Christmas at Ham House runs 28 November to 3 January. The Robin's Tale is free with admission, adults £18, no booking; house 11.30am to 3.30pm, shut 24-25 Dec.

Ham House is decorated for Christmas from Saturday 28 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, and this year’s story is called The Robin’s Tale. It is free on top of a normal admission ticket and does not need booking. The house itself is open 11.30am to 3.30pm, with last entry at 3pm, and the whole site is closed on 24 and 25 December.

Everything below is from the National Trust’s own Ham House pages, checked on 7 October 2026.

The quick answer

  • Dates: 28 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, every day except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
  • Booking: not needed. The Christmas trail is included in admission.
  • Price: house and garden admission is £18 for an adult and £9 for a child aged 5 to 17 without Gift Aid. Under-fives and National Trust members go free.
  • Times: garden 10am to 4pm, house 11.30am to 3.30pm (last entry 3pm), shop 10.30am to 3.30pm.
  • Closed: the whole site shuts on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 November while the decorations go up.

What The Robin’s Tale is

The National Trust describes a family trail through the house: you follow a robin from room to room as he tries to reunite a phoenix with her tail. The story is inspired by a newly conserved lacquer screen, which will be on display.

Along the way, according to the event page:

  • the Stuart rooms lit with candlelight and fairy lights, with Christmas trees and greenery
  • paper bird sculptures made for Ham House by a local artist
  • a book tree in the Library, a banquet display in the historic kitchen and a wish tree in the Duchess’s Bathroom
  • decorations made by the house’s volunteers in the Volury
  • a reading nook in the Back Parlour, and below stairs, dressing up and writing letters to the North Pole

There is no separate Christmas ticket and no timed slot. You pay to get in, or show a membership card, and the trail is part of the visit.

Opening times over Christmas

From the Trust’s Christmas at Ham House page, which says winter hours apply throughout December:

Part of the site Opens Closes
Garden 10am 4pm (last entry 3.30pm)
Orangery Café 10am 3.30pm (order 15 minutes before)
Shop 10.30am 3.30pm
House 11.30am 3.30pm (last entry 3pm)

The individual event listing gives the café as open to 4pm, a half-hour later than the Christmas page. If you are counting on a late lunch, plan for 3.30pm.

Days it is shut:

  • Thursday 26 and Friday 27 November, the whole site, to dress the house
  • Thursday 24 and Friday 25 December, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

It reopens on Boxing Day and runs daily to Sunday 3 January.

What it costs

These are the house and garden admission prices on the Ham House page. The Trust shows two columns; the higher one includes a voluntary Gift Aid donation.

Ticket Without Gift Aid With Gift Aid
Adult, 18 and over £18.00 £19.80
Child, 5 to 17 £9.00 £9.90
Under 5 Free Free
Family, 2 adults and up to 3 children £45.00 £49.50
1 adult and up to 3 children £27.00 £29.70

National Trust members get in free, and the page says RHS (main cardholder) and Art Fund cards are also accepted for entry. Show them at the main river-facing gates.

A quieter visit

On Tuesday 15 December, 10.30am to 11.30am, the house runs a free Christmas Dementia-friendly Sensory Walk: a gentle, step-free hour through the decorated ground floor and the garden for people living with dementia and the people who care for them. Each ticket covers one essential companion and admission for the rest of the day. Places are limited and this one must be booked, on the event page.

Before Christmas: November is different

If you go in November, before the decorations, check the day. The Trust treats November as its conservation month: on weekdays the house is shown only by 50-minute tours, at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm and 2.30pm, first come first served from Visitor Welcome, with no advance booking. At weekends you can walk round freely from 11.30am to 3.30pm. Details are on the conservation tours page.

Getting there and parking

Ham House is on Ham Street, Ham, TW10 7RS, on the south bank of the Thames between Richmond and Kingston. From the Trust’s own visitor information:

  • Parking is free in the council-run Ham Street car park by the river, about 400 yards from the house, and on nearby streets. Sat navs take you to the stables on Ham Street; carry on past them to the car park.
  • Blue Badge spaces on site are “extremely limited” and have to be reserved by email to hamhouse@nationaltrust.org.uk.
  • Buses: the 371 and the 65 stop nearby, and both also serve Richmond station. On the 65, get off at Sudbrook Lane/The Russell School on Petersham Road and walk about three-quarters of a mile.
  • Train: Richmond station is 1½ miles away by footpath, 2 miles by road.
  • Hammerton’s Ferry crosses from the Twickenham towpath near Marble Hill, for a small charge. The Trust calls it a seasonal service, so check it is running in December before planning around it.

Dogs on short leads are welcome in the garden, shop and café, but only assistance dogs go in the house.

Street parking rules elsewhere in the borough are on our parking in Richmond page, and road closures on our roadworks and travel page.

The rest of the borough at Christmas

Ham House is the quiet, daytime option. For the after-dark trail, see Christmas at Kew; for skating and the Festive Fayre, Hampton Court Palace at Christmas; for makers’ fairs, our Christmas markets page; and for Father Christmas, the Santa’s grotto page.

Sources