It’s that magical time of the year again! Post updated to reflect everything new for the 2025 season at Winter Wonderland Norwich, including new prices and site map. We were invited to the PR launch of this event to enable us to write this review. As always, all opinions are our own!

Last night we went to the Norwich Winter Wonderland, which is fast becoming a family tradition for the That Mum Travel Life crew. I’m writing this while the wonderful experience is fresh in my mind! This is the 4th year in a row that we’ve visited the Norwich Winter Wonderland, always for the ice skating and then for the rides too.

Winter Wonderland Norwich is home to the largest covered ice skating rink outside of London, rides, a Christmas tree maze, and a Santa experience (wait until you see how great he looks in the photos below). And this year, for the first time, admission is free!

To help you decide if it’s the right Christmas day out for your family, here’s everything you need to know:

1. What Did We Do At The Winter Wonderland Norwich
2. How Much Does The Winter Wonderland Norwich Cost
3. What Is The Food Like At Winter Wonderland Norwich?
4. The Santa Experience At Winter Wonderland Norwich?
5. Conclusion: Is Winter Wonderland Norwich Worth It?

What Did We Do At The Winter Wonderland Norwich

As I already mentioned, we went to the Winter Wonderland Norwich last night. We were invited along as part of their press preview night (so I’m marking this as ad/pr) but I’m not obligated to write a post about this and all my opinions are honest and my own!

We were invited along to try the rides, the food, the ice skating, and have a sneak peak at the Christmas tree maze. Unfortunately, the unseasonably warm weather meant that the ice skating rink wasn’t ready in time, so we didn’t get to skate last night. But we will go back for the skating closer to Christmas, because we have been the past couple of years and the boys LOVE it!

The rink is such a good size (as i’ve said, it’s the biggest one outside of London, and it’s being sponsored by Ribena this year) and never feels too crowded. When we looked at the rink last night, I think it looked even bigger than last year. We’ve already skated this year in Leicester Square, it’s one of our favourite winter activities, so we’ll definitely be going back to try the skating and update this review in a couple of weeks.

But last night the main focus of our experience was the rides. The boys couldn’t get enough of these, and the novelty of being able to ride whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, without the Disney-style queues meant they had a great night.

I asked them what their favourite rides were. H chose the Fun House (pictured above) and W said it was the Crazy Mouse ride. The Crazy Mouse ride was my favourite too!

For bigger kids and real thrill seekers there were some amazing rides: rides so big and so spinny that just looking at them made my tummy feel funny. But if you love an incredible thrill then this is the place for you. The layout at Winter Wonderland was different (I think better!) this year with all of the smaller, children’s rides in one piece called Santa’s Wonderland. So if you wanted to keep yours away from these bigger and more expensive rides, that would be easy to do too.

The huge observation wheel is a lot of fun: Much bigger than a normal ferris wheel, this offered epic views of the twinkly lights of the wonderland below. (The boys kept shouting out all the things they could see, with their delight at being able to see Smyths Toy Superstore making me laugh outloud!)

We also went for a wander around the Christmas tree maze (note: it was so big that we kept getting lost!) and running in and out the trees in the dark, listening to the boys giggle, will be one of those core memories I’ll remember long after they’re grown.

There were also loads more photo ops (for the Instagram crowd) this year than there were last year. It was so lovely to walk through a tunnel of twinkly lights as our entrance to the park, and it said a magical tone for the rest of the evening.

How Much Does The Winter Wonderland Norwich Cost

So for the first time (brand new for 2025!) admission to the Winter Wonderland is now free. Which I think is amazing, because it’s a great place to go and soak up the atmosphere, listen to the music, and have a drink. There is wandering entertainment for the kids (elves and stiltwalkers etc) and there is also free live music in the Alpine Lodge.

But anyone with kids knows that you can’t go somewhere like Winter Wonderland without spending money! They want the rides, the sweet treats, and the ice skating! Asking about prices is a bit of a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question because there are SO many different options and things to do at Winter Wonderland Norwich. You can pay for rides as you go, load up a pre-paid fun card, or buy an unlimited pass. You’ll find all the prices (and can buy your tickets) on their website here.

I’ve tried to give as many different prices and scenarios as possible in the list below:

• Ice Skating costs £17.34 per adult and 14.64 per child aged 12 and under. You can save by getting a family of 4 pass for £49.33.
• Festive Fun Passes allow you to load, tap, and go on the rides. These are valid all season, so you can come and go as much as you like. Prices depend how many you buy: £5 for 5 credit. £10 for 10 credit. £20 for 22 credits. £30 for 34 credits. £40 for 46 credits. £50 for 60 credits. You can top these up on site using the machines shown below.
• Unlimited Wrist Bands are (in my opinion at least!) the better option from a financial perspective. These are £19.95 for a tiny tots wrist band, which gives access to all the smaller rides. Or £29.95 for the unlimited big thrill wrist band. With these bands you can ride all day – as many times on your favourite ride as you like!
• Christmas tree maze is £4.34 per person over 2 years old.

👉 You can see all the ticket options and book your tickets here.

What Is The Food Like At Winter Wonderland Norwich?

Most of the food options in the winter wonderland are located in the Alpine Village area, which has a lovely atmosphere (and an amazing smell!) which has cute bars and indoor and outdoor wooden seating options.

We tried a few different food options last night (doing the hard work so you don’t have to!) because we like to split food between us and try a little bit of everything. We tried some loaded fries (W’s choice), a huge Smash Burger (Because H has eyes bigger than his belly), I opted for a chicken souvalaki wrap, and Mike had a chicken yorkshire pudding wrap.

There were also bratwurst and currywurst which were cooked on a traditional swing grill and were as good as any I’ve tried at a German Christmas market. The currywurst was flavoursome and spicy in particular: that would be my pick.

We washed them down with steaming, Winter Wonderland branded, cups of hot chocolate.

💡 MUM TIP: Share portions! We do this at every single Christmas market we ever visit. Not only could this help to cut down on costs (we are budget travellers, after all!) it also means you can try more of the delicious things on offer.

Honestly, the food here was GOOD. Everything we tried was delicious. I’m not going to stand here and say it was cheap (eating out isn’t cheap any more) but it was comparable to any of the other Christmas markets we’ve visited, home and abroad. My chicken souvalaki was priced at £9. The burger H chose was £10. Almost all of the food options would set you back around a tenner, but the food was delicious and the portions were generous.

And if you like the idea of taking some delicious snacks home? At the entrance to the wonderland was a small Christmas market and the 2 most impressive stalls were selling artisan cheese and giant German gingerbread hearts. I loved these, and they would make a great Christmas gift or stocking filler!

The other stalls were the usual stuff (tat) to appeal to kids: think light up wands, felt colouring pages, and novelty hats!

The Santa Experience At Winter Wonderland Norwich?

As well as everything I’ve mentioned above, the Winter Wonderland Norwich also featured a really magical looking grotto, with arches to walk through and oversized statues of snowmen and reindeer to see on your stroll. You can make an appointment to meet Santa here.

We met Santa last night, and honestly, with the exception perhaps of Lapland UK (which we loved, but which is an eyewateringly expensive experience) he was the best Santas we’ve seen.

H is now old enough to know the truth: that there is a real Santa, and that there are helpers. So he’s deviced a clever test to help him choose which is which. He declared this was the real Santa: he passed the beard test, the moustache test, and perhaps most importantly, the kindness test! One very happy 9 year old boy.

The magic begins with a visit to Elf Headquarters, where Santa’s Elves are waiting to welcome you with festive storytelling to spark the imagination.  Get ready to embark on a jingle adventure, filled with creativity, crafting and joyful sing-alongs to get everyone in the Christmas spirit!  You can then post your letter to Santa, have a private meeting with the man himself, and every child will get a gift to take home.

A visit to Santa at Winter Wonderland Norwich costs £27.10 per child (Includes up to two accompanying adults). An additional child is £16.26, an extra adult is £5.42, and infants aged 0-2 are free. You can book your Santa tickets here.

💡 MUM TIP: Book your Santa tickets in advance! These are selling out fast, and there’s nothing worse than trying to buy ‘on the day’ tickets and ending up with disappointed kids.

🎅 This experience is included in my list of the 5 Best Places To Meet Santa in Norfolk in 2025, Which You Can Read Here.

Conclusion: Is Winter Wonderland Norwich Worth It?

Honestly? Yes! I really do think that Winter Wonderland Norwich is worth it: Especially now that entry to visit is free, meaning that you can set your own budget. The kids absolutely LOVE it and Mike and I were saying what a great (and affordable) date night it would be. We could happily go up there for a couple of glasses of mulled wine, wander around, and soak up the atmosphere without spending a penny.

The ice skating rink is beautiful, and I think we’re so lucky to get something like this in a city as relatively small as Norwich every year. Worth noting too, that if you love ice skating as much as I do, you can even buy a skating pass that will allow you to skate as often as you like throughout the season: now that’s something well worth looking into!

Have you visited the Winter Wonderland Norwich? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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