Christmas at Battersea Power Station: The Tree, the Glide Ice Rink and the Turbine Halls

An ice rink under the chimneys of Battersea Power Station, with a helter-skelter lit up beside it.

Battersea Power Station has become one of the best places in London for Christmas since it reopened. There is a giant tree under a tent of gold lights, an ice rink with a skate trail, decorated Turbine Halls, and the river right beside it all. Unlike the West End, there is plenty of space to walk around.

I have been on a quiet evening after Christmas and on a grey November morning. This is my guide to Christmas at Battersea Power Station, with what comes back each year and the details from 2025.

My route starts at the Tube station and follows Electric Boulevard to the big tree in Malaysia Square. Then I walk through the Turbine Halls to the river, past the giant baubles, and finish at Glide. The whole loop is about a mile.

You can go home by river boat from the pier alongside, on the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers service towards Westminster and the City.

When Is Christmas at Battersea Power Station?

From early November to the first week of January. In 2025 the season ran from 7 November to 4 January 2026.

Everything outside is free to see: the tree, the giant baubles and the lights along the riverside. You only pay for the ice rink, the Chimney Lift, and whatever you eat and drink.

Go after dark. The building is floodlit, the chimneys glow white against the sky, and all the Christmas lights are on. In late December the sun sets before 4pm, so you don't have to stay out late. Weekday evenings are much quieter than weekends.

How Big Is the Battersea Power Station Christmas Tree?

In 2025 it was 40 feet tall, hung with more than 1,000 baubles, and it stood in Malaysia Square, between the power station and the shops. The square is named after the Malaysian investors behind the redevelopment.

The best part was above it. Ropes of gold light ran out from the star at the top to the buildings around the square, like the poles of a tent.

Stand right underneath and look up, and the lights close in over your head. It is lit every evening until the season ends.

On the riverside, giant red baubles are stacked in front of the chimneys. When I photographed them on a grey morning in November 2023, they glowed bright red against the brick.

What Is Glide at Battersea Power Station?

Glide is the winter ice rink, and it comes back every Christmas. In 2025 it had a 200-metre skate trail as well as the main rink, plus a carousel and a helter-skelter.

A 30-foot tree stood at the rink, so you skate in circles around it. Adult tickets started at around £18 in 2025, and it is worth booking ahead for evenings and weekends. After dark the rink is lit by the tree and the bulbs of the helter-skelter, so an evening session is the one to choose.

Glide, below, is from the power station's first Christmas after it reopened, in 2022. That year the rink sat in front of the main building, under two of the floodlit chimneys.

The helter-skelter is the old-fashioned kind, striped red and white and covered in bulbs. You don't have to skate to ride it.

Drinks come from The Glass House, the bar beside the rink, where you can watch the skaters from the warm.

Nearby, a sweet stall glowed under a sign spelled out in light bulbs.

The mulled wine came in cups dressed as Father Christmas, with a black belt and a gold buckle. It is usually a rip-off, super sweet and expensive, but who cares. It keeps you warm and cheerful.

It is an easy Christmas outing with children. The tree, the rink, the carousel and the helter-skelter are all within a few minutes' walk of each other, and the Turbine Halls are there if it rains.

What Is Inside the Turbine Halls at Christmas?

The two Turbine Halls, where the generators once stood, are now shopping arcades, and both are decorated for Christmas. In 2025 Turbine Hall A, the older hall from the 1930s, had Art Deco-style decorations to match the building, and Turbine Hall B had snowflake projections and cascading trees.

They are a good place to warm up between the tree and the rink. Look up at the ceilings: the scale is the point, and the decorations are hung to make the most of it. Both halls stay open into the evening, so you can walk through them on the way from the tree to the river.

Look for Control Room A, the Art Deco control room with its original dials and switches, which is now a bar. It is one of the most beautiful interiors in the building, and it feels made for a Christmas drink.

Outside, giant candy canes lined Electric Boulevard, the street that runs from the Tube station to the power station. From 28 November, Winter Warmers huts sold hot food and drinks. The Salad Days Market, with food and craft stalls, came on three weekends: 15–16 November, 6–7 December and 13–14 December 2025.

Can You Go Up the Chimney at Christmas?

Yes. The Chimney Lift, which used to be called Lift 109, takes you up inside the north-west chimney in a glass lift. At the top you come out 109 metres above the ground, with a 360-degree view over London. All four chimneys were taken down and rebuilt during the restoration, to match the originals.

Adult tickets started at £17 in 2025. The slots are timed, and December sunsets sell out, so book early. At Christmas, go for a sunset slot, and you will see the lights across the city come on below you. On a clear evening you can pick out the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and the towers of the City.

Why Is Battersea Power Station Famous?

Because it is one of the most recognisable buildings in London, and it is said to be the largest brick building in Europe. It has been Grade II* listed since 1980. The exterior was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also designed the red telephone box and Liverpool Cathedral.

The first half, Station A, was built between 1929 and 1935, and Station B, with the second pair of chimneys, was finished in 1955. At its peak it produced a fifth of London's electricity.

Station A closed in 1975 and Station B in 1983. For almost forty years after it closed, the building stood empty. It was on the cover of Pink Floyd's album Animals in 1977, with an inflatable pig floating between the chimneys. During the photo shoot in December 1976 the pig broke free and drifted away over London, before coming down in a field in Kent.

A Malaysian consortium bought the site in 2012, and the restored building reopened to the public in October 2022, with shops, restaurants, offices and flats. The Northern line extension, with its own Battersea Power Station station, opened on 20 September 2021.

Battersea Park is right next door, 200 acres of lawns, lakes and the Peace Pagoda by the river. A winter walk there before dark, and then the lights at the power station, makes a good afternoon.

For the classic view of all four chimneys, walk ten minutes west along the Thames Path to Chelsea Bridge. From the middle of the bridge, the whole building sits above the river, lit up after dark.

Along the river is Circus West Village, the first part of the development to open, in 2017. It has a row of restaurants and bars facing the water, with views of the lit-up power station across the forecourt.

For more of the season, see my ranking of the best Christmas lights in London and my guide to things to do in London in winter. Across the river, Chelsea Physic Garden holds a Christmas Fair in late November.

Battersea Power Station is one of eight Christmas area walks on this site. The nearest is Chelsea, across Chelsea Bridge.

Visiting Battersea Power Station at Christmas: Practical Notes

📍 Where: Battersea Power Station, Circus Road West, London SW11.

📅 Open days: The Christmas season runs from early November to early January. In 2025 it was 7 November to 4 January.

🎫 Admission: The tree and decorations are free. Glide and the Chimney Lift are ticketed; in 2025 adults paid from around £18 for Glide and from £17 for the Chimney Lift.

🚇 Getting there: Battersea Power Station station on the Northern line is right outside. Battersea Park station and the Uber Boat pier are also close.

☕ Food: The restaurants in the Turbine Halls and around Malaysia Square, The Glass House bar at Glide, and the Winter Warmers huts. Wrap up: the riverside is windy in December.

⏳ How long: Two hours, or three if you skate.

📷 Best time: Just after dark on a weekday, when the tree and the chimneys are lit and the rink is quieter.

🗺️ Nearby: Battersea Park, the Thames path and Chelsea Bridge.

♿ Access: The site is step-free, with lifts in the Turbine Halls.

Stand under the tree in Malaysia Square and look straight up. The ropes of gold light run from the star to the buildings around the square and close over your head like a tent.

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