold and rubbish. It can be frosty and wet and dark, but that’s why we have things like fairy lights, hot chocolate, and ice skating.
Ice skating has become a quintessential Christmas activity, taking the freezing temperatures of winter and turning them into something fun, albeit treacherous for the uncoordinated among us. Across the world, temporary ice rinks start popping up in mid-November, and remain until we are plunged into the real darkness that is January. They tend to be in Christmas markets, or town squares, or sometimes randomly outside of shopping centres, and there are a lot of them.
But the very best is in London, according to research from ferry operator DSDF, which has used Google search data find the most popular outdoor ice rinks in Europe. And, by some way, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland has taken the crown. With more than 115,000 searches, it beat Budapest’s Városligeti Műjégpálya, which came second, by more than 40,000. Not too shabby.
The ice rink at Winter Wonderland is the biggest of its kind in the UK. Built around a Victorian bandstand underneath hundreds of ‘twinkling lights’, it’s open for 12 hours a day between 10am-10pm. Admittedly, like everything else in London, it’s a bit pricey, between £11.50 and £16.50 for a single adult for only 45 minutes, but at least your skates are included. Sometimes there’s even live music from the bandstand.
It’s also worth noting that depending on when you go, you might have to pay a separate admission fee to Winter Wonderland itself, which can go up to £7.50. Also, ice skating is pretty popular, so book ahead to avoid being turned away at the door. If that sounds stressful and you think that Winter Wonderland just isn’t for you, fret not! We’ve got a list of all the very best rinks in the city, so you’ve got plenty of options. Don’t say we haven’t got your back.
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