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Bookings for our popular Santa Cruises can only be made in-person and on the telephone (01252 370073). Please be aware we only have limited spaces left now.

This popular event which runs from 2 to 23 December offers a gentle cruise aboard our boat Rosebud, along the Basingstoke Canal to the start of the tinsel trail. Let little ones lead the way as they follow the trail through the woods to find Santa in his canal side grotto and receive a special gift. Cruise back to the Visitor Centre and head into Santa's Workshop for some fun Christmas colouring activities, warm drinks and mince pies.

Ticket prices

Prices range from £16 to £23 per ticket. Babies £4.50. All passengers require tickets.

• Baby ticket for ages under 1 years
• Child ticket for ages 1 to 12 years
• Adult ticket for ages 13 years and above

Please note only child and baby passengers receive a gift.

Booking update

Our popular Santa Cruises went on sale on Monday 29 September at 9am. Due to technical problems bookings can now only be made in-person and on the telephone (01252 370073). Please note: This event is extremely popular and sells out quickly.

We apologise to anyone who was unable to book through our new online booking system which repeatedly crashed due to the volume of people trying to access it. Although the system had been through extensive testing in the run up to launch, it was unable to respond to the volume of people trying to use it when bookings launched, resulting in the system crashing. This also impacted our ability to take bookings in-person and on the phone.

The team have worked as hard as possible behind the scenes to try and get this fixed, and although the system has come back online for very short periods, it has continued to crash. With this in mind, we have taken the difficult decision that bookings will only be available in-person from the Canal Centre or over the phone on 01252 370073 until further notice.

We know this will have caused frustration and we are grateful for the patience of everyone affected. We would like to reassure our customers that we will be undertaking a thorough review to make sure issues like these don’t happen again in the future.

Thank you again for your understanding and we hope to welcome you for your Santa Cruise this December.

Dates and times

Please be aware that  the table below does not show live availability.

Week commencing 1 December Monday to Friday

Week commencing 1 December Saturday and Sunday

Week commencing 8 December Monday to Friday

Week commencing 8 December Saturday and Sunday

Week commencing 15 December Monday to Friday

Week commencing 15 December Saturday and Sunday

Week commencing 22 December

Useful information on the day of the trip

• Please arrive 10 minutes before the boat is due to depart. Due to the nature of the event, the boat cannot wait for late arrivals.
• When you arrive, please wait outside the visitor centre by the welcome point. A member of staff will be there to check you in confirming your parties' details.
• Please wear weather appropriate clothing and footwear.
• Please bring a camera - Santa loves to have his photo taken!
• After meeting Santa, you will be taken to Santa's Workshop (back in the Visitor Centre) for Christmas colouring activities, warm drinks and mince pies.
• For trips after 4pm we provide torches for children (and some of the adults).
• The event lasts approximately 1 hour 15 minutes in total.
• There are toilet and baby change facilities within the Visitor Centre.
• For all other information please read our terms and conditions

In this section

• Santa cruises terms and conditions