---

Fifteen festive coach trips from Wakefield, Pontefract, Castleford, Featherstone, Normanton, Altofts and Knottingley, running from Saturday 14th November to Saturday 19th December 2026, with adult fares from just £15.

There is a particular kind of pleasure in being driven to a Christmas market. No juggling park-and-ride shuttles, no circling a multi-storey in the dark, no nominating a driver who has to watch everyone else enjoy the mulled wine. You get on the coach at your local stop, you get off in the middle of the festivities, and someone else worries about the M62.

Ross Travel Group has been doing exactly that for local passengers for over 50 years, and our Christmas Markets Day Trips 2026 programme is our biggest yet: fifteen departures across six weekends, taking in Bakewell, Manchester, Nottingham, Llandudno, Birmingham, Bury, Scarborough, Chester, Liverpool, Skipton, Knaresborough, Halifax, Beverley and York, plus a two-day Manchester Christmas Weekender with an overnight hotel stay.

To book any trip on this page, call 01977 792106.

The full 2026 line-up

Beautiful Bakewell Christmas Market, Saturday 14th November, Route B. Adult £20, Senior £19, Child £17.

Merry Manchester Christmas Market, Sunday 15th November, Route B. Adult £20, Senior £19, Child £17.

Nottingham’s Winter Wonderland, Saturday 21st November, Route A. Adult £20, Senior £19, Child £17.

Llandudno Christmas Extravaganza, Sunday 22nd November, Route B, Fast Track pick-ups. Adult £20, Senior £19, Child £17.

Birmingham and Primark, Saturday 28th November, Route A, Fast Track pick-ups. Adult £22, Senior £21, Child £19.

Bury Market, Saturday 28th November, Route B. Adult £20, Senior £19, Child £17.

Scarborough Sparkle, Sunday 29th November, Route A. Adult £20, Senior £19, Child £17.

Cheerful Chester at Christmas, Sunday 29th November, Route B. Adult £20, Senior £19, Child £17.

Magical Manchester Weekender, Saturday 5th December, Route B, Fast Track pick-ups. £129 per person, single supplement £30.

Lively Liverpool Christmas Market, Saturday 5th December, Route B, Fast Track pick-ups. Adult £20, Senior £19, Child £17.

Snowy Skipton’s Christmas Market, Sunday 6th December, Route B. Adult £20, Senior £19, Child £17.

Knaresborough Christmas Market, Sunday 6th December, Route A. Adult £20, Senior £19, Child £17.

Halifax Piece Hall Christmas Market, Saturday 12th December, Route B. This trip departs one hour later than our standard route times. Adult £15, Senior £14, Child £12.

Beverley’s Festival of Christmas, Sunday 13th December, Route A. Adult £20, Senior £19, Child £17.

Yuletide York’s Christmas Market, Saturday 19th December, Route A. Adult £18, Senior £17, Child £15.

Weekend one, 14th and 15th November

Beautiful Bakewell Christmas Market, Saturday 14th November, Route B

The Peak District’s most-loved festive weekend, and 2026 marks its 16th year. The market fills Market Street, Granby Road and Riverside Crescent with well over 100 stalls, drawn from Bakewell’s famous Monday market alongside traders from across Derbyshire and the wider Peak District. Expect carol singing, brass bands and the kind of stone-built, riverside setting that does most of the work for you.

Sensible plan: market first while it’s quiet, then a proper Bakewell pudding and a wander over the medieval bridge. Full details at whatsonbakewell.co.uk.

Merry Manchester Christmas Market, Sunday 15th November, Route B

Manchester’s markets are the benchmark for the whole UK, and for good reason: hundreds of wooden chalets spread across the city centre, from Albert Square and St Ann’s Square through to Exchange Square, King Street and Cathedral Gardens. It’s less one market than a festive trail through the city, and a Sunday in mid-November is a genuinely shrewd time to go, because the lights are up, the atmosphere is there, and the December crush hasn’t arrived. See visitmanchester.com for the current site list.

If you’d rather stay over, see our Manchester Christmas Weekender on 5th December further down the page.

Weekend two, 21st and 22nd November

Nottingham’s Winter Wonderland, Saturday 21st November, Route A

Old Market Square turns into a full festive village: alpine chalets, an ice rink with an elevated Sky Skate path looping above it, an observation wheel, the famous Ice Bar and a ski-lodge-style bar with live music. Entry is free, and you only pay for the rides and attractions you want. It’s the best trip on the programme for families with teenagers, and for anyone who wants a market with a bit of theatre to it. More at visit-nottinghamshire.co.uk.

Llandudno Christmas Extravaganza, Sunday 22nd November, Route B, Fast Track

A genuine occasion this year. The Llandudno Christmas Extravaganza is returning in 2026 after a two-year gap, with organisers listing dates of 19th to 22nd November, meaning our Sunday trip lands on the final day of the event. Free to attend, set against the Victorian promenade and the Great Orme, it’s a seaside Christmas rather than a city one, and all the better for it.

If you already know Llandudno from our summer programme, you’ll recognise it in a completely different coat.

Weekend three, 28th and 29th November

Birmingham and Primark, Saturday 28th November, Route A, Fast Track

Two attractions in one day. Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market is the largest authentic German Christmas market outside Germany and Austria, running along Victoria Square and New Street with bratwurst, gluhwein, stollen and the whole Bavarian works. A short walk away is the world’s largest Primark, five floors of it, which is reason enough for the trip on its own. This is the only day trip on the programme at £22 rather than £20, reflecting the longer journey. Details at thebfcm.co.uk.

Bury Market, Saturday 28th November, Route B

Not a Christmas market as such, but arguably the best-value Christmas shopping day of the lot. Bury’s world-famous market has over 300 stalls across the Open Market, Market Hall and Fish and Meat Hall, and Saturday is a full trading day. Multi-award-winning, largely undercover, all on one level, and famous for its black puddings, which you should absolutely eat hot, with mustard. Bury Market is well set up for coach visitors, with free coach parking and a dedicated drop-off point. Opening times at burymarket.com.

Scarborough Sparkle, Sunday 29th November, Route A

Scarborough Open Air Theatre transformed into a free Christmas wonderland: themed craft and gift stalls, a tipi bar with log fires and toasted marshmallows, fairground rides, a snow machine, Santa’s sleigh and a community lantern parade. Visit North Yorkshire currently lists Sparkle as running from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th November 2026, so our trip catches the closing day. Combine it with a walk round the North Bay and you have a proper Yorkshire coastal Christmas. More at visitnorthyorkshire.com.

Cheerful Chester at Christmas, Sunday 29th November, Route B

Around 70 to 80 wooden chalets ringed around Town Hall Square, opposite Chester Cathedral, with the city’s black-and-white Rows and 700-year-old walls as a backdrop. Traders are hand-picked from Cheshire, North Wales and the North West, so it leans artisan rather than mass-market: handmade jewellery, ceramics, gin, leather goods, gourmet food. Chester is compact and flat, which makes it one of the easier days on the programme if you’d rather stroll than march. See visit-chester.co.uk.

Weekend four, 5th and 6th December

Lively Liverpool Christmas Market, Saturday 5th December, Route B, Fast Track

Liverpool’s Christmas market sits on St George’s Plateau, right outside the columns of St George’s Hall, one of the most striking market settings anywhere in the country. Wooden chalets, artisan gifts, festive street food, a tipi bar and fairground rides, with the whole city centre lit up around it. Entry is free.

Snowy Skipton’s Christmas Market, Sunday 6th December, Route B

Skipton’s award-winning market runs the full length of the broad medieval High Street, one of the best-preserved market streets in the north of England, with over 100 stalls of artisan makers, Yorkshire producers and local charity stands, plus the town’s independent shops all open around it. Wensleydale, Yorkshire blue, small-batch chocolate, handmade wreaths. It only runs on two Sundays in December, so this is a narrow window. More via yorkshire.com.

Knaresborough Christmas Market, Sunday 6th December, Route A

Confirmed for Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th December 2026, 10am to 5pm, centred on Knaresborough’s historic Market Place. Over 100 artisan stalls, live entertainment, the Christmas Tree Festival at St John’s Church with more than 70 decorated trees, and, on the Sunday, a fireworks display over the famous railway viaduct, best seen from the castle grounds or anywhere along the riverside.

That firework finale is the reason to pick Knaresborough over Skipton if you’re torn. Check the timing at knaresboroughchristmasmarket.co.uk before you travel.

Weekend five, 12th and 13th December

Halifax Piece Hall Christmas Market, Saturday 12th December, Route B, departs one hour later

The best-value trip on the programme at £15 for adults, and one of the most atmospheric. The Grade I listed Piece Hall courtyard fills with independent traders, street food and mulled wine, with a giant Christmas tree, a traditional carousel and live music from brass bands and choirs. Fairy lights strung across 66,000 square feet of Georgian stone. It photographs like a Christmas card because it essentially is one.

Because Halifax is close to home, this trip departs one hour later than the standard route times. A gentler start, and you’re still there for the day. What’s on at thepiecehall.co.uk.

Beverley’s Festival of Christmas, Sunday 13th December, Route A

The UK’s biggest single-day Christmas market, and 2026 is its 30th anniversary year. Confirmed for Sunday 13th December, 10am to 4pm, free entry. Over 120 stalls spread across Saturday Market, Wednesday Market and North Bar, plus a parade with Santa and real reindeer, Victorian fairground rides, birds of prey, brass bands and the Minster Christmas Tree Festival on its final day.

One day only, tens of thousands of visitors, and Beverley closes its roads for it, which makes arriving by coach considerably more sensible than driving. Full programme at beverleyfestivalofchristmas.co.uk.

Weekend six, 19th December

Yuletide York’s Christmas Market, Saturday 19th December, Route A

The St Nicholas Fair on Parliament Street and St Sampson’s Square: alpine chalets, Yorkshire-made crafts, Thor’s Tipi with its open fire and hot cocktails, and the Shambles a two-minute walk away. Going on the 19th means you’re catching York at full festive tilt, right before the market closes for the season. Ideal if you still have gifts to find, and even better if you just want one last proper Christmas day out. Details at visityork.org.

Manchester Christmas Weekender, Saturday 5th December

For anyone who has ever left a Christmas market thinking we needed longer, this is the answer: a two-day excursion to Manchester with an overnight stay, coach travel and breakfast included. £129 per person, single supplement £30, Fast Track pick-ups, Route B.

Your price includes return coach travel from your local Fast Track pick-up point, one night at the four-star Maldron Hotel Manchester City Centre, and breakfast.

Manchester runs 274 market stalls across the city centre in a near-continuous festive trail. You’ll find them at Albert Square, St Ann’s Square, King Street, Exchange Square, Exchange Street, The Corn Exchange, New Cathedral Street and Market Street, with Cathedral Gardens overlooking Skate Manchester’s ice rink, and the Winter Gardens at Piccadilly.

The real argument for staying over is the evening. By night the markets take on a different character entirely, with hundreds of festively lit wooden chalets, glowing stalls, twinkling lights, mulled wine, international street food and artisan crafts. On a day trip you’re heading home just as it gets good. On the Weekender, you’re walking back to your hotel.

The Maldron Hotel Manchester City Centre is a stylish, modern four-star in the heart of the city, four minutes’ walk to Oxford Road train station and Bridgewater Hall, and fifteen minutes’ walk to the Arndale Centre or Manchester Piccadilly. Rooms include private bathrooms, a TV, an electric kettle and free toiletries. Guests have use of a fitness centre, restaurant and bar. The on-site restaurant serves European cuisine for lunch and dinner, and breakfast covers continental, buffet and full English options, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices available.

The Weekender sells out earlier than the day trips every year. If it’s on your list, call 01977 792106 sooner rather than later.

Pick-up points and times

Every trip runs on either Route A or Route B. They cover exactly the same seven towns. The difference is the direction of travel, so check which route your trip uses in the list above and take the time for your stop from the matching route below.

Route A times: Wakefield, rear of Bus Station on Providence Street, 08.00. Altofts, opposite the Robin Hood pub on Church Road, 08.10. Normanton, bus stop outside the Midland pub, 08.15. Featherstone, Nisa shop on Priory Road, 08.25. Featherstone, One Stop on Station Lane, 08.30. North Featherstone, opposite the Bradley Arms, 08.35. Castleford, Aldi at the rear of the Bus Station, 08.45. Pontefract, outside the Royal Mail Sorting Office, 08.55. Knottingley, Railway pub car park, 09.00.

Route B times: Knottingley, Railway pub car park, 08.00. Pontefract, opposite the Bus Station, 08.05. Castleford, Aldi at the rear of the Bus Station, 08.15. North Featherstone, bus stop outside the Bradley Arms, 08.25. Featherstone, opposite One Stop on Station Lane, 08.30. Featherstone, Nisa on Priory Road, 08.35. Normanton, bus stop across from the Midland pub, 08.45. Altofts, bus stop outside the Robin Hood pub, 08.50. Wakefield, rear of Bus Station on Providence Street, 09.00.

Fast Track pick-ups

Four trips use Fast Track routes, a reduced set of four stops that gets the coach on the road quicker for the longer journeys. These apply to Llandudno on 22nd November, Birmingham and Primark on 28th November, the Manchester Weekender on 5th December and Liverpool on 5th December.

Fast Track on Route A: Wakefield, rear of Bus Station on Providence Street, 08.00. Featherstone, outside One Stop on Station Lane, 08.15. Castleford, Aldi at the rear of the Bus Station, 08.30. Pontefract, outside the Royal Mail Sorting Office, 08.45.

Fast Track on Route B: Pontefract, opposite the Bus Station, 08.00. Castleford, Aldi at the rear of the Bus Station, 08.15. Featherstone, opposite One Stop on Station Lane, 08.30. Wakefield, rear of Bus Station on Providence Street, 08.45.

If your usual stop isn’t on the Fast Track list, give us a ring on 01977 792106 and we’ll sort out the nearest option for you.

Please note that the Halifax Piece Hall trip on 12th December departs one hour later than every time shown above. Add an hour to your Route B stop.

Prices, and what you get for them

Most day trips are £20 for adults, £19 for seniors and £17 for children, with three exceptions. Halifax Piece Hall is £15, £14 and £12, being the shortest journey and the latest departure. York is £18, £17 and £15. Birmingham and Primark is £22, £21 and £19, reflecting the longest journey.

Every fare covers return coach travel from your local pick-up point on one of our modern executive coaches. Entry to the markets themselves is free at every destination on this programme, so you’re only paying for what you choose to eat, drink, ride or buy.

Put that next to the cost of fuel, city-centre parking on a December Saturday and the stress of finding a space, and the maths tends to make itself.

Accessible travel

We operate wheelchair-accessible PSVAR coaches and have a long history of making sure groups can travel together, whatever their mobility. If you or someone in your party needs accessible travel, please mention it when you book on 01977 792106 so we can allocate the right vehicle.

Who these trips are for

Couples and friends wanting a proper day out without the driving. Families, since several markets including Nottingham, Scarborough and Beverley have rides, grottos and entertainment built in. Older travellers, with no walking to and from distant car parks and a seat waiting at both ends. Community groups, clubs and workplaces, and if you want a whole coach to yourselves on a different date, just ask us about private coach hire. And serious Christmas shoppers, for whom Bury, Birmingham and Primark, and York are the three to prioritise.

How to book

Call 01977 792106 and our team will confirm availability, take your pick-up point and answer any questions about the day. You can also email shelley@rosstravelgroup.co.uk, visit rosstravelgroup.co.uk, or find us on Facebook by searching for Ross Travel Group.

Seats sell quickly every year, and the December weekends and the Manchester Weekender go first. If there’s a trip you know you want, book it now rather than in November.

Frequently asked questions

When do the 2026 Christmas market trips run? From Saturday 14th November to Saturday 19th December 2026, across six weekends. There are 15 trips in total, including one two-day Manchester Weekender.

How much do the Christmas market day trips cost?

Most are £20 for adults, £19 for seniors and £17 for children. Halifax Piece Hall is £15, £14 and £12. York is £18, £17 and £15. Birmingham and Primark is £22, £21 and £19. The Manchester Christmas Weekender is £129 per person including coach travel, one night at the Maldron Hotel Manchester City Centre and breakfast, with a £30 single supplement.

Where can I get picked up?

Wakefield, Altofts, Normanton, Featherstone, North Featherstone, Castleford, Pontefract and Knottingley. Each trip uses either Route A or Route B. The towns are the same, but the order and times differ. Four trips use reduced Fast Track pick-ups.

What are Fast Track pick-ups?

A shortened four-stop route covering Wakefield, Featherstone, Castleford and Pontefract, used on longer journeys so the coach can get away sooner. They apply to Llandudno, Birmingham and Primark, the Manchester Weekender and Liverpool. If your usual stop isn’t included, call us on 01977 792106.

What time do the coaches leave?

Route A runs from 08.00 in Wakefield to 09.00 in Knottingley. Route B runs from 08.00 in Knottingley to 09.00 in Wakefield. The Halifax Piece Hall trip on 12th December departs one hour later than these times.

Do I need a ticket for the Christmas markets?

No. Entry is free at every market on this programme. You only pay for food, drink, rides and purchases. Some attractions, such as ice skating at Nottingham, are ticketed separately.

Which trip is best for Christmas shopping?

Bury Market on 28th November for sheer volume and value, Birmingham and Primark on 28th November for high street and German market combined, and York on 19th December for a last run at anything still on your list.

Which trip is best for families?

Nottingham’s Winter Wonderland has the ice rink, Sky Skate and observation wheel. Scarborough Sparkle has a lantern parade, funfair rides and a snow machine. Beverley’s Festival of Christmas has Santa’s parade with real reindeer and a Victorian fairground.

Can I bring children on the Manchester Weekender?

The Weekender is priced per person at £129 with a single supplement of £30, and does not have separate senior or child rates. Call 01977 792106 to discuss room arrangements for your party.

Do you offer accessible coaches?

Yes. We operate wheelchair-accessible coaches. Please tell us when you book so we can allocate the right vehicle.

Can I book a whole coach for my group?

Yes. We provide private coach hire for community groups, clubs, schools and workplaces, including bespoke Christmas market trips on dates that suit you. Call 01977 791738 for a quote.

Ross Travel Group is a family-run coach and minibus operator based near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, with over 50 years of experience in day excursions, coach holidays, private hire and local bus services. Market dates and details are correct at the time of writing and are set by the individual event organisers, so please check the organiser’s website before travelling.