The Edinburgh Tour Guide
There is no ice rink at Edinburgh's Christmas this year. The organisers confirmed it on 26 October, after nearly three decades in which a rink was one of the fixed points of the city centre in winter. The festival itself is going ahead from 14 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 with the markets, the funfair rides and the live events. The skating is the thing that is gone.
The rink has been axed after nearly 30 years. It was in Princes Street Gardens originally, then St Andrew Square, then George Street. It will not be in this year's programme at all.
Two things on the official programme have Ice in the name and neither is a rink. The Polar Ice Bar is over-18s and serves drinks. The Family Ice Experience is a walk through ice sculptures. Booking either one expecting skates is the easy mistake to make.
Murrayfield Ice Arena is open all year and is where skating now happens. £12 from age 5, free under 5, and £4 for skate hire.
The Christmas rink
Not running
Murrayfield, age 5 up
£12 + £4 skates
Ice attractions on the programme
2, no skating
What the organisers confirmed
Edinburgh's Christmas is produced by Unique Assembly, the same company behind Edinburgh's Hogmanay, on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council. Their account of the decision is that it was taken over the summer rather than recently, and that the timing is the reason.
A rink has to be committed months ahead: the supplier, the structures, the site arrangements. Those commitments fell due while part of Princes Street was still closed after the fire at the former Debenhams building, with no certainty about when it would reopen or what the knock-on effects would be. The company also cited significant costs and no opportunity for funding support. It says it hopes the rink returns, without naming a year.
Two attractions have Ice in the name. Neither is skating.
This is the part that will catch people out, because the programme reads as though the skating is still there if you only scan the titles.
| On the programme | Dates | What it actually is |
|---|---|---|
| Family Ice Experience | 21 Nov to 3 Jan | A walk through hand-carved ice sculptures. No skates, no rink. |
| Polar Ice Bar | 19 Nov to 2 Jan | Over-18s only. Drinks served among sculptures, from 16:00. |
| Ice rink | Not running | Axed for 2026 after nearly 30 years. |
Dates read from the Edinburgh's Christmas official programme at edwinterfest.com on 27 October 2026.
The Family Ice Experience is the one to be careful with. It is sold as a family attraction, it starts at midday, and the word in the middle of its name is the word people are searching for. It is a sculpture exhibition you walk around. If what the children want is to fall over on skates for an hour, this is not it.
The official page for the rink is still up, and it is blank
The venue page for ice skating on the festival's own site still loads and still answers to its old address. Opened on 27 October it carries a heading, a link back to the venue list, and nothing else: no dates, no price, and no notice that the rink is not happening. If that page is where you landed, it is not out of date so much as empty.
Where you can still skate, and what it costs
Murrayfield Ice Arena runs public sessions daily and has nothing to do with the Christmas festival, which is precisely why it is unaffected. It is an indoor rink that operates all year, so unlike the seasonal one it is also there in February.
| Murrayfield Ice Arena | Price |
|---|---|
| Admission, age 5 and above | £12 |
| Admission, under 5 | Free |
| Skate hire | £4 |
| Locker | £5 deposit |
Read from murrayfieldicearena.com on 27 October 2026.
The number that matters is the one nobody adds up on the way out of the door: an adult who does not own skates pays £16, not £12, and a family of two adults and two children over five, all hiring, is £64. The under-5 admission is free but the £4 hire still applies to them unless they bring their own.
Practical things worth knowing before you go: hire sizes run from toddler size 5 up to size 15, you can book online in advance or simply pay at the door by card or cash, there is a free car park on site, and the Iceberg Cafe is open Wednesday to Sunday rather than every day. Stewards are on the ice during most sessions.
What is still running at Edinburgh's Christmas
Losing the rink does not change the rest of the programme, and the part that costs nothing is unaffected. The markets are free to walk into and run the full seven weeks. The LNER Big Wheel and the Around the World Star Flyer both open on 14 November, La Clique Noël and Santa's Stories on 20 November.
Santa's Stories is the one with an early finish, on 24 December, which catches out anyone arriving between Christmas and New Year. The full picture of what opens, what closes early and what each thing really charges is on its own page, including the five ticketed attractions whose checkout price is higher than their listing.
The Chocolatarium Chocolate Tour Experience
Rated 4.97 across 4,914 reviews, which is the largest sample behind anything in this catalogue. Ninety minutes indoors with tasting, which is roughly what a skating session took up on a dark December afternoon.
Before you plan around it
- Do not book the Family Ice Experience expecting a rink. It is a sculpture walk. The name is the problem, not the attraction.
- The Polar Ice Bar is over-18s. It sits inside a festival sold as family entertainment, so check before you build an afternoon around it.
- Budget £16 a head at Murrayfield, not £12, unless your family owns skates.
- The Iceberg Cafe is Wednesday to Sunday. On a Monday or Tuesday visit, bring your own warm drink money elsewhere.
- Nothing has been said about 2027. The organisers said they hope the rink comes back. That is not a date, and it is not a booking.
If the skating was going to be the outdoor half of a winter afternoon, the free half of the festival still works: Princes Street Gardens costs nothing and the gates start closing an hour before dusk, which in December is earlier than almost anyone expects.
Quick answers
Is there an ice rink at Edinburgh Christmas 2026?
No. Organisers confirmed on 26 October 2026 that the rink will not be part of the festive programme, after nearly 30 years as a fixture. It stood in Princes Street Gardens originally, then St Andrew Square, and most recently George Street. Edinburgh’s Christmas itself still runs from 14 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 with the markets, the funfair rides and the live events.
Why was the Edinburgh Christmas ice rink cancelled?
The organisers, Unique Assembly, said the decision was taken over the summer, while part of Princes Street was still closed after the fire at the former Debenhams building and there was no certainty about when it would reopen. A rink has to be committed months ahead with its supplier and site design. They also cited significant costs and no opportunity for funding support, and said they hope it returns in future years.
Is the Family Ice Experience an ice rink?
No, and this is the one most likely to catch a family out. The Family Ice Experience runs 21 November to 3 January and is a walk through hand-carved ice sculptures, not skating. The other ice attraction, the Polar Ice Bar, is over-18s only and serves drinks among sculptures from 16:00. Both have the word Ice in the name and neither has skates.
Where can you ice skate in Edinburgh instead?
Murrayfield Ice Arena runs public sessions daily all year, not just at Christmas. Admission is £12 from age 5 and free for under-5s, with skate hire at £4, so an adult who does not own skates pays £16. Hire sizes run from toddler size 5 to size 15. You can book online in advance or pay at the door by card or cash, and there is a free car park on site.
How much did the Edinburgh Christmas ice rink cost?
We are not publishing a figure for it. The rink is not operating this year, so there is no price to check with the operator, and a number taken from a guide written about a previous season is not something we can stand behind. What can be checked is what skating costs in Edinburgh right now, which is £12 plus £4 for skates at Murrayfield.
What is still on at Edinburgh’s Christmas this year?
The traditional Christmas Markets, which are free to walk into, plus the LNER Big Wheel and the Around the World Star Flyer from 14 November, the Polar Ice Bar from 19 November, Santa’s Stories and La Clique Noël from 20 November, and the Family Ice Experience from 21 November. Santa’s Stories is the one that finishes early, on 24 December.
About this guide
Written by Diego Fresno, Independent travel writer and researcher. The cancellation was confirmed by Edinburgh's Christmas organisers Unique Assembly and reported on 26 October 2026; the quotes about advance planning, the Princes Street closure, the costs and the hope of a return are theirs. Everything else on this page was read on 27 October 2026 from the operators themselves: the festival dates and the full attraction list from edwinterfest.com, and the admission, skate hire, locker deposit, hire sizes, car park and cafe days from murrayfieldicearena.com. Deliberately not claimed: that Murrayfield is the only rink in Edinburgh, because a search finding nothing else is not a fact about the city; what the George Street rink charged last season, because it no longer operates and the figure cannot be checked with anyone who ran it; the size of the Murrayfield ice pad, which a directory describes and the arena's own page does not; and whether the rink returns in 2027. Nobody from this site has skated at Murrayfield. A Viator search for family winter experiences in Edinburgh on 27 October returned no ice skating product at all, so the answer this page gives you, which is £12 plus £4 at Murrayfield, earns us nothing. Verified: August 2026. About the author →