Everything you need to know if you’re hoping to secure tickets for the “Glastonbury of Christmas” when Lapland Manchester goes on sale on Friday, with tickets set to be available from £60 up to £195 per person
Families are preparing themselves for a ticket-buying frenzy this week as the hugely popular Lapland UK events, dubbed the “Glastonbury of Christmas” go on sale on Friday. Organisers have confirmed that for a second year, Lapland Manchester will also return, alongside the original Ascot location.
As those who were lucky enough to get tickets last year will know, it really is quite the extraordinary event – certainly unlike any Christmas attraction I’ve ever been to during my ten years of parenting two children that’s for sure.
So I totally get why families are gearing themselves up for an online battle this Friday when the tickets officially go live. Bosses from Lapland sent out an update on Sunday night to try and reassure fans that they’ve made improvements behind the scenes “to ensure every part of your experience, from booking to Christmas Day, feels just as it should.”
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They say they’ve made “significant investment in our booking systems to reduce queuing times, so that you reach the front more quickly and can secure your preferred dates with as little waiting time as possible.”
That’s set to be some comfort to those eager to secure tickets on Friday.
For those who haven’t been before, I’ve seen lots of comments on online forums wondering if it’s really worth it when they’ve looked at the ticket prices. Organisers say prices range from £60 – £195 per ticket this year depending on the date and time you book.
And yep, that price is for EACH person. Whether you’re a child or adult you will pay the same price to get in – with only under 12 month old babies going in free.
Oh, and don’t forget to factor in the booking fee of £4.95 each, and a £5.95 postage fee for the special boxed invitations to be sent to the children on your booking.
With a family of four potentially looking at paying anything from £250 to over £700 to head along on peak dates in December, there’s naturally a lot of questions from parents and carers about what they can expect for this kind of experience and if it’s worth it.
Having headed along to the Manchester event last year, I can certainly answer some of the questions of what to expect. So here, I’ve gone through some of the main points ahead of the big on-sale window opening on Friday, March 27, from 10am.
Where exactly is Lapland Manchester?
Yep, this is a good question. It might be called Lapland Manchester, but the event is actually held in Cheshire.
It’s set in the grounds of Capesthorne Hall which is in a countryside setting. The nearest towns are Macclesfield or Alderley Edge, and it’s 20 miles from Manchester city centre.
For those who don’t know the area all that well, this means if you’re planning on staying overnight in Manchester city centre, then you’re looking at around a 40 minute drive to actually get there. And that’s on a good day with no traffic.
The nearest train station would be Alderley Edge (which is on the main line from Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe) – but again you’d be needing a taxi from there to get to Capesthorne Hall which is around four miles away.
What are the dates and times, and when is the best time to go?
LaplandUK in Ascot and Lapland Manchester will both open this year on Saturday November 7 and will then run every day right through until Thursday, December 24.
Superstar Day, for those with additional needs and access requirements, has been confirmed as taking place on Wednesday, November 25.
When you go onto the ticket booking site, you will have the option of booking times in half hour intervals across each date from 8am to 6pm. You need to choose carefully as you must attend on your allocated timeslot on the date you have booked.
As for when is the best time to go – if you want the cheapest tickets, consider going mid-November, and if you’re able, pick either an early morning or later afternoon time slot.
You’re not likely to have a “quieter” session (aside from the Superstar Day) as all slots sold out last year, so be warned, it will be busy whichever slot you go for.
How much are tickets?
LaplandUK has already confirned the “prices from” for every date in 2026, and the cheapest options currently are £60 tickets on Tuesday November 10 and Wednesday November 11.
The most expensive tickets are, predictably, the closer you get to Christmas, and the priciest options currently listed are for £155 per person on Saturday December 5 and Saturday December 19.
But organisers have stated that these are “prices from” and will fluctuate depending on the timeslots when they go on sale. Organisers have told the MEN that prices will range from £65 to £195 for tickets this year.
As mentioned above, don’t forget to factor in the £4.95 booking fee per ticket when you’re looking at the options, and also the £5.95 postage fee for invitations to be sent out per booking.
How long does the experience take?
Organisers say you can expect to be in the Lapland Manchester experience for 4.5 hours.
We found we took around 3.5 hours though when we went, on a Sunday morning in November last year. This might be because we didn’t arrive early enough at the departure desk for our timeslot, so missed out on experiencing the shop and cafe at the front entrance.
If you want to make the most of your time here, you need to be at the entrance gate 45 minutes before the time on your invite – we thought it meant to be at the car park at this time, but it was a good 10 minute walk to the entrance from here.
Just as an idea of what to expect, you are taken through each immersive experience at timed intervals. The only way you can expect to stay inside longer, is if you are opting for the “Golden Experience” VIP tickets in which case you can spend unlimited time in the Elven Village.
Is it cold?
You’re heading into a magical portal to Lapland, folks, so yes, it’s cold! Expect snowy scenes and a chill in the air.
Not to ruin the magic too much, but Lapland Manchester is all under cover, so you don’t have to worry about it raining (except for the walk from the car park to the entrance which is all outdoors obviously). But warm layers and winter jackets are a must I’d say after our experience.
Once inside though, you cannot fail to be swept away by the festive magic that unfolds.
What’s it like?
From the moment we checked in at the departure lounge, collecting the kids’ “Elven Passports”, it really is like being transported to another world. If you don’t want any spoilers by the way, then look away now.
It feels like a traditional Christmas show at the start of the day as you are introduced into the Lapland world by the colourful cast of Elves, with children (and parents) encouraged to use the “cheery-hi” greeting of fingers waggling on your nose – this will come in handy to greet any of the Elven folk throughout the adventure.
It’s then through to a vast magical woodland that will take your breath away, and then on to the more interactive elements of the day. We all gazed in wonder as we entered the huge Toy Factory – I mean this is really a spectacular space complete with magic wishing jars and festooned with toys.
Here, children get to help the elves make some toys – an adorable polar bear that they then get to take over to a converyor belt to help Father Christmas out, which was a truly enchanting experience. It’s then on to Mother Christmas’ kitchen where kids get to decorate their own gingerbread house, again an activity that my two boys absolutely loved.
What follows is an adventure into the vast Elven Village, where you have 90 minutes to spend between ice skating, writing a letter to Father Christmas, a range of hot food and drinks and browsing the assorted Lapland shops.
The finale of the day is walking through the Reindeer Lodge before the big one – a meeting with Father Christmas. Here at Lapland the bearded one seems to know an awful lot about your kids (if you know you know), checks if they’re on the Good List and is happy to pose for loads of photos.
There’s really no doubting this is the most epic, and extravagant, Christmas attraction I’ve ever been to in terms of scale and attention to detail. And that’s from a mum who has spent ten years trudging around all sorts of festive events, lights, grottos, Christmas farms and Santa adventures with my kids across the north west.
How far do you have to walk?
This is a HUGE attraction spread out across acres and acres of the Capesthorne Estate. And that means there is a lot of walking involved.
Sparkly, tree-lined tunnels connect all the different areas which we found fun to walk through, but that’s because my two kids are now fully mobile and able to run off without my assistance. I know that if you’re still parenting in the toddler stage it may become more of an issue walking with lots of bags and prams etc over the distances involved.
Don’t worry about mud though – inside the venue is all undercover, and outside the car park itself is all completely boarded and the path to the entrance is all wood-chipped so it’s a really good route.
How many people are in each session?
Having never been before, I didn’t know what to expect on this front, although seeing other Facebook posts did prepare me a bit.
I thought we’d be in fairly small groups, but in our time session of 11.30am at the 2025 event I counted around 200 people. That was split into two groups, so last year you were either Team Husky or Team Little Rudi.
For the start you are all together, but then each group splits so you have around 100 people in each themed interactive area, like the Gingerbread making.
It sounds like a lot of people, but actually it’s so well organised, it’s not like you’re fighting over seats or anything – there are enough for everybody. But what it does mean is that inevitably you will have to queue for a little bit going in and out of each zone.
Is there food and drink?
There is a cafe at the start of the experience, and then the next spot to eat is in the Elven Village, around half way through your experience. You can take your own food in though, and my advice would be to load up with snacks.
Once in the Elven Village there’s an array of hot and cold food and drink options that you can buy (be warned, it’s not cheap!), and lots of seating here and toilets. Oh, and trust me when I say the hot chocolates are epic.
What do you get for your money?
On the date we went in November 2025, the tickets were £105 each (that’s for adults and children alike). So there’s no getting away from the fact that for a family of four, you’re looking at shelling out a lot of money for this attraction.
For me, I was keen to see what you get for that kind of money and whether it represents value for money. What I would say is that when you break down everything you experience during the day, and how much you would usually spend for things like skating for a family on a day out, you can start to see why the price tag is what it is.
Essentially you get a Christmas show, skating, gingerbread making, meeting Santa, a cuddly toy for the kids and an extra surprise that parents get to take home at the end too (no spoilers) as well as one free souvenir photo in a presentation booklet.
Sadly, parents don’t get to partake of activities like toy-making or getting a toy from santa, but you do get to watch the joy on your child’s face so it depends what kind of price tag you put on that.
For me, when I totted everything up, paying up to £105 for the tickets would seem a fair price (tickets are set to be available from £60 in November). But I’m not sure I could justify paying more than that to be able to go in December (when tickets are priced from £95 – £155), but naturally it’s personal choice and circumstances on the dates you opt for.
Ultimately, it’s an experience you either buy into or you don’t. In for a penny, in for a pound and all that.
What else can you buy?
Apart from food and drinks, there are lots of shops dotted around the Lapland Manchester experience – at the start, in the Elven Village, and one you can’t avoid walking through to get out at the end. They are filled with Lapland themed memorabilia, as well as hats that you can also pre-order with your tickets.
You can buy “Jingles” which are gold coins in a pouch for your kids at the start (or you can also buy these when the tickets go on sale as well). These can then be used to buy treats in the shops, but we didn’t have time to do this and you could get away without doing it.
But basically 1 Jingle equals 1 pound and you can buy everything on cards throughout the day if you don’t have the Jingles.
How to get tickets for 2026
Prepare to join the online queues on Friday, March 27, with tickets going on sale at 10am.
Tickets will be available exclusively from the Lapland UK website here.
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