Garsons in Esher opens Father Christmas bookings from Saturday 14 November at £15.50 a child. Sandown's grotto runs 21 to 24 November; Chessington from 21 Nov.

Elmbridge has two Father Christmas grottos with 2026 dates and booking open, both in Esher, and a third just over the border at Chessington.

Garsons on Winterdown Road opens first, on Saturday 14 November, at £15.50 a child. Sandown Park’s grotto runs for four days only, 21 to 24 November, inside the Christmas in Surrey fair.

The quick answer

  • Garsons, Esher: weekends 14 and 15, 21 and 22 November, then every day from 27 November to Christmas Eve. £15.50 a child, booked in advance
  • Sandown Park, Esher: Saturday 21 to Tuesday 24 November, £20 for one child, £30 for two, £40 for three, plus fair entry
  • Chessington World of Adventures: selected dates 21 November to 24 December, from £32 a head, with the grotto inside a ticketed Christmas Village

Garsons, Esher: 14 November to 24 December

Garsons runs its Father Christmas visits with Great Grottos, a Dorking company that operates the booking. Garsons’ own event page describes elves at the door, a cabin where children meet Father Christmas, and “a magical machine that links directly to the North Pole” for sending wishes.

What a booking gets you, according to Garsons:

  • A personal meeting with Father Christmas at a set arrival time
  • A Christmas gift and a “magic letter” experience for each child booked
  • The chance of a professional photo, which Garsons marks with an asterisk, so expect it to be sold separately

The booking calendar is open. It shows bookable dates on Saturday 14, Sunday 15, Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 November, then every day from Friday 27 November to Thursday 24 December. The price is £15.50 a child.

The rules are worth reading before you book:

  • Tickets are non-refundable. You can move a booking to another date before your visit if there is space
  • Up to four children per booking. A fifth child needs a second booking
  • Great Grottos says it aims to see you within your time slot, “but on busy days there may be a short wait”
  • The store closes at 5pm on the November dates before 27 November and on every Sunday, and at 6pm Monday to Saturday from 27 November

Garsons is at Winterdown Road, West End, Esher KT10 8LS.

Sandown Park: 21 to 24 November

The Christmas in Surrey fair fills Sandown Park Racecourse, Portsmouth Road, Esher KT10 9AJ, from Saturday 21 to Tuesday 24 November, 10am to 5pm. It has its own grotto, booked through a separate Eventbrite listing that promises Father Christmas “with his elves and fairies in his unique indoor grotto”.

  • £20 for one child, £30 for two and £40 for three, for children aged 1 to 15; under-ones are free
  • Fair entry is a separate ticket. Early bird entry is £6 a head or £12 for a family of two adults and up to two children under 13
  • Grotto sessions on the listing run from 10.30am to 4.30pm

The fair is the one to pick if you want a grotto visit in November with Christmas shopping in the same trip. The racecourse says Esher station is about a ten-minute walk from its entrances.

Chessington: selected dates, 21 November to 24 December

Chessington World of Adventures is outside the borough, but it is the nearest large-scale grotto. Its Christmas page lists selected dates from 21 November to 24 December, with tickets from £32 a head.

Father Christmas is inside the Christmas Village, which you enter at a time slot chosen when you book. The village includes an elf welcome, letters to Father Christmas, a silent disco and the Enchanted Hollow toy workshop, and the ticket also covers selected theme park rides. Chessington says the village closes after 24 December and does not open from 27 to 31 December.

Still to be announced

  • Painshill and Claremont have not announced a Father Christmas. Claremont’s Elfmas trail starts on 28 November; details are on our Painshill and Claremont winter page
  • Cobham Onederland on Saturday 21 November had a Santa’s Grotto last year. One Cobham has not yet said whether it returns; see our Christmas lights switch-on page
  • The village Christmas markets and switch-ons often have a Father Christmas on the day. None has published its 2026 programme yet

We will update this page as they are announced.

Getting there and parking

Sandown charges nothing for parking at non-racing events, according to the racecourse. For council car parks near Esher and Cobham, see our parking in Elmbridge page, and check the roadworks and travel page before a December Saturday drive.

What it means for you

  • Garsons is the main grotto in the borough. It opens on 14 November and runs to Christmas Eve; book a weekend slot early, as Great Grottos warns it gets busy
  • £15.50 a child at Garsons compares with £20 for one child at Sandown, where you also need fair entry
  • Read the refund rules: neither Garsons nor Eventbrite refunds a grotto ticket, though Garsons lets you change the date

Sources