We checked 13 Welwyn Garden City shops, from John Lewis to Fiona Rae's jewellery at Hatfield Park, for opening hours and late nights. Updated November 2026.
Welwyn Garden City and the villages around it have 13 places worth a Christmas shopping trip in 2026, and this guide puts them in one place with opening hours, late nights and what each one sells. Most people start at John Lewis, Waterstones and the Howard Centre, where Village & Co gathers dozens of small makers under one roof, then head out to Fiona Rae’s jewellery at Hatfield Park’s Stable Yard. Every entry was checked on 5 November 2026 against the shop’s own site or its shopping centre’s listing, and we say where we could not.
The hours are regular hours unless we say otherwise: John Lewis, the Howard Centre and Waterstones had posted dates ahead, the rest had not, so ring nearer the day.
Dates for the Christmas shopping diary
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday 15 November, 11am to 3pm | Mill Green Christmas Craft Market, free entry | Mill Green Museum, AL9 5PD |
| Sundays 15 and 29 November, 6, 13 and 20 December, 10am to 2pm | Old Hatfield Craft Pop-Up, free | Salisbury Square, Old Hatfield |
| Saturday 21 November | Christmas lights event, switch-on at 6pm; Howard Centre open to 8pm, Stonehills market to 7pm | Town centre |
| Friday 27 November, 4pm to 7pm | Hatfield’s Festive Friday, with Christmas market stalls | White Lion Square, Hatfield |
| Friday 27 and Saturday 28 November | John Lewis opens 9am to 7pm | Bridge Road |
| Saturday 28 November | Village & Co Christmas Market, and the first Stonehills Christmas market day, 10am to 4pm | Howard Centre and Stonehills |
| Saturday 28 November, 11am to 4.30pm | Hatfield Christmas Fair, free | White Lion Square, Hatfield |
| Sunday 29 November | Essendon Country Club Christmas Market, free, booked online | Bedwell Park, AL9 6HN |
| Saturdays 5, 12 and 19 December and Sunday 20 December, 10am to 4pm | Stonehills Christmas market days | Stonehills |
| Monday 14 to Wednesday 23 December | John Lewis open to 7pm every day except Sunday 20 December | Bridge Road |
| Thursday 17 December | Howard Centre open to 7pm | Howardsgate |
| Saturday 19 December | Village & Co Christmas Market | Howard Centre |
| Monday 21 December | Village & Co Christmas Foodies Market | Howard Centre |
| Saturday 26 December | Howard Centre open 10am to 4pm; John Lewis closed | Town centre |
The market dates come from our Christmas markets guide, which has the stallholders and entry details for each one. For Santa visits, see our grotto guide, and for the trains over the holiday, our Christmas travel page.
Welwyn Garden City town centre
The town centre is compact: John Lewis faces the Parkway gardens on Bridge Road, Waterstones is on Howardsgate and the Howard Centre sits beside the station. Our parking guide has every car park and tariff.
1. John Lewis Welwyn
The town’s department store traded as the Welwyn Stores before it took the John Lewis name. Its branch page lists brands including Clarins, Jo Malone, Barbour, Michael Kors and Mulberry, and it has a bureau de change on the second floor.
It has published day-by-day hours through to 2 January: late opening to 7pm on 27 and 28 November and from 14 to 23 December (except Sunday 20 December), 9am to 5pm on Christmas Eve, closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, and 10.30am to 5pm on Sunday 27 December.
Open Mon to Sat 9.30am to 6pm; Sun 10.30am to 5pm
Booking Christmas hours vary by day; see the branch page
Call 0345 608 0677
Address Bridge Road, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6TP
Website johnlewis.com/our-shops/welwyn
Good for beauty and fragrance, gifts, toys, homeware, late nights in December
2. Waterstones Welwyn Garden City
Waterstones calls itself “Welwyn’s only bookshop” and says it stocks a hand-selected range of books and gifts. The shop describes its children’s department as well stocked with books, toys and games for all ages, which makes it the obvious stop for stocking fillers.
Its published hours run to 14 November so far, with no change from its usual pattern.
Open Mon to Sat 9am to 5.30pm; Sun 10am to 4pm
Call 01707 323730
Address Unit 6, 52-56 Howardsgate, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6BP
Website waterstones.com/bookshops/welwyn-garden-city
Good for books, children's books, games, gifts
3. Village & Co
Village & Co is the place for anyone who wants to buy from independents. It describes itself as an independent lifestyle boutique and gift shop showcasing creative businesses, and the Howard Centre says its range of gifts, fashion, homeware, jewellery and handcrafted items comes from local and independent sellers.
It runs a Makers & Curators Market in the Howard Centre on the fourth Saturday of each month, with Christmas markets on 28 November and 19 December and a Christmas Foodies Market on 21 December.
Open Mon to Sat 9.30am to 5pm; Sun 11am to 4pm
Call 07743 886702
Address Unit 26, Ground Floor, The Howard Centre, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6HA
Website villageandcouk.com
Good for local makers, handmade gifts, jewellery, Christmas markets
4. Sophie Street
The Howard Centre lists Sophie Street as an independent women’s fashion retailer selling clothing and accessories, from everyday pieces to outfits for occasions. It is one of the centre’s newest shops, added to its directory on 3 November 2026.
We found no website of its own, so the hours below are the centre’s listing.
Open Mon to Sat 9.30am to 5.30pm; Sun 10am to 4pm
Address Units 8-9, Ground Floor, The Howard Centre, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6HA
Website howardcentre.co.uk/stores/sophie-street
Good for women's fashion, accessories, party outfits
5. Kensington Avenue
Kensington Avenue specialises in tailoring, bespoke suits and ready-to-wear formalwear for men, according to the Howard Centre’s listing, which adds that appointments are available out of hours. It keeps the latest regular hours in the centre, to 7pm from Tuesday to Saturday, so it suits anyone shopping for a Christmas party suit after work.
Open Mon 10am to 6pm; Tue to Sat 10am to 7pm; Sun 10am to 4pm
Booking appointments available out of hours
Call 07931 941999
Address Unit 23, Ground Floor, The Howard Centre, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6HA
Website kensingtonavenue.co.uk
Good for menswear, suits, tailoring, evening hours
6. Søstrene Grene
The Danish chain was founded in Aarhus in 1973 and is still family owned, according to the Howard Centre’s listing. The centre describes its stock as things for the home, for creative projects and for celebrations, so it is a stop for decorations, wrapping and craft supplies.
Open Mon to Sat 9am to 5.30pm; Sun 10am to 4pm
Address Ground Floor, The Howard Centre, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6HA
Website howardcentre.co.uk/stores/sostrene-grene
Good for decorations, wrapping paper, craft supplies, small gifts
7. Hotel Chocolat
The chocolate maker’s Howard Centre shop sells boxed chocolates, seasonal collections and hot chocolate, according to the centre’s listing. It keeps the centre’s standard hours.
Open Mon to Sat 9am to 5.30pm; Sun 10am to 4pm
Call 01707 375315
Address Unit 2, Ground Floor, The Howard Centre, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6HA
Website howardcentre.co.uk/stores/hotel-chocolat
Good for chocolate gifts, hampers, stocking fillers
8. The Entertainer
The town centre’s toy shop is on the Howard Centre’s first floor. It says it runs regular demonstrations, events and competitions in store.
Note that this branch lists itself as closed on Sundays.
Open Mon to Sat 9am to 5.30pm; closed Sun
Call 01707 331586
Address Unit 53, First Floor, The Howard Centre, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6HA
Website howardcentre.co.uk/stores/the-entertainer
Good for toys, games, children's gifts
9. Welwyn Garden City Christmas Market, Stonehills
The town’s regular Food & Craft Market, which usually trades on the first and third Saturdays at Stonehills, adds five Christmas market days in 2026, each 10am to 4pm. It is a street market rather than a village of chalets.
On Saturday 21 November, the day of the lights event, the regular market stays open until 7pm. Our Christmas markets guide has the full details.
Open Sat 28 Nov, Sat 5, 12 and 19 Dec, Sun 20 Dec, 10am to 4pm
Address Stonehills, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6NA
Website wgcmarket.co.uk/events
Good for food, crafts, local traders
The Howard Centre at Christmas
The Howard Centre’s own hours are 9am to 5.30pm from Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sundays. Its published festive hours add two late nights, to 8pm on Saturday 21 November and to 7pm on Thursday 17 December. It closes on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and opens 10am to 4pm from 26 to 28 December. It adds that each shop’s hours may vary.
Old Welwyn
10. Always Loved by Isabel Hospice
Isabel Hospice’s shop in Welwyn village is given over to pre-loved womenswear and accessories, which the charity says is curated for a boutique setting. Money raised pays for the hospice’s palliative care.
The first hour of each day is a quiet hour, with the music off, for anyone who finds shops overwhelming.
Open Mon to Sat 9am to 5pm; Sun 10am to 4pm
Call 01707 240002
Address 21-25 High Street, Welwyn, AL6 9EE
Website isabelhospice.org.uk/stores/welwyn-village
Good for pre-loved womenswear, accessories, quiet hour
Hatfield and Hatfield Park
11. Fiona Rae at the Stable Yard
Fiona Rae designs and makes jewellery, including enamel pieces and cufflinks, and her site says all work is designed by her and made in her stores. Hatfield Park says she has held a Royal Warrant since 2001, and her site now carries the warrant of King Charles III.
The Hertfordshire boutique is in the Villandry Room at the Stable Yard, which Hatfield Park says has free entry and free parking. No opening hours are published; the Stable Yard asks visitors to check with each shop before travelling.
Booking ring ahead; appointments can be booked through the site
Call 01707 271200
Address The Villandry Room, Stable Yard, Hatfield House, AL9 5NQ
Website fionarae.co.uk/pages/visit-boutique
Good for enamel jewellery, cufflinks, bespoke commissions, free parking
12. The Miller’s Shop, Mill Green Museum
The shop at Mill Green Museum sells books, souvenirs and flour milled on site in the museum’s 18th-century watermill. Its price list runs from £1.50 for 500g of organic wholemeal flour to £5.25 for 3kg, with rye, strong white and chapatti flours in between.
The museum’s season ends on Sunday 29 November and reopens on 5 March 2027, so there are only a few Fridays and Sundays left. The site is cashless.
Open Fri and Sun 10am to 4pm, until 29 November
Price flour £1.50 to £5.25 a bag
Call 01707 357850
Address Bush Hall Lane, Hatfield, AL9 5PD
Website millgreenmuseum.co.uk/mill-museum/visit-us/millers-shop
Good for local flour, books, souvenirs, craft market on 15 November
13. The Galleria
Hatfield’s covered outlet centre, on Comet Way above the A1(M), keeps the latest regular hours in the borough. Its offers page names ProCook, Le Creuset, Clarks, Suit Direct, Baggage Factory and Choice among its shops, and Waterstones has a second branch here.
In November it is running Christmas wreath workshops and a Giving Tree appeal. Parking is paid, with about 1,700 spaces: £3 all day at weekends, free after 6pm every day and, by the centre’s home page, free between 10.30am and 1pm on weekdays.
It had published no Christmas hours on 5 November.
Open Mon to Fri 10am to 8pm; Sat 10am to 6pm; Sun 11am to 5pm
Price parking £1.30 for an hour on weekdays, £3 all day at weekends
Address Comet Way, Hatfield, AL10 0XR
Website thegalleria.co.uk
Good for outlet prices, late weekday shopping, free evening parking
How we chose
We started from OpenStreetMap’s shop records for Welwyn Garden City, Welwyn and Hatfield, the Howard Centre’s store directory and Hatfield Park’s Stable Yard pages, kept shops that sell things people buy as Christmas presents, and checked every entry against its own site or its centre’s listing on 5 November 2026. We preferred independents, and included the chains that the town centre is built around. We left out Slumbering Hound, whose Stable Yard shop closed at the end of October, and Pots of Art, which no longer lists a studio at Hatfield Park. Nothing here was paid for. For a day out to go with the shopping, see our things to do guide, what’s on this month and where to eat Christmas dinner.
Run a shop that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@welwynonline.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@welwynonline.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.
Frequently asked questions
Is there late night Christmas shopping in Welwyn Garden City in 2026?
Yes. The Howard Centre opens until 8pm on Saturday 21 November, the day of the Christmas lights event, and until 7pm on Thursday 17 December. John Lewis opens until 7pm on 27 and 28 November, from 14 to 19 December, from 21 to 23 December and on 28 December. In Hatfield, The Galleria opens until 8pm every weekday.
Are the Welwyn Garden City shops open on Boxing Day?
The Howard Centre opens 10am to 4pm on Saturday 26 December, though it says each shop’s hours may vary. John Lewis is closed on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day and reopens 10.30am to 5pm on Sunday 27 December.
When is the Welwyn Garden City Christmas market in 2026?
The town market at Stonehills runs Christmas market days on Saturday 28 November, Saturdays 5, 12 and 19 December and Sunday 20 December, 10am to 4pm. Village & Co also holds makers’ Christmas markets in the Howard Centre on 28 November and 19 December, and a Christmas Foodies Market on 21 December.
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