Is There a Christmas Market in Peterborough?
Yes, and it’s indoors, which in a British November is already a win. Peterborough’s Christmas market happens inside its Norman cathedral, for just three days in November, with more than 100 stalls of local makers, bakers and producers set up under the great arches.
Doing your Christmas shopping in a building begun in 1118, more than 900 years ago, is a pretty wonderful way to start the season. Add the city’s lights switching on outside on the Friday night, and the fact that it’s under 50 minutes from London King’s Cross, and you’ve got one of the easiest Christmas day trips from London.
It’s small and short, and it costs a fiver to get in, so it won’t fill a weekend by itself. But pair it with a second cathedral market at Ely, or the Burghley fair a week later, and Peterborough turns into a lovely little base for an East of England Christmas.
When Is the Peterborough Christmas Market 2026?
The Christmas Craft & Gift Market at Peterborough Cathedral runs for three days only, Friday 20 to Sunday 22 November 2026, and tickets are £5 plus a booking fee, with under-16s free. That’s up from £3 on the door in 2024.
The money goes to the cathedral, because the market is a fundraiser, and it needs it, since keeping the building open costs about £5 a minute. In 2024 visitors were told to book early to avoid the queues, and 2025 had record numbers, so book your ticket online before you go.
It’s open 13:00 to 20:00 on Friday, 10:00 to 18:00 on Saturday and 12:00 to 16:00 on Sunday. Saturday has the longest day, an hour longer than last year, but Friday runs latest into the evening, which matters, because that’s the night the lights go on outside.
| Date | What’s on |
|---|---|
| Thu 19 Nov | Ely Cathedral Christmas Gift & Food Fair opens, until 21 Nov |
| Fri 20 Nov | Market opens 13:00 to 20:00, lights switch-on in Cathedral Square at 19:00 |
| Sat 21 Nov | Market 10:00 to 18:00, Queensgate switch-on at 16:00, Father Christmas starts in the library |
| Sun 22 Nov | Last day, market 12:00 to 16:00 |
| Thu 26 to Sun 29 Nov | Burghley Christmas Fair, Stamford (12 minutes by train) |
| Thu 26 Nov | Ferry Meadows Christmas Carnival opens |
| Fri 27 Nov | Christmas Tree Festival opens in the cathedral, until 6 Jan |
| Sat 28 to Sun 29 Nov | No trains between Peterborough and London King’s Cross |
| Thu 3 to Sat 5 Dec | Lincoln Cathedral’s first Christmas market |
| Sat 12 Dec | Cinderella opens at the New Theatre |
What the Market Is Like
The setting is the whole point. The stalls fill the cathedral itself, under centuries-old painted ceilings, and browsing handmade gifts in there is a world away from a high street of chalets. In 2024 there was candlelight, a huge pine-scented tree and carols playing through the nave, and it’s hard to think of a more Christmassy place to buy a present.
It’s the biggest one yet, with more than 100 stalls, and it feels like a proper makers’ market rather than a gift shop with a roof. There’s glass from Derya Glass Design and The Wright Glassmaker, ceramics from Wildmark, wood turning, old maps and prints, sock yarn from Socktopus (every knitter you know, sorted), mosaics, candles and a lot of jewellery, plus the RSPB and the Wildlife Trust.
What to Eat, Drink and Take Home
This is a shopping market rather than an eating one, so don’t come expecting a bratwurst and a stein. The food and drink stalls are there to fill your cupboard for Christmas, and they’re very good at it.
- Cheese from Cambridge Artisan Cheese, for the Christmas board.
- Local spirits and liqueurs from Fen Spirits, Sloeberry Spirits and Joris, which make the easiest presents in the building.
- Blueberry sparkling wine from Mee Blueberries, a grower just outside Peterborough, which is the one I’d buy just to see people’s faces.
- Fudge from Roly’s and Gluttony Fudge, and gingerbread from Gingerbread Picnic, for the train home.
- Chutneys and chilli sauces from Badgers Chilli Kitchen and No.14 Gifts & Preserves.
In 2024 there was mulled wine and hot chocolate inside, and there’s festive food again this year, though exactly what hasn’t been announced. If you want to sit down, CATH, the new café in Becket’s Chapel in the cathedral grounds, opened this spring and does coffee, food, cakes and cocktails, and it’s dog friendly.
The Best Time to Go
Go on the Friday afternoon. It’s the only day the market and the city’s lights switch-on overlap. There are live acts in Cathedral Square from 17:00, then Father Christmas and Mrs Claus and the cast of the Cresset’s panto, then the switch-on at 19:00, and the stalls stay open until 20:00 after it.
If Friday’s no good, Saturday gives you the longest day, plus Queensgate shopping centre’s own switch-on at 16:00 with polar bears wandering about. Sunday’s four hours are your back-up.
A Peterborough Christmas Day, Planned
Catch a late-morning train from King’s Cross and you’re in Peterborough for lunch, with time for coffee at CATH in the cathedral grounds before the market opens at 13:00. Do the makers’ stalls first, and leave the food and drink until last so you’re not carrying a bag of bottles round the nave.
Step out into Cathedral Square as it gets dark, around four, and find a spot for the switch-on. Late November here is usually around 9°C by day and 4°C at night, so wrap up, and St John’s Church on the square stays open until 21:00 with refreshments, toilets and a quiet space if little ones need a break.
Then nip back into the cathedral for anything you missed before it closes at 20:00, and finish with a pint on Charters, a 1907 Dutch barge moored on the Nene by Town Bridge, before the train home. If you’ve got an extra day, Ely’s fair the day before or Burghley the following week makes it a proper Christmas weekend.
More Christmas at the Cathedral
The market is only three days, but the cathedral keeps Christmas going right into January, so it’s worth coming back.
- The Christmas Tree Festival fills the cathedral with more than 100 trees decorated by local charities and groups, from 27 November to 6 January, for a suggested £5 donation, and a Norman cathedral full of Christmas trees is the bit I’d come back for.
- Father Christmas in the Library runs on selected dates from 21 November to 24 December, from £15 a child (with a gift) and £2.50 an adult. The library is up a steep spiral staircase, which is half the magic, but there are accessible ground-floor sessions too.
- Candlelit concerts run through December, with Christmas by Candlelight on 1 and 2 December, a Bublé night on 3 December, a Rat Pack Christmas on 9 December and an ABBA Christmas on 14 December, from £10, and Vivaldi by candlelight on 23 December for anyone who’d rather skip Bublé.
- Wreath-making and papercraft workshops run on 21 and 27 November and 3 and 6 December.
More Christmas in Peterborough
Stay the night and Peterborough’s Christmas outside the cathedral is mostly a family one. Ferry Meadows in Nene Park holds a Christmas Carnival on selected dates from 26 November to 23 December, from 16:00 to 20:30, with carnival games and an enchanted winter garden.
And there are two pantos, oh yes there are, with Cinderella at the New Theatre from 12 December to 3 January, from £12, and Peter Pan at the Cresset in Bretton from 12 to 31 December.
For a pint in town, the Ostrich Inn on North Street is cosy and full of character, with hot pies at lunchtime and live music from Thursday to Sunday, and Charters on the river is the one with the beer garden.
Getting There
The train wins easily here. Peterborough is under 50 minutes from London King’s Cross, quicker than any other city on ChristmasWanders, and it’s about an hour from York and 1h45 from Birmingham. The cathedral is a signed 10 to 15 minute walk from the station.
The one weekend to avoid is 28 and 29 November. There are no trains between King’s Cross and Peterborough from the Saturday until early on Monday 30 November, so London trips mean a coach to Bedford and a Thameslink. That doesn’t touch the market weekend, but it does hit Burghley’s last weekend.
If you drive, there’s no public parking at the cathedral itself. Bishop’s Road, Car Haven and Riverside car parks are five to ten minutes’ walk away, and they’re free after 15:00 on weekdays over Christmas, which makes the Friday afternoon plan even better.
Day Trips From Peterborough
This is where Peterborough really comes into its own, because some of the biggest Christmas fairs in the East of England are a short, cheap train ride away.
Ely is 31 minutes on the fastest train, and its cathedral holds a Christmas Gift & Food Fair from 19 to 21 November, with 160 exhibitors, mulled wine in the Lady Chapel and a carousel and observation wheel outside. Sessions are £10 and some have sold out, so book Ely now. It overlaps with Peterborough on the Friday, so you could do two cathedral markets in one day, which is about the most English Christmas thing I can imagine.
A week later it’s Stamford’s turn, 12 minutes away, where the Burghley Christmas Fair runs at Burghley House from 26 to 29 November, with somewhere between 150 and 200 stalls in the grounds of one of England’s grandest Elizabethan houses. It’s £15 an adult and has to be pre-booked with an arrival slot.
A couple more are worth knowing too:
- Cambridge is 49 minutes away, with Christmas in Cambridge on Parker’s Piece from 13 November to 3 January, free to enter, with chalets, an ice rink and a big wheel.
- Lincoln is 57 minutes away. Its famous street market is gone, which still stings, but the cathedral holds its first Christmas market from 3 to 5 December, inside the nave and cloisters.
Is the Peterborough Christmas Market Worth It?
For a day out, yes. A Friday afternoon shopping from local makers inside a Norman cathedral, then watching the city’s lights come on outside, is a lovely way to kick off Christmas, and it’s so close to London that it’s an easy trip.
If you want a big chalet market you can lose a whole evening in, Edinburgh is your trip, and for another market built around one short, special window, there’s Hallstatt. But for three days in November, book the Friday, stay for the lights, and pop over to Ely while you’re at it.
