Milestones' Christmas market is 5 and 6 December (£10) and Carols by Candlelight is Friday 18 December (£9.50). Closed 24 to 26 December and 1 January.

Milestones Museum, with its cobbled Victorian streets of historic shopfronts, runs two festive events in December on top of normal opening. The Milestones Christmas Market is on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December 2026 at £10 a person, and Carols by Candlelight is on Friday 18 December at 6pm, £9.50 a person. The museum closes on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Everything here is from Milestones’ own pages, checked on 25 September 2026.

The quick answer

  • Christmas Market: Saturday 5 December, 10am to 7pm, and Sunday 6 December, 10am to 4.45pm. £10 a person, booked in advance.
  • Carols by Candlelight: Friday 18 December, 6pm. £9.50, under 5s free.
  • Normal opening: Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4.45pm, last entry 4pm. Adults £16.50, children £11.50. Closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January.

The Christmas Market

The Milestones Christmas Market 2026 fills the museum’s cobbled streets with stalls, festive food, live music and family activities over one weekend: Saturday 5 December from 10am to 7pm and Sunday 6 December from 10am to 4.45pm. Tickets are £10 a person. Our Christmas markets in Basingstoke page compares it with the other markets in the borough that weekend and before.

Carols by Candlelight

Carols by Candlelight 2026 is on Friday 18 December at 6pm, the last day of the autumn term for most Hampshire schools. It costs £9.50 a person and under 5s go free. The museum describes a Victorian-style evening with a live band and professional singers, festive food and drink, and a stall selling lanterns. Victorian dress is encouraged.

Opening hours and closures

From the museum’s opening hours page:
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4.45pm
Last admission 4pm
Mondays Closed, except in school holidays and on bank holidays
Seasonal closures Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day
Rooftops Café Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm
The Baverstock Arms Tuesday to Friday 12 noon to 2.30pm; weekends and school holidays 12 noon to 3.30pm

Because Mondays in school holidays are open days, the museum’s rule means it should be open on Monday 21 and Monday 28 December, the second being the Boxing Day bank holiday. It is closed on Thursday 24, Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December and on Friday 1 January 2027.

Admission prices

These are the standard day prices on the museum’s tickets page. Special events such as the Christmas Market and the half term science fair are priced separately.

Ticket Price
Adult £16.50
Child (5 to 15) £11.50
Concession £15.50
Under 5s Free, but book a ticket
Family (up to 5 people, max 2 adults) £54.00

Concessions cover people of State Pension age with ID, among others, and a disabled visitor’s carer goes free. All children aged 12 and under must be with an adult.

Other dates before Christmas

  • The Strange Science of Jekyll & Hyde, a Halloween science fair, runs through October half term, 24 October to 1 November: see our October half term page.
  • Milestones Beer Festival, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November.

Getting there

Milestones is at Basingstoke Leisure Park, Churchill Way West, RG22 6PG, phone 01256 639 550. Check roadworks and travel before a Saturday visit in December, and parking in Basingstoke if you are combining it with the town centre.

Still to be confirmed

  • Father Christmas. Milestones has not listed a grotto or Santa event for 2026 on its events page. We will check again in late October.
  • Christmas holiday activities for the week of 21 December, which the museum has not yet published.

More for December: the Christmas lights switch-on on 20 November and the Anvil pantomime from 10 December.