Tonbridge Castle opens every day through winter, 9am to 5pm on weekdays. Gatehouse tickets £10.90, family £33.30, and the Christmas Fest from 27 November.
Tonbridge Castle does not have a winter closure. The gatehouse and grounds open every day of the week all year, the hours only shortening on Fridays, and this winter the grounds host the Christmas Fest for three weekends, the Remembrance parade, the artisan market and Oktoberfest before it. This page has the opening hours, every ticket price, how to get there and park, and the winter calendar, all from the castle’s and the council’s own pages as at 25 September 2026.
The quick answer
- Open every day: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 4.30pm, weekends and bank holidays 10am to 6pm. Last entry an hour before closing.
- Gatehouse tickets from April 2026: adult £10.90, child 5 to 15 £7.80, senior £7.80, family of four £33.30, under 5s free. The grounds and riverside are free.
- Christmas Fest: free entry, 27 to 29 November, 3 to 6 December and 10 to 13 December.
Opening times
The castle’s opening times page lists a single year-round pattern: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 4.30pm, and weekends and bank holidays 10am to 6pm, with last entrance an hour before closing. It does not list any Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day closure, and it does not publish separate winter hours. The gift shop doubles as the ticket desk and the borough’s information point. If you are planning a visit on 25 or 26 December or 1 January, ring 01732 770929 first: the page is silent, and silence is not confirmation.
The audio tour of the gatehouse takes about an hour, though you can go at your own pace.
Prices
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult (16 to 66) | £10.90 |
| Senior (67 and over) | £7.80 |
| Child (5 to 15) | £7.80 |
| Family (2 adults, 2 children aged 5 and over) | £33.30 |
| Under 5s | Free |
| Carers | Free |
| Adult season ticket | £38.50 |
Groups get one free ticket for every ten bought. Tickets can be booked online through the council or bought on the day at the gift shop, by cash or card (Tonbridge Castle). The September two-for-one for borough residents, covered on our two-for-one page, ends on 30 September and does not run in winter.
Getting there and parking
The castle is on Castle Street, TN9 1BG, a ten-minute walk from the station through the High Street. The castle’s own directions page names Upper Castle Field (sat nav TN9 1BH) as the nearest car park and reminds you that “there is a charge for all Tonbridge car parks”, payable by cash or RingGo (directions). Lower Castle Field, TN9 1HR, is the larger car park across the river and is the one the council uses for the fireworks. Council car parks charge 8am to 8pm every day, and are free only on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Every tariff is on our parking page, and the roadworks and travel page has the closures.
The winter calendar
| Date | Event | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 23 and Sat 24 October | Oktoberfest, Racecourse Sportsground (adults) | From £20 |
| Sun 25 October, 10am to 4pm | Tonbridge Castle artisan market | Free |
| Sun 1 November, gates 5pm | Tonbridge Fireworks, Racecourse Sportsground | From £8.50 |
| Sun 8 November, 10am | Remembrance Sunday parade assembles at the castle | Free |
| 27 to 29 Nov, 3 to 6 Dec, 10 to 13 Dec | Tonbridge Christmas Fest in the castle grounds | Free entry; shows from £12 |
| Sun 29 November, 1.45pm to 6pm | Rotary Christmas Festival and lights switch-on, High Street | Free |
| Fri 11 December to Sun 3 January | Cinderella, EM Forster Theatre, Tonbridge School | From £23 |
Oktoberfest and the artisan market are the council’s own listings (Oktoberfest, artisan market). The fireworks on 1 November are on our fireworks page, including the closed footbridge from Lower Castle Fields. The Remembrance parade leaves the castle at 10.30am, as it did last year, and is on our Remembrance Sunday page.
Tonbridge Christmas Fest is the winter’s main event in the grounds: a free market village, food village, light tunnel and hourly snow, with ticketed children’s shows and 18-plus tribute nights in the marquee, weekdays 1pm to 7pm and weekends 10.30am to 7pm (Tonbridge Christmas Fest). Our Christmas market page has all of it, and the Father Christmas page has the Santa sessions. The Fest closes early at 5.30pm on Sunday 29 November because the Rotary’s Christmas Festival takes over the High Street that afternoon and ends with the switch-on at the Big Bridge; last year’s finale was a low-noise firework display over the castle. That is on our switch-on page.
The pantomime is next door, in the EM Forster Theatre in the grounds of Tonbridge School: Cinderella from 11 December to 3 January, on our pantomime page.
What the council ran last year and has not yet listed
Two 2025 events at the castle had no 2026 listing on 25 September: Pumpkins and Pixie Dust, a ticketed 90-minute Halloween trail through the castle for 3 to 8 year olds from 18 to 26 October 2025, and the council’s own Christmas artisan market on Sunday 23 November 2025, 10am to 3pm (Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council). Both are on the diary; our October half term page covers the Halloween side.
Still to be confirmed
- Whether the gatehouse opens on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day: the castle’s page does not say.
- The 2026 Halloween event and the council’s Christmas artisan market date: expected on the council’s events page in October.
- The Christmas Fest’s daily entertainment schedule: the organiser says it follows nearer the time.
Have your say