Exeter at Christmas
The Exeter Christmas market is over by 13 December, early enough to catch you out, so think of it as a November trip.
It runs for a month on Cathedral Green, over 100 wooden chalets winding up the sloping lawn under the Gothic West Front, with a covered beer hall, a newer section in the Cloister Garden and, new this year, a tipi bar. It calls itself Devon’s biggest Christmas market, and on size it probably is.
For all that, it doesn’t always feel as Christmassy as that setting deserves. A lot of the stalls are nothing special, it packs out after five, and the cathedral front does more of the work than the market does.
What I’d come back for is the local drink, a pint of mulled cider or a Devon rum in the beer hall with the West Front lit up outside, and a weekday afternoon is when that’s at its best.
When Is the Exeter Christmas Market 2026?
Yes, it’s on this year. The Exeter Christmas market runs every day from Friday 13 November to Sunday 13 December 2026, and entry is free.
That’s a week earlier at the start and six days earlier at the end than last year, when it ran from 20 November to 19 December, so if you’re used to an Exeter market in the week before Christmas, it’s gone by then. The city’s Christmas lights switch on with the opening on 13 November.
It’s open 10:00 to 19:00 from Monday to Wednesday, 10:00 to 21:00 from Thursday to Saturday and 11:00 to 17:00 on Sundays, so Thursday to Saturday give you the late evenings.
Because it closes on 13 December, there’s no cathedral market at all over Christmas itself. If you’re in Exeter later in December, Princesshay’s Festive Market and Mistletoe Bar, two minutes away, trade until 31 December, and Exeter’s Winter Wonderland in Northernhay Gardens runs until 3 January, closing only on Christmas Day.
If you’re coming from London, avoid the weekend of 28 and 29 November, when Paddington is closed and the trip takes about four hours via Waterloo and Reading.
| Date | What’s on |
|---|---|
| Fri 13 Nov | Market opens at 10:00, the city lights switch on, and Princesshay’s Festive Market and Mistletoe Bar open the same day |
| Thu 19 Nov | SPARK! drummers at Princesshay at 17:00, 18:00 and 19:00, and the first late-night shopping |
| Fri 20 Nov | Exeter’s Winter Wonderland opens in Northernhay Gardens, until 3 January |
| Sat 21 Nov | Exeter Quayside Farmers’ Market, 09:00 to 13:00 |
| Sat 28 Nov | Christingle at Exeter Cathedral at 16:00 |
| Sat 28 to Sun 29 Nov | London Paddington closed |
| Sun 29 Nov | Advent Procession at Exeter Cathedral, and Christmas at Powderham Castle by night begins |
| Mon 7 Dec | Carol Service at Exeter Cathedral at 14:00 |
| Sun 13 Dec | The Exeter Nativity, with alpacas, at 15:00, and the last day of the market |
| From Mon 14 Dec | Closed until next season |
The Market on Cathedral Green
The chalets wind across the green in narrow lanes, climbing towards the West Front, and with the cathedral floodlit behind them, it’s a lovely spot to stand with a cup in your hand.
Those narrow lanes are also the problem. From about 17:00, and all weekend, they pack out, the food queues spill into the walkways and you end up shuffling rather than browsing, and with a pushchair or a wheelchair in the evening it’s barely worth trying.
That’s why I’d aim for around 16:00 on a weekday, when the cathedral’s lit up but the after-work crowd hasn’t arrived yet.
The green also takes a beating from all those feet, and it seems to get muddier every year, so wear boots. On one side, the old Royal Clarence hotel on Cathedral Yard has been a building site since January 2026, so expect hoardings there too.
Access, Toilets and Dogs
There are five ways in, all but one of them step-free, with ramps on the West Front steps, but the green has slopes, kerbed grass and cobbles, and not every chalet is accessible.
There are accessible toilets on site, with more at the Guildhall and on Catherine Street. Dogs on leads are fine outdoors, but only assistance dogs can go inside the cathedral.
What to Buy
The stalls are the weak part. Plenty of them are the same Christmas gifts you’d see at any market, and over 100 chalets includes the street food village and the bars, so the shopping is thinner than the number suggests.
The Devon producers are the ones worth finding, Devon Rum Co., Devon Cove Vodka, Exeter Gin and Flapjackery, and a bottle from one of those is the present I’d buy.
What to Eat and Drink at the Exeter Christmas Market
The drink is better than the food here, and the mulled cider is the one I’d order first, because it tastes of Devon in a way a mulled wine never will.
These were last year’s prices.
- Mulled cider was about £10 a pint, which is steep, and worth it anyway.
- Mulled wine was £6 to £8, and at some stalls there was an extra £1 for the cup.
- Beer in the covered beer hall was £6 to £6.50 a pint, including local Salcombe Pale Ale, though you can’t take your drink out of the hall.
- Lamb kofta fries from Street Food South West were the pick of the food stalls.
- Hog roast, Nepalese curry, German sausage and churros make up most of the rest, and they do the job on a cold evening.
The beer hall is the best seat in the market, with a Devon rum or an Exeter Gin and a roof over your head while the lanes outside shuffle past.
For a proper meal, The Fat Pig on John Street is a few minutes from the cathedral and happy to have your dog, and The Old Firehouse on New North Road is about ten minutes’ walk.
Exeter Cathedral
The cathedral is open during the market with entry by donation, 10:00 to 17:00 Monday to Saturday and 11:30 to 16:00 on Sundays, outside service times. Normally it’s £12.50, so this is the time to go in.
And go in you should, because the inside is far more impressive than anything on the green. It has the longest stretch of medieval stone vaulting anywhere, an astronomical clock and a medieval cat flap, which is exactly as odd and lovely as it sounds.
It also runs its Advent and Christmas services through the market season, with a Christingle at 16:00 on 28 November, the Advent Procession on 29 November and a Carol Service at 14:00 on 7 December.
Things to Do in Exeter in December
Most of what’s on in Exeter in December outlasts the cathedral market, which matters when the market’s gone by the 13th.
- Exeter’s Winter Wonderland in Northernhay Gardens, about seven minutes’ walk away, has a covered real-ice rink, a funfair, a light trail and Santa, from 20 November to 3 January. Skating sessions last 45 minutes with skates included, and it’s open 11:00 to 21:00 from Monday to Thursday and 10:00 to 22:00 from Friday to Sunday.
- Exeter’s Underground Passages, the medieval tunnels under the city, are £9 for adults, and on a wet afternoon they’re the thing I’d do.
- RAMM, the city museum, is 100 metres from Exeter Central, so it’s an easy hour while you wait for a train, though it’s closed on Mondays.
- Christmas at Powderham Castle by night runs from 29 November to 30 December, usually 16:15 to 20:30, at £11 for adults and £8.80 for children.
Weather in Exeter in December
Leave the snow boots at home. Exeter is one of the milder places in England in December, about 9°C by day and 3°C at night, with rain on around 12 days of the month.
Snow is almost unheard of, with our snow odds study giving a weekend visit a 1% chance, so pack for rain and mud rather than frost.
Getting to Exeter for the Christmas Market
From London, the train from Paddington takes about 2 hours 10 to 2 hours 30, two hours at the fastest, and arrives at Exeter St Davids, a 15 to 20-minute walk uphill to the green. Trains from Waterloo take longer but stop at Exeter Central, about seven minutes away.
If you drive, the Park & Ride is the easy way in, with a return from Sowton £3.50 for adults or £7 for a group of up to five.
Check the days before you go, though, because Matford doesn’t run on Sundays and don’t count on Sowton then either.
Day Trips from Exeter
The best day out once the cathedral market’s closed is Totnes, 31 to 38 minutes by train, where the Christmas markets run on Tuesday evenings, 8, 15 and 22 December, from 15:00 to 21:00.
Topsham, 12 to 16 minutes away, is a lovely old estuary town for a winter walk and a pub lunch, and Exmouth, 22 to 30 minutes, gets you to the sea.
Bath is 1 hour 31 minutes away with a change at Bristol, and its market is a lot more festive, which makes it the one to build a West Country trip around.
Is the Exeter Christmas Market Worth It?
I wouldn’t travel a long way just for it. The stalls are ordinary for a market this size and it gets very crowded, especially in the evenings.
If you’re in Devon or passing through, though, it’s a good night out. Go on a weekday around 16:00, go inside the cathedral while it’s free, and finish in the beer hall with a pint of mulled cider.
