Meet Santa at London Zoo

The following Meet Santa sessions are now sold out:

Meet Santa VIP Breakfast - £44.50 per child / £22.50 per adult
Our elves will sneak you into the Zoo at 8am, before normal opening, for a very special VIP Breakfast with the elves in our Terrace Restaurant. After a delicious hot breakfast, you’ll embark on a special early morning tour whilst the Zoo is waking up before little ones meet Santa in his grotto, taking home a special Christmas gift.
 

Meet Santa Deluxe - £42 per child / £15.75 per adult
You’re invited to help Santa’s elves save Christmas! The whole family will enjoy an immersive Christmas quest in our brand-new ZooTown play area, finding clues and solving puzzles, to help Santa recover the Naughty and Nice list before the big day. Afterwards, everyone will enjoy a hot drink* and a sweet treat each for a job well done. And of course, every child will meet Santa in his grotto and take away a Christmas gift.
 

Meet Santa Deluxe Relaxed - £42 per child / £15.75 per adult
Experience the same immersive Christmas quest, hot drink*, sweet treat and visit to see Santa as Meet Santa Deluxe, but with dimmed lighting, quieter sounds and other reduced sensory stimulation to make the area feel more relaxed, specifically designed for those with additional needs. 

Meet Santa Relaxed - £18.50 per child
These sessions include the same experience as standard Meet Santa sessions, but with dimmed lighting, quieter sounds and other reduced sensory stimulation to make the area feel more relaxed, specifically designed for those with additional needs.
 

Meet Santa - £18.50 per child
Limited weekend availability left
Little ones can take part in Christmas crafts before they meet Santa in his magical grotto at the heart of London Zoo and receive a very special early Christmas gift to take home. Perhaps they’ll even be lucky enough to spot our animals snuffling around next door as well!

This year, Meet Santa sessions run on 22, 23, 29 and 30 November, then 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 December. Please check the booking link for the latest availability per session type.

• Meet Santa - £18.50 per child
  Little ones can take part in Christmas crafts before they meet Santa in his magical grotto at the heart of London Zoo and receive a very special early Christmas gift to take home. Perhaps they’ll even be lucky enough to spot our animals snuffling around next door as well!
   
• Meet Santa Priority (for Gold members, Fellows and Patrons only) - £16.65 per child (NOW CLOSED)
  Gold members, Fellows and Patrons had priority access to these sessions for one week only until 23 September 2025 at 9am. These sessions include the same experience as standard Meet Santa sessions but are offered at a 10% discount for Gold members, Fellows and Patrons only. They were available for 7 days, after which any remaining capacity was released to the general public at full price. 
   
• Meet Santa Priority Relaxed - £16.65 per child (NOW CLOSED)
  Gold members, Fellows and Patrons had priority access to these sessions for one week only until 23 September 2025 at 9am. These sessions include the same experience as standard Meet Santa sessions, but with dimmed lighting, quieter sounds and other reduced sensory stimulation to make the area feel more relaxed, specifically designed for those with additional needs. These sessions were offered at a 10% discount for Gold members, Fellows and Patrons only. They were available for 7 days, after which any remaining capacity was released to the general public at full price.
   
• Meet Santa Relaxed - £18.50 per child
  These sessions include the same experience as standard Meet Santa sessions, but with dimmed lighting, quieter sounds and other reduced sensory stimulation to make the area feel more relaxed, specifically designed for those with additional needs.
   
• Meet Santa Deluxe - £42 per child / £15.75 per adult
  For only £23.50 more per child*, you’re invited to help Santa’s elves save Christmas! The whole family will enjoy interactive fun in our brand-new ZooTown play area, finding clues and solving puzzles, before enjoying a hot drink** and a sweet treat each. And of course, every child will meet Santa in his grotto and take away a Christmas gift.
   
• Meet Santa Deluxe Relaxed - £42 per child / £15.75 per adult
  These sessions include the same experience as Meet Santa Deluxe sessions, but with dimmed lighting, quieter sounds and other reduced sensory stimulation to make the area feel more relaxed, specifically designed for those with additional needs. 
   
• Meet Santa VIP Breakfast - £44.50 per child / £22.50 per adult
  For only £26 more per child*, our elves will sneak you into the Zoo at 8am, before normal opening, for a very special VIP Breakfast with the elves in our Terrace Restaurant. After a delicious hot breakfast, you’ll embark on a special early morning tour whilst the Zoo is waking up before little ones meet Santa in his grotto, taking home a special Christmas gift.

*Adults priced separately
**Cold drink alternative available.

We appreciate that the Zoo and our events can be quite loud or overwhelming for some visitors. Our Meet Santa Relaxed Sessions offer visitors with additional needs a more comfortable experience. This may mean less lighting, reduced noise, and off-peak times to limit the number of visitors on site.

The Meet Santa ticket alone does not include Zoo admission. Members, Fellows and Patrons will be granted Zoo entry on arrival simply by showing their membership card. Membership alone only provides access to the Zoo. 

All other visitors, including Under 3s and any non-members accompanying members, will need a valid Zoo ticket in addition to any Meet Santa ticket in order to enter the Zoo. Please note, any child members wanting to see Santa will need a Meet Santa ticket.

• Meet Santa, Meet Santa Priority, Meet Santa Priority Relaxed and Meet Santa Relaxed sessions last approximately 30 minutes.  
• Meet Santa Deluxe and Meet Santa Deluxe Relaxed sessions last approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.
• Meet Santa VIP Breakfast lasts approximately 2 hours. 

Yes, Gold members, Fellows and Patrons who registered their interest had one week's priority access to book for four special dates at a discounted rate of £16.65: 22 & 23 November and 18 & 19 December. The remainder of the Priority tickets were then released to the general public at full price.

Registered Gold members, Fellows and Patrons were also the first to know as soon as tickets went live.

Gold members, Fellows and Patrons had exclusive one-week booking access to priority sessions on four special dates (22 & 23 November and 18 & 19 December) with discounted pricing. All other sessions and bookings for these sessions after the priority period has ended are not discounted.

The prices for all different session types for Meet Santa 2025 are listed below: 

• Meet Santa - £18.50 per child
• Meet Santa Priority - £16.65 per child
• Meet Santa Priority Relaxed - £16.65 per child
• Meet Santa Relaxed - £18.50 per child
• Meet Santa Deluxe - £42 per child / £15.75 per adult
• Meet Santa Deluxe Relaxed - £42 per child / £15.75 per adult
• Meet Santa VIP Breakfast - £44.50 per child / £22.50 per adult

Meet Santa tickets are valid for the experience only and do not include Zoo admission. All participants and accompanying adults also need either a valid ZSL Membership or Zoo admission tickets.

If you hadn’t logged into your account for a while, we recommended you check your credentials were correct for a smooth experience on the day of the ticket release. If you are a supporter, we recommended you use the email address your membership is registered with. We also suggested resetting your password if you hadn't logged into our new system yet.

1. Go to the booking link.
2. Select which session type you’d like. More information about each session type can be found at the top of this page. Click ‘continue’.
3. Select how many adults and children you’d like to book for. You can book a maximum of three children per booking. If you need to book more than three children, please make a separate booking. Note: at least 1 adult must be included in each booking. Click ‘continue’.
4. Select your visit date from the drop down. Click ‘continue’.
5. Select your visit time from the drop down. Click ‘continue’.
6. Add in extra information. If you’ve chosen a Meet Santa VIP Breakfast session, you will be asked if anyone in your party has any dietary requirements and there will be a box to input this information. All bookers for all sessions will also be asked a few questions about the children they are booking the tickets for (name, age, information about the child). These are optional fields. There’s also an optional box to let us know if you are booking with another family. Please enter the name and order number for the other booking and we’ll do our best to allow you to enter the grotto together. Click ‘continue’.
7. Choose extras. At this stage, you can choose to add Zoo admission tickets or guidebooks to your booking.
8. Login. If you are a member, please use the email address associated with your membership. If you have not logged in before, enter your email address, click ‘continue’ and then click ‘email me a link to log in’. If you do not have an account, please enter your email address and you'll be able to create one.
9. Review your basket. Check the information is correct and click ‘add to basket’. This will take you to another webpage which will show you your basket again. At this point, your tickets are held for 20 minutes to allow you to complete your booking. Check the information is correct, then proceed to check out. Note: do not remove the Timeslot Reservation from your booking or your booking will not be valid and your tickets may be cancelled.

There’s a maximum of three children per booking, but if you wanted to book for more children, you’d just need to make two online bookings. If booked into the same time slot, we’ll do our best to allow the children to enter together; the limit per booking just allows us to manage the time slots and capacities of the event.

Please let us know in advance of your visit that you’ve booked two or more groups for the same timeslot, either by notifying us during the Extra Information stage of the booking journey or by letting our Supporter Contact team know via this enquiry form. In both instances, we would require names and order numbers for the relevant bookings.

Please note, each booking must include at least one adult, even if booked for the same time slot.

• For Meet Santa, Meet Santa Relaxed, Meet Santa Priority and Meet Santa Priority Relaxed sessions: there is no limit on accompanying adults in the grotto for these session types. You can include up to two free accompanying adult tickets when you make your Meet Santa booking. If you’d like to have more than two adults attend your session, please just mention this to the team on the day.
• For Meet Santa Deluxe, Meet Santa Deluxe Relaxed and Meet Santa VIP Breakfast: to ensure the maximum number of children can enjoy these special Christmas experiences, the maximum number of adults per booking is four.

If you don’t wish for them to meet Santa, receive a gift or be in the photo with Santa, they do not need a ticket (e.g. babes in arms). If you wish for them to participate in the experience in any way, you must book them a Meet Santa ticket.

Yes, people of any age are welcome to come and meet Santa! Anyone with a ‘Child’ ticket, regardless of age, will be able to enter the grotto, meet Santa and receive a gift. 

This year, Meet Santa will once again take place at The Cassons.

Grotto Registration can be found at Elf HQ in our cosy tipis on the main lawn (behind the Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians exhibit).

The Meet Santa experience will be inside, however there may be a short wait outside while waiting for your grotto timeslot. 

Bookers for Meet Santa Deluxe or Meet Santa Deluxe Relaxed will need to travel across site to ZooTown for part of their experience. Meet Santa VIP Breakfast tickets will also be outside for the special tour of the Zoo. Please plan and dress accordingly for these experiences.

We want to make the Christmas experience as magical as possible, and just one or two bits of information can help the conversation with Santa be more tailored to your child.

Yes, inside Santa's grotto you will be asked if you would like to purchase a professional photo with Santa. You must purchase your photo within your 30 minute grotto time slot, as visitors are not able to re-enter the grotto after their time slot.

You'll have several choices for your professional printed photo: 

• Branded photo wallet: £13.50
• Branded keyring or magnet sets: £12.50
• Acrylic blocks: £20

Visitors are welcome to take their own photos inside the grotto using their own devices, but full family photos must be taken by our photography partner, GoPhoto.

Since your Meet Santa session will take place before the Zoo opens to general visitors, please arrive 15mins prior to your timeslot at London Zoo’s Experiences Entrance on Outer Circle (near the corner with Regent’s Park Broad Walk, opposite the ZSL Library) where a member of staff will let you in. This information will also be available on your PDF tickets.

There are two ways to make us aware of your allergies ahead of your Meet Santa VIP Breakfast experience. Dietary requirements must be declared at least 48 hours ahead of your session time. If not, we cannot guarantee availability of a suitable alternative.

The first way to make us aware of allergies is to declare them during the booking process. Under the ‘Extra Information’ tab on the booking link, there’s a box for you to write in under the header, “Special dietary requirements for Meet Santa VIP Breakfast are required with a minimum of 48 hours' notice. Please inform us of any dietary requirements or food allergies each participant in your party has.”

If you missed the box on the booking link, the second way to make us aware of allergies is to contact our Supporter Contact team via this webform. Simply submit the form with your dietary requirements at least 48 hours ahead of your visit.

Since your Meet Santa session will take place as the Zoo opens to general visitors, please arrive 15mins prior to your timeslot at London Zoo’s Experiences Entrance on Outer Circle (near the corner with Regent’s Park Broad Walk, opposite the ZSL Library) where a member of staff will let you in. This information will also be available on your PDF tickets.

Meet Santa is fully accessible and there will be also be accessible benches available for the crafts.

If that person is accompanying purely to assist in a carer capacity they do not need a separate ticket. However, if they intend to actively take part in the experience in their own right, alongside the person they care for, then they will need to buy an experience ticket.

Please see general admission terms and conditions for more information on Zoo entry with a free carer ticket.

• If you’re placed in a queue: It’s possible you may be placed in a queue to access tickets. Queue places are assigned based on when you requested to access the link by clicking it. Please be patient in this case and wait for the link to grant you access, where you can go in and book your tickets. Note, if you leave the queue for any reason, e.g. by leaving the webpage, you may lose your place in the queue.
• If the ‘add to basket’ button is not working: If you’ve made your way through the booking steps to ‘Review Your Basket’ and you click the ‘Add to Basket’ button but the button doesn’t take you a checkout page, this could be caused by a few different factors.
  Firstly, please ensure you have been through steps 1-5 in full and that all the information is inputted correctly. If the system doesn’t have the right information, sometimes it’s unable to progress to checkout.
  As tickets are not reserved until added to your basket, it’s possible that tickets which were available may sell out before you are able to add them to your basket. In this case, please try selecting a different date, time or session type with availability and follow the steps through to checkout again.
  In some cases, it may help to refresh the page or clear your browsing data. Please note, if you were in the queue and cleared your browsing data, you would lose your place in the queue.
• If you’re using a VPN: Please note that it may not be possible to access the booking link via certain VPNs. In this case, please disconnect from the VPN and refresh the booking link page.
• If you are still having trouble: Please contact our Supporter Contact team here and they will try to assist with your query.

Once a session time has sold out, unfortunately we won't be able to release any more tickets for that session. On rare occasions we may be able to add extra dates and if we do so, these will be available on the same booking links – please check this website for any updates.

Santa will be making pop-up appearances around London Zoo during our Christmas event so there’s a chance you may still see Santa from a distance. However, this does not include any of the grotto experience, in-person meet and greet, crafts or present, and is at unscheduled times throughout the day so cannot be guaranteed.

Tickets are non-refundable and not transferable to other dates, times or visitors. Tickets are only valid at the Zoo the booking was made for and at the date/time shown on the tickets.

If your question is not answered in our FAQs or if you have a separate question regarding your Meet Santa booking, please contact our Supporter Contact team who will be able to assist you.

Confirmation and ticket emails can take a little while to come through so please be patient and check Junk or Spam folders. If it’s been 24 hours since you booked and you still haven’t received your tickets, please contact our Supporter Contact team who will be able to assist you.

London Zoo will be celebrating Christmas from 22 November 2025 to 4 January 2025. We’ve got everything you need for a jam-packed family day out, like festive crafts, our giant animal advent calendar, elf storytime, Pop-up Santa, seasonal food and drink*, and even the chance to write your letter to Santa! 

Find out more on our The Magic of Christmas at London Zoo webpage. 

*additional charges apply.