Oxford ice rink: adults £11.85, Blenheim rink from 13 Nov

Oxford has one ice rink in the city, and it is open all year. Oxford Ice Rink on Oxpens Road runs public skating sessions every day of the week. An adult ticket is £11.85, a junior (16 and under) or student £9.20, and skate hire is £2.55 on top, bought at the same time as your ticket.

For a Christmas rink, the nearest is The Great Skate at Blenheim Palace, a covered rink in the palace’s Great Court at Woodstock, about eight miles north of the city. It runs from Friday 13 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, is closed on Christmas Day, and you do not need a light trail ticket to skate.

No pop-up rink has been announced for Oxford city centre: the Christmas in Oxford market site makes no mention of skating (checked 20 October). For the Broad Street market itself, see our Christmas market page.

The quick answer

• Oxford Ice Rink: Oxpens Road, OX1 1RQ. Public sessions every day; adult £11.85, junior and student £9.20, skate hire £2.55, skate aid £5.85.
• Friday Skate Disco: every Friday, 6.45pm to 8.45pm, £12.90 adults, £10.35 juniors.
• Christmas opening at Oxford Ice Rink: not yet published on the rink’s own site (checked 20 October). We will add the Christmas and New Year sessions when they appear.
• The Great Skate, Blenheim: 13 November to 3 January, 30-minute sessions from 10.40am, closed 25 December. Skate hire included. Prices are only on Blenheim’s ticket site.
• Parking: Oxpens car park next to the rink, £5.10 for up to an hour, £6.30 for two.

Oxford Ice Rink: prices

These are the prices printed on the rink’s ice skating sessions page, read on 20 October 2026.

The rink’s own pages do not quite agree with themselves on the small items. Its family page lists a spectator at £2.55, and an FAQ further down that page still says skate hire is £2.10. We have used the figures on the sessions page, which is where the booking button sits; expect the price at the till to be the one shown when you book.

Skate hire runs from child size 5 to adult size 14, and the rink advises thick socks. Skate aids are first come, first served, and not available at disco sessions. Penguins are for children under 120cm and snowmen for taller children under 14.

Cheaper entry for some Oxford residents. The rink offers “bonus prices” to people living in OX1 to OX4 who receive one of a list of benefits, including Universal Credit (housing), Pension Credit, PIP, Council Tax Reduction and Housing Benefit, or who are foster carers or asylum seekers. You need evidence dated within the last three months and proof of address, and you arrange it with the site team rather than online. Concession memberships are open to those aged 66 and over or under 17.

Sessions for younger and nervous skaters

• Skate Tots (age 5 and under): a coached lesson then free time on the ice, Mondays 10am to 11.30am and Fridays 1.30pm to 2.45pm. Book in person, online or on 01865 305010.
• Quieter Hours and SEN skating: every Monday, 1.30pm to 2.45pm, with the music off and fewer people on the ice. Wheelchairs are welcome on the ice and the rink has adult skate aids. It warns this session may be busier in school holidays.
• Doors open 15 minutes before each session. Lockers take a 20p coin; the rest of the site is cashless.

Source: the rink’s family and children page. The rink is run by Oxford City Council with Leisure Solutions Community Trust, under the More Leisure name.

Oxford Ice Rink at Christmas

Oxford Ice Rink has not published its Christmas and New Year session times. Its website lists no holiday timetable, and its online booking system shows sessions only a few days ahead. Leisure centres usually close or cut sessions on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but we have not found anything from the rink to say what it will do this year, so we are not guessing. This page will be updated as soon as the times are out.

The Great Skate at Blenheim Palace

Blenheim’s Christmas season includes a real-ice rink under a cover in the Great Court, in front of the palace. Everything below is from the official Christmas at Blenheim Palace ticketing FAQ, read on 20 October 2026.

Prices are not printed on any page we could read. They sit on Blenheim’s ticket site, which blocks automated readers, and there is a £1 booking fee per ticket. We have not used last year’s prices from blogs. Parking has to be bought with your tickets.

Two practical points from the FAQ. The rink is covered, but the FAQ still warns of surface water on the ice: take gloves and a spare pair of socks. And heavy rain, high winds or warm weather can close it; if your session is cancelled you can rebook or take a refund.

The light trail, the palace rooms and the Christmas market (12 November to 20 December, free to enter) are separate. The trail is closed on 16 and 17 November as well as Christmas Day.

Getting there and parking

Oxford Ice Rink has no car park of its own. The council’s Oxpens car park (OX1 1RQ) is next door: 176 spaces, open 24 hours, £5.10 for up to an hour, £6.30 for up to two and £7.50 for up to three, with a £5.70 evening rate from 5pm to 6am (Oxford City Council, Oxpens car park). Oxpens is one of the car parks affected by the congestion charge; check the route rules on our Oxford parking page before you drive in. The rink’s accessibility guide says there is no bus stop within 150m.

Blenheim is on the A44 at Woodstock. Parking is charged and must be booked with your tickets. For roadworks on the way in, see our Oxford roadworks page.

More for the Christmas holidays

• Oxford Christmas market: Broad Street, 21 November to 31 December
• Oxford panto: Snow White at the Playhouse, 20 November to 3 January
• Santa in Oxford: grottos and steam trains
• Oxford Christmas Light Festival: 13 to 15 November