By 
Christmas Day falls on a Friday this year, so Stratford gets a long weekend of changed hours: the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December, and New Year’s Day is a Friday too. Here’s what’s open and what’s running in and around Stratford-upon-Avon over Christmas and New Year 2026: supermarkets, buses, trains, bins, post and parking. Many shops haven’t published their Christmas hours yet, so we’re adding them as they’re announced.
On this page
Christmas and New Year 2026 at a glance
| Day | Supermarkets | Stagecoach buses | Trains | Bins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 24 Dec, Christmas Eve | Open, closing times vary | Normal until 8pm, then reduced | Early finish | Normal |
| Fri 25 Dec, Christmas Day | All closed | None | None | None (moved to Mon 28) |
| Sat 26 Dec, Boxing Day | Sainsbury’s open, Aldi closed | None | None on West Midlands Railway | None |
| Sun 27 Dec | Sainsbury’s and Aldi open | Not listed as changed | Birmingham New Street closed | None |
| Mon 28 Dec, bank holiday | Sainsbury’s and Aldi open | Sunday timetable | Birmingham New Street closed | One day late all week |
| Thu 31 Dec, New Year’s Eve | Open; Sainsbury’s until 7pm or 9pm | Saturday service until 8pm, then reduced | Early finish on some routes | Wednesday’s here; Thursday’s on Sat 2 Jan |
| Fri 1 Jan, New Year’s Day | Sainsbury’s open, Aldi closed | None | To be confirmed | None (moved to Mon 4) |
Supermarkets in Stratford
By law, large shops in England can’t open on Christmas Day, and every supermarket chain in Stratford closes that day. Here’s what each one has said so far (we checked on 14 November):
- Sainsbury’s Local, Bridge Street: Christmas Eve 7am to 9pm; closed Christmas Day; Boxing Day 9am to 9pm; Sunday 27 December 7am to 11pm; Monday 28 December 9am to 9pm; New Year’s Eve 7am to 9pm; New Year’s Day 9am to 9pm (Sainsbury’s store page).
- Sainsbury’s Wellesbourne (the nearest big Sainsbury’s): Christmas Eve 6am to 7pm; closed Christmas Day; Boxing Day 9am to 6pm; Sunday 27 December 10am to 4pm; Monday 28 December 8am to 8pm; New Year’s Eve 7am to 7pm; New Year’s Day 9am to 8pm.
- Aldi, Canners Way: closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day; open again on Sunday 27 December and Saturday 2 January. Christmas Eve hours vary by store and haven’t been published for Stratford yet (Aldi’s announcement).
- Tesco (the superstore and the Bridge Street and Banbury Road Express stores): closed on Christmas Day. Tesco says its Express stores stay open until 10pm on Christmas Eve, with shorter hours on Boxing Day; the superstore’s hours aren’t out yet.
- M&S (Bridge Street and the Maybird food hall), Lidl (Maybrook Retail Park) and Waitrose: not announced yet. They usually publish from late November; we’ll add them here.
Town-centre shops, Bell Court and the Maybird Shopping Park haven’t published Christmas or Boxing Day hours yet either. If you run a Stratford shop, café or pub, send us your Christmas hours and we’ll add them.
Buses
Stagecoach, which runs most of Stratford’s buses including the X18 to Warwick, Leamington and Coventry, has published its Christmas services for Warwickshire:
- Christmas Eve: the usual service until 8pm, then a reduced timetable
- Christmas Day and Boxing Day: no buses
- Monday 28 December: Sunday timetable
- New Year’s Eve: Saturday service until 8pm, then a reduced timetable
- New Year’s Day: no buses; normal services from Saturday 2 January
The X20 and the Park & Ride haven’t published Christmas times yet. Our Stratford bus times show the next departures on the day.
Trains
- Christmas Eve: West Midlands Railway trains finish early, with a reduced timetable after 7pm.
- Christmas Day: no trains anywhere in Britain.
- Boxing Day: no West Midlands Railway trains. Chiltern runs only between London and Oxford/Bicester.
- 24 to 28 December: Birmingham New Street is closed to all trains, reopening on Tuesday 29 December.
- New Year’s Eve: Chiltern’s late trains are cancelled, including the 11.05pm from Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street. West Midlands Railway hasn’t published its New Year times yet.
From National Rail’s Christmas travel page and its pages for West Midlands Railway and Chiltern. See our Stratford train times for live departures.
Bin collections
There are no rubbish, recycling or food waste collections on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day, so every collection from Christmas Day to 8 January moves later. From the district council:
| Normal day | New day |
|---|---|
| Friday 25 December | Monday 28 December |
| Monday 28 December | Tuesday 29 December |
| Tuesday 29 December | Wednesday 30 December |
| Wednesday 30 December | Thursday 31 December |
| Thursday 31 December | Saturday 2 January |
| Friday 1 January | Monday 4 January |
| Monday 4 January | Tuesday 5 January |
| Tuesday 5 January | Wednesday 6 January |
| Wednesday 6 January | Thursday 7 January |
| Thursday 7 January | Friday 8 January |
| Friday 8 January | Saturday 9 January |
Put bins out by 6am on the new day. Normal collections start again on Monday 11 January. There are no garden waste collections from 28 December to 8 January. Real Christmas trees are collected from 9 to 22 January, without a garden waste permit: see our Christmas tree recycling guide and bin collection calendar.
Recycling centres: Warwickshire County Council hasn’t published its 2026 Christmas hours yet. Last year the tips closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, and at 12.30pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
Last posting dates and the Post Office
- Friday 18 December: 2nd Class and 2nd Class Signed For
- Saturday 19 December: Royal Mail Tracked 48
- Monday 21 December: 1st Class, 1st Class Signed For and Tracked 24
- Wednesday 23 December: Special Delivery Guaranteed
From the Post Office’s last posting dates. Royal Mail doesn’t collect or deliver on 25, 26 or 28 December or 1 January. Stratford’s main Post Office, at 2–3 Henley Street, is normally open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5.30pm; it hasn’t published Christmas hours yet.
Parking
The district council’s car park charges apply every day, bank holidays included, and it hasn’t announced any free Christmas parking this year. On the Christmas market weekends (28–29 November and 5–6 December) the town centre is busy and several streets close: see our Christmas market guide and parking guide.
Pharmacies and health
The list of pharmacies open on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day in Warwickshire hasn’t been published yet; we’ll add it when the NHS does. For urgent help that isn’t an emergency, use NHS 111 online or call 111, any time of day.
More Christmas in Stratford
- Christmas in Stratford-upon-Avon: every event and date in one place
- Christmas Day lunch in Stratford
- Christmas church services
- Twixmas: what’s on between Christmas and New Year
- New Year’s Eve in Stratford
Alex Harrington
Alex Harrington grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon and runs What's up, Stratford? as an independent guide to the town.
