Christmas Day lunch costs £60.95 to £160 a head at eight pubs and hotels around High Wycombe and Marlow, with children's prices and deposits. Checked 1 Nov.

For Christmas Day around High Wycombe, the prices most people will find are at the Harvester Blacksmith Arms at Handy Cross (£72.99 a head), the Marlow Donkey by Marlow station (£60.95, the lowest on this list), the Chequers on Marlow High Street (£115) and, at the top end, the Old Queens Head at Tylers Green (£160 including service). Every entry was checked against the venue’s own site on 1 November 2026.

We have not eaten at any of these for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry gives the price on the venue’s own 2026 Christmas menu, what it includes and what it says about deposits and booking, plus its Food Standards Agency (FSA) hygiene rating. Prices are per person. Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday.

Several well-known places are not on the list for Christmas Day itself. The Three Crowns at Askett is closed for food on the day and Danesfield House serves Christmas Day lunch to hotel residents only. The Three Crowns’ December festive menu is in the second half of this guide.

Christmas Day in High Wycombe and Marlow

1. The Harvester Blacksmith Arms, Handy Cross

The Blacksmith Arms is the Harvester on Old Marlow Road at Handy Cross, beside the M40 junction 4 roundabout. Its Christmas Day menu is £72.99 per adult.

Harvester’s page lists bubble and squeak bon bons with sprouts and smoky bacon to start, then hand-carved turkey with all the trimmings, a festive pork tomahawk with crispy Christmas hash, or a mushroom suet pudding as the meat-free main, and Christmas pudding or a Baileys salted caramel profiterole sundae to finish. Harvester’s deposit page asks £10 a person for Christmas Day, whatever the party size, with full payment and pre-order by 1 December; cancel at least 14 days before and the deposit is refunded.

Price Christmas Day £72.99 per adult
Booking £10 a person deposit; full payment and pre-order by 1 December
Address Old Marlow Road, Handy Cross, High Wycombe, HP10 9QD
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 21 June 2025
Website harvester.co.uk/restaurants/southeast/theblacksmitharmshighwycombe/menus/christmas-day-menu
Good for closest to the town centre, meat-free main, easy M40 access

2. The Marlow Donkey, Marlow

The Marlow Donkey is the Greene King pub on Station Road, by Marlow station. Its Christmas Day menu is three courses for £60.95, the lowest Christmas Day price on this list, and the kids’ Christmas Day menu for under-12s is £27.95.

Starters include smoked salmon on toasted ciabatta, a twice-baked Cheddar soufflé and butternut squash and sweet potato soup; mains are hand-carved turkey with a Yorkshire pudding and a pig in blanket, salmon Wellington, a Cheddar, Double Gloucester and leek pie, or surf and turf. Booking takes a £10 deposit per adult and per child.

For bookings made by 11 December, menu choices and final payment are due by 11 December; no further bookings are taken after 18 December, when the pub asks you to phone for any last-minute tables.

Price Christmas Day 3 courses £60.95; kids' Christmas Day menu £27.95 (under 12)
Booking £10 deposit per adult and per child; pre-order and payment by 11 December
Call 01628 482022
Address Station Road, Marlow, SL7 1NW
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 16 April 2026
Website greeneking.co.uk/pubs/buckinghamshire/marlow-donkey/christmas/christmas-day
Good for lowest Christmas Day price here, children's menu, vegetarian pie, near Marlow station

3. The Chequers, Marlow

The Chequers is Brakspear’s pub with rooms on Marlow High Street. Its Christmas Day menu is four courses for £115, starting with a sharing plate of breads, smoked salmon pâté and tapenade.

Starters include wild mushroom and black truffle soup, pan-seared scallops and a butternut squash arancini; mains are roast turkey with chestnut and cranberry stuffing, pan-roasted monkfish with lobster and brandy bisque, slow-cooked pork belly, a chestnut risotto, a vegan Wellington, or a White Cross Farm fillet steak at a £10 supplement. The kids’ Christmas Day menu is three courses for £39 for children under 10.

Tables of eight or more have an optional 10% service charge added. The pub’s December festive menu is £39 for two courses or £45 for three.

Price Christmas Day 4 courses £115; kids £39 (under 10); festive menu 2 courses £39, 3 courses £45; optional 10% service for 8 or more
Booking through the pub's Christmas page
Call 01628 482053
Address 51-53 High Street, Marlow, SL7 1BA
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 17 July 2025
Website thechequersmarlow.co.uk/event-celebrations/christmas-in-marlow
Good for Marlow High Street, rooms over Christmas, children's menu, vegan main

4. Crowne Plaza Marlow

Crowne Plaza Marlow is the lakeside hotel on Fieldhouse Lane, by the A404. Its festive brochure lists Christmas Day lunch in the Glaze restaurant at £99 a person for four courses with unlimited Prosecco through the meal, mince pies and coffee, served 12.30pm to 4pm, and says Father Christmas will visit the children.

Mains include a stuffed turkey roulade with pigs in blankets, slow-roast beef striploin, herb-crusted red snapper and a vegan potato gnocchi. A child ticket is £50 for three courses.

One thing to check when you book: the brochure, last updated in April 2026, dates the lunch “Monday 25th December”, but Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday. FSA inspectors rated the hotel kitchen 3, generally satisfactory, in June 2026, the lowest rating on this list.

Price Christmas Day 4 courses £99 with unlimited Prosecco; child ticket £50; festive lunch and dinner 2 courses £26, 3 courses £32
Booking by phone or email to the hotel's Christmas team
Call 01628 496820
Address Fieldhouse Lane, Marlow, SL7 1GJ
Hygiene rating 3, Food Standards Agency, 23 June 2026
Website cpmarlow.co.uk/events/christmas-new-year-eve
Good for unlimited Prosecco, Father Christmas visit, lake views, stay-over packages

5. The Compleat Angler, Marlow

The Compleat Angler is the Macdonald hotel on the Thames beside Marlow suspension bridge, on the Bisham side of the river. Its Christmas Day lunch is £150 per adult and £60 per child aged 12 and under, for a traditional three-course meal with crackers and festive entertainment.

There are two sittings, 12.30pm to 2.30pm and 3.30pm to 5.30pm. The hotel says any deposit paid is non-refundable.

Because it sits in Windsor and Maidenhead, its hygiene rating comes from that council rather than Buckinghamshire.

Price Christmas Day £150 per adult, £60 per child (12 and under)
Booking direct through the hotel's Christmas Day page; deposits non-refundable
Address Bisham Road, Marlow, SL7 1RG
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 21 January 2025
Website macdonaldhotels.co.uk/compleat-angler/venue/christmas/christmas-day-lunch
Good for riverside setting, two sittings, crackers and entertainment, children's price

Christmas Day in the villages

6. The Old Queens Head, Tylers Green

The Old Queens Head is the pub on Hammersley Lane at Tylers Green, Penn. Its Christmas Day menu is £160 a head including service, the highest on this list, and opens with canapés and a glass of Champagne.

Small plates include French onion soup, a double-baked cheese soufflé and venison carpaccio; the roasts are dry-aged beef Wellington, turkey wrapped in bacon with five pigs in blankets, salmon Wellington or a sweet potato and cranberry pithivier, all with jugs of gravy. Each table also takes home a trio of cheeses with crackers and chutney.

The under-12s menu is £75. It wants a £25 deposit per person at booking and full payment by Friday 27 November, and serves food on the day between 12pm and 2pm only.

Open Christmas Day food bookings 12pm to 2pm; closed Boxing Day
Price Christmas Day £160 including service; under-12s £75; festive set menu 2 courses £34, dessert £8 more
Booking £25 deposit per person; full payment by 27 November
Call 01494 813371
Address Hammersley Lane, Tylers Green, Penn, HP10 8EY
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 26 November 2025
Website oldqueensheadpenn.co.uk/christmas
Good for Champagne on arrival, cheese to take home, children's menu, vegan option

7. The Stag and Huntsman, Hambleden

The Stag and Huntsman is the inn on the Culden Faw Estate in Hambleden, in the Chilterns between Marlow and Henley. Its Christmas Day menu is £125 a person with Kingwood Estate sparkling wine from Henley on arrival, then an amuse-bouche, starters such as Culden Faw game terrine and chalkstream trout, mains of bronze turkey, estate fallow deer haunch, roasted turbot or a butternut squash risotto, a pre-dessert and a choice of puddings.

A discretionary 12.5% service charge is added. There are two sittings, arriving 12pm to 12.30pm or 2.30pm to 3.30pm.

In December the festive menu is £35 for two courses or £42 for three, served from 30 November. FSA inspectors rated it 3, generally satisfactory, in November 2025.

Open Christmas Day lunch 12pm to 5pm; no dinner
Price Christmas Day £125 plus 12.5% discretionary service; festive menu 2 courses £35, 3 courses £42
Booking two sittings on Christmas Day; book through the pub's Christmas page or by email
Call 01491 571227
Address Rectory Hill, Hambleden, RG9 6RP
Hygiene rating 3, Food Standards Agency, 24 November 2025
Website stagandhuntsman.com/christmas
Good for estate game and venison, sparkling wine on arrival, rooms, Chilterns walks

8. The Grouse and Ale, Lane End

The Grouse and Ale is the pub on the High Street in Lane End, west of High Wycombe. Its Christmas Day menu is £90 a person and starts with a Kir Royale and a roasted chestnut, parsnip and potato soup.

Starters are crab with celeriac remoulade or a goats’ cheese, fig and onion tart; mains are turkey ballotine with bacon-wrapped chipolatas and pork and cranberry stuffing, halibut with a chestnut and chive velouté, or a winter roast vegetable Wellington. Puddings include Christmas pudding, poached plums with mascarpone or a British cheeseboard, and it finishes with coffee and a mince pie.

Booking and a pre-order are required, with a £25 deposit per person.

Price Christmas Day £90
Booking pre-order and £25 deposit per person required
Call 01494 882299
Address High Street, Lane End, HP14 3JG
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 17 June 2025
Website grouseandale.com
Good for Kir Royale on arrival, vegan Wellington, village pub

Festive menus before the day

9. The Three Crowns, Askett

The Three Crowns is the pub in Askett, just outside Princes Risborough. It is closed for food on Christmas Day (the bar opens for drinks 11.30am to 2pm), but its festive menu runs from Thursday 26 November to 24 December, except Sundays: £33.95 for two courses or £38.95 for three, with supplements on some dishes.

Children under 11 pay £20.95 for two courses or £23.95 for three. Festive bookings are pre-order only, with a £15 deposit per person.

Open festive menu 26 November to 24 December, not Sundays; no food on Christmas Day or Boxing Day
Price festive menu 2 courses £33.95, 3 courses £38.95; under-11s £20.95 and £23.95
Booking pre-order only; £15 deposit per person
Call 01844 347166
Address Askett Village Lane, Askett, HP27 9LT
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 13 March 2026
Website threecrownsaskett.com/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for Princes Risborough, children's prices, festive lunches before Christmas

How we chose

These are the pubs, hotels and restaurants in and around High Wycombe, Marlow and Princes Risborough that had published a 2026 Christmas menu with a price by 1 November 2026. Every price comes from the venue’s own website or menu PDF, and every hygiene rating from the Food Standards Agency register. We left out places that print no Christmas Day price and anywhere still showing last year’s menu: the Chequers Inn at Wooburn Common’s brochure still carries 2025 dates and no Christmas Day menu. Prices and availability change quickly in November, so check with the venue before you book.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@wycombetoday.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@wycombetoday.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.

For more of the season, see Christmas markets in High Wycombe, carols and Christmas concerts, the Christmas lights switch-on, Christmas trains and travel, what’s on in High Wycombe this month, things to do in High Wycombe and the local business directory.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I have Christmas dinner near High Wycombe on Christmas Day 2026?

Eight places on this list publish a Christmas Day 2026 price: the Old Queens Head at Tylers Green (£160 including service), the Compleat Angler in Marlow (£150), the Stag and Huntsman in Hambleden (£125), the Chequers in Marlow (£115), Crowne Plaza Marlow (£99), the Grouse and Ale in Lane End (£90), the Harvester Blacksmith Arms at Handy Cross (£72.99) and the Marlow Donkey (£60.95).

How much is Christmas dinner in High Wycombe in 2026?

Christmas Day runs from £60.95 a head at the Marlow Donkey to £160 at the Old Queens Head, which includes service. The Harvester at Handy Cross is £72.99 and the Grouse and Ale in Lane End is £90. Before the day, festive menus start at £26 for two courses at Crowne Plaza Marlow.

Are there children’s prices for Christmas Day near High Wycombe?

Yes. The Marlow Donkey charges £27.95 for under-12s, the Chequers in Marlow £39 for under-10s, Crowne Plaza Marlow £50 for a child ticket, the Compleat Angler £60 for children aged 12 and under, and the Old Queens Head £75 for under-12s.