What time do shops open at Bluewater?

Most shops open with the centre: 10am Monday to Friday, 9am on Saturday and 11am on Sunday. A few smaller units and coffee shops admit early browsers slightly before the headline open, and the cinema and several restaurants stay open well after the 9pm close.

Magazine feature card: Late-night shopping at Bluewater — Greenhithe, Kent.

Bluewater Opening Times: Saturday, Sunday, Christmas & Late Night Shopping

Q: What time does Bluewater open?

Bluewater opens at 10am Monday to Friday, 9am on Saturday and 11am on Sunday. During the December festive period most days open at 9am, and Boxing Day typically opens at 10am.

Q: What time does Bluewater close?

The standard close is 9pm Monday to Saturday and 5pm on Sunday. The 5pm Sunday close fits the Sunday Trading Act six-hour window for stores over 280 square metres. In December most days extend to 10pm; Christmas Eve closes early at 5pm and Boxing Day closes at 7pm.

Q: Is Bluewater open on Sundays?

Yes — every Sunday, 11am to 5pm. The shorter day reflects the Sunday Trading Act, which limits shop floors over 280 square metres to six hours of trading. Smaller units, the food court and the cinema typically stay open longer.

Q: Is Bluewater open on bank holidays?

Yes, apart from Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, both closed for stores over 280 square metres under UK trading law. The early May, spring and August bank holiday Mondays typically run 10am to 7pm. Good Friday trades on the longer 10am to 9pm Easter hours, while Easter Monday is usually a shorter 10am to 7pm day.

Q: What are Bluewater Christmas opening times?

Christmas hours run on an extended pattern through December, with most days from around 17 December onwards trading to 10pm. Christmas Eve closes early at 5pm, Christmas Day is closed, Boxing Day runs 10am to 7pm and the days to New Year typically run 9am to 8pm. The exact 2026/27 schedule is published in November.

Q: What are Bluewater Boxing Day opening times?

Boxing Day typically runs 10am to 7pm. Promotional pricing tends to drop at door-open rather than building through the day, so for the sales it is worth arriving close to the 10am open. The food court and cinema keep longer hours.

Q: Does Bluewater do late-night shopping?

Yes — Bluewater trades to 9pm Monday to Saturday as standard, one of the longer evening windows of any UK shopping centre. The genuine late-night extension is December, when most days from around 17 to 23 December run to 10pm. The cinema runs to its last screening every night.

Q: What time is Bluewater open on Saturday?

Saturday hours are 9am to 9pm — a twelve-hour day, the longest of the week. In December Saturdays usually extend to 10pm. Saturday is the busiest day, so for a calmer visit arrive at the 9am open or after 5pm.

Q: What time is Bluewater open on Sunday?

Sunday hours are 11am to 5pm. The six-hour day reflects the Sunday Trading Act limit for shop floors above 280 square metres. The food court, the cinema and the leisure venues keep longer Sunday hours.

Table of Contents

By Linda Garrould · Updated June 2026

Quick answer: Bluewater trades 10am–9pm Monday to Friday, 9am–9pm on Saturday and 11am–5pm on Sunday, with late-night shopping to 9pm six days a week and extended evenings to 10pm in the run-up to Christmas.

Bluewater is one of the largest shopping centres in the UK — set in a former chalk quarry at Greenhithe in Kent, with more than 300 shops, around 50 cafés and restaurants, a 17-screen Showcase Cinema de Lux and roughly 13,000 free parking spaces. This guide covers the opening hours for every day of the week, including Saturday, Sunday, the Christmas and Boxing Day schedule and the Easter and bank holiday pattern. It also runs through which shops and restaurants you will actually find there now, where the late-night windows are, and how to get there from London and across Kent.

Bluewater Opening Times

The standard weekly hours below apply outside the festive period and a handful of bank holidays, when extended evening trading comes into play. Individual shops occasionally keep slightly different hours, and the cinema and several restaurants run later than the headline mall close — see the eating section further down for those.

Day	Bluewater hours
Monday	10.00am – 9.00pm
Tuesday	10.00am – 9.00pm
Wednesday	10.00am – 9.00pm
Thursday	10.00am – 9.00pm
Friday	10.00am – 9.00pm
Saturday	9.00am – 9.00pm
Sunday	11.00am – 5.00pm

The 11.00am to 5.00pm Sunday window reflects the Sunday Trading Act six-hour trading limit for retail units over 280 square metres. Smaller shop floors, the food court and the cinema typically run longer Sunday hours.

Correct as of June 2026. Hours are set by the operator and do change for seasonal and brand-specific reasons — please check the official Bluewater opening hours page before you travel.

Key Bluewater Store Hours

The major stores broadly follow the centre hours below. Treat these as typical and confirm directly for a special trip, as anchor stores occasionally open a little earlier or stay open later than the mall.

Store	Typical hours (confirm for a special trip)
John Lewis	Mon–Sat 10am–9pm, Sun 11am–5pm
M&S (clothing, home & Foodhall)	Mon–Sat 9am–9pm, Sun 11am–5pm
Next (from late 2026, former House of Fraser unit)	Mon–Sat 10am–9pm, Sun 11am–5pm
Apple	Mon–Sat 10am–9pm, Sun 11am–5pm
Boots	Mon–Sat 9am–9pm, Sun 11am–5pm
Zara	Mon–Sat 10am–9pm, Sun 11am–5pm

Typical hours anchored to the centre schedule — individual stores set their own times, so confirm with the retailer before a dedicated trip.

Saturday Opening Hours

Saturday hours run 9.00am to 9.00pm — a twelve-hour trading day, the longest day of the week and an hour earlier opening than the Monday-to-Friday 10.00am start. Saturday is consistently the busiest day for visitors, particularly during sale weekends and the run-up to Christmas. The 9.00am to 11.00am window is the calmest Saturday morning slot — door-open arrivers can park close to the main entrances at the Guildhall, Rose Gallery and Thames Walk before the 11.00am to 4.00pm peak fills the multi-storey lots. From 5.00pm Saturday tends to thin out as families head home; the final two hours through to 9.00pm are noticeably calmer and remain a strong window for serious shopping. Saturday hours run as standard year-round, with extensions during the December festive period and Easter weekend trading — see the festive table below.

Sunday Opening Hours

Sunday hours run 11.00am to 5.00pm — a six-hour window set by the Sunday Trading Act. In practice many boutiques start admitting browsers from 10.30am, with full till transactions running between 11.00am and 5.00pm. The food court restaurants, the Showcase Cinema de Lux and the leisure venues keep longer Sunday hours and stay open into the evening — the cinema in particular runs through to its last screening of the night every Sunday. Sunday is the second busiest day of the week after Saturday — the calmest hour is the 11.00am opening window, before the post-lunch surge.

Opening Hours Today and Tomorrow

The standard hours above apply on any normal trading day. The exceptions are the December festive period, Christmas Day (closed), Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, and the spring and summer bank holiday Mondays — see the festive and bank-holiday sections below for those specific dates. If today or tomorrow falls outside any of those listed exceptions, Bluewater trades 10.00am–9.00pm Monday to Friday, 9.00am–9.00pm Saturday or 11.00am–5.00pm Sunday.

Bluewater Christmas Opening Times: Boxing Day and New Year

Christmas hours typically extend further than the standard weekly schedule, with most December days running until 10.00pm to handle the festive rush. The exact 2026/27 schedule is published by the operator in late October or early November, but the established pattern from prior years looks like this:

Date	Typical hours
17 – 23 December	9.00am – 10.00pm
Christmas Eve	9.00am – 5.00pm
Christmas Day	Closed
Boxing Day	10.00am – 7.00pm
27 – 30 December	9.00am – 8.00pm
New Year’s Eve	10.00am – 7.00pm
New Year’s Day	10.00am – 7.00pm

Mapped onto the verified 2026 calendar, the expected festive pattern is as follows. These are the typical hours from previous years against the correct dates — confirm against the operator’s published schedule when it appears in November.

2026 date	Typical hours (confirm in December)
Thu 24 Dec (Christmas Eve)	9.00am – 5.00pm
Fri 25 Dec (Christmas Day)	Closed
Sat 26 Dec (Boxing Day)	10.00am – 7.00pm
Sun 27 Dec	11.00am – 5.00pm
Mon 28 Dec	9.00am – 8.00pm
Tue 29 Dec	9.00am – 8.00pm
Wed 30 Dec	9.00am – 8.00pm
Thu 31 Dec (New Year’s Eve)	10.00am – 7.00pm
Fri 1 Jan 2027 (New Year’s Day)	10.00am – 7.00pm

Typical/expected festive pattern against the 2026 dates — confirm nearer the time on the official opening hours page.

Boxing Day in particular brings the start forward to handle the post-Christmas sale rush — typically opening at 10.00am rather than the usual 9.00am Saturday or 10.00am weekday open, and closing at 7.00pm. Brand-led promotional pricing tends to drop simultaneously at door-open rather than building through the day, so for serious bargain-hunting it is worth being on site close to the Boxing Day opening.

Bluewater late night shopping in December gives you the longest evening trading of the year — from around 17 December through to 23 December, most days run to 10.00pm. The Winterland Bluewater seasonal village runs alongside, with extended evening hours including the ice rink and the Christmas market in the Wintergarden plaza.

Correct as of June 2026. Hours are set by the operator and do change for seasonal and brand-specific reasons — please check the official Bluewater opening hours page before you travel.

Bluewater Easter Opening Times and Bank Holidays

Bluewater Easter opening times follow a published seasonal pattern. Easter Sunday is closed by law for retail units over 280 square metres under the Sunday Trading Act — the same rule that closes large stores on Christmas Day. A small number of leisure operators (the Showcase Cinema, food court restaurants and Pirate Cove Adventure Park) typically remain open on Easter Sunday on shorter hours. Good Friday and Easter Saturday trade on the longer 9.00pm hours, while Easter Monday is usually a shorter 10.00am to 7.00pm day.

On the standalone bank holiday Mondays — the early May bank holiday, the late May (spring) bank holiday and the August (summer) bank holiday — Bluewater typically opens 10.00am to 7.00pm, a slightly shorter day than the usual weekday close. The exact bank holiday hours are published by the operator three to four weeks before each date. Outside those bank holidays, the centre runs the standard weekly hours.

Shops at Bluewater: The Full List

The shops at Bluewater number more than 300 retailers and restaurants spread across three principal malls — the Guildhall, the Rose Gallery and Thames Walk — plus the Plaza and Wintergarden plaza spaces. A complete list of shops at Bluewater — the canonical Bluewater shopping centre directory — covers the two anchor department stores, fashion across all price points, jewellery and watches, beauty and fragrance, sports, electronics, gifts and homeware, and a substantial 50-strong food and drink offer. The categorised guide below gives a working overview; for the up-to-the-minute boutique-by-boutique status (including which units are temporarily closed for refit) the operator’s Bluewater shopping centre directory is the canonical source.

Anchor department stores

John Lewis and M&S are the two anchor department stores, sitting at opposite corners of the triangular floor plan. John Lewis is the single largest unit, spread across three levels, and reopened in late 2025 after a £10m refurbishment that introduced a Gifting Emporium and a redesigned Home department — the first of its kind in the chain. M&S keeps its full clothing, home and Foodhall offer on Thames Walk. House of Fraser, the third historical anchor, closed in November 2024 after 25 years; Next is taking the unit and is due to reopen it in late 2026 as one of its largest stores, with menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, homeware and a café.

Fashion: high street and premium

Zara, H&M, Uniqlo, Mango, Massimo Dutti, Next, New Look, GAP, Hollister, AllSaints, Reiss, Hobbs, Whistles, Phase Eight, Mint Velvet, FatFace, Jigsaw, L.K. Bennett, Lacoste, Levi’s, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Charles Tyrwhitt all trade at Bluewater. The premium contemporary fashion mix sits in the Guildhall mall; the high-street brands are concentrated along Thames Walk and the Rose Gallery.

Sportswear, outdoor and shoes

JD Sports, Foot Locker, Foot Asylum, Snow+Rock, Nike, Skechers, Clarks, Schuh, Schuh Kids, Office, Dune London, Kurt Geiger, Jones Bootmaker, Russell & Bromley, Fred Perry and Speedo cover the sportswear, outdoor and footwear categories.

Beauty, fragrance and jewellery

Sephora, Lush, Molton Brown, L’Occitane, Kiehl’s, Kiko Milano, Rituals, Aveda, Smashbox, Penhaligon’s, The Fragrance Shop, Boots, Boots Opticians and Holland & Barrett cover beauty, fragrance and health. Jewellery and watches at Bluewater is unusually deep for a UK shopping centre: Beaverbrooks, Goldsmiths, Ernest Jones, H.Samuel, F.Hinds, Mappin & Webb, Fraser Hart, PANDORA, Swarovski, Thomas Sabo, Lovisa, Fossil and Omega.

Electronics, lifestyle and homeware

Apple, Bose, Currys, Dyson, EE, O2, Three, Sky, LEGO, Build-A-Bear, Smiggle, Hawkins Bazaar, MenKind, The White Company, Lakeland, Le Creuset, Oliver Bonas and Waterstones cover electronics, gifting and homeware.

Food, drink and leisure

The Bluewater food and drink offer runs to over 50 cafés and restaurants. Sit-down restaurants include Côte Brasserie, Comptoir Libanais, PizzaExpress, Pizza Hut, Wagamama, Wahaca, Bill’s, Las Iguanas, Zizzi, Five Guys, Nando’s, ASK Italian, Bella Italia and Browns Bar & Brasserie. Quick-service includes Pret A Manger, Costa, Caffè Nero, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Hotel Chocolat, Joe & the Juice and Lola’s Cupcakes. Leisure venues include the 17-screen Showcase Cinema de Lux and Pirate Cove Adventure Park.

The full and current shop directory — including which brands are temporarily closed for refit — is maintained on the operator’s site. The Bluewater shop directory is the canonical source for the up-to-date list of shops at Bluewater.

Bluewater Late Night Shopping

Bluewater late night shopping runs to 9.00pm Monday to Saturday as standard — making it one of the longer evening shopping windows of any UK shopping centre. Outside London the only larger malls that match Bluewater for evening hours are the Trafford Centre and the Westfield centres. The 6.00pm to 9.00pm window each weekday evening is consistently the calmest part of the trading day — same closing time as Saturday, much smaller crowds than weekend afternoons. For Sunday evening shoppers, the 5.00pm Sunday close is set by the Sunday Trading Act and applies to all the major retailers; the cinema and food court restaurants stay open later.

The genuine late-night extension is the December festive period, when Bluewater typically extends to 10.00pm from around 17 December through to 23 December. Winterland Bluewater — the seasonal Christmas village in the Wintergarden plaza, with an ice rink, festive market and family activities — runs alongside the extended retail hours and is a draw in its own right.

Getting to Bluewater

By car and parking

Bluewater sits between Junctions 1A and 2 of the M25 in north Kent — the easiest motorway approach is the M25 from London or the south, and the A2 from Kent and the south-east coast. Parking is on-site with around 13,000 free spaces across surface lots and multi-storey car parks. There are 39 Pod Point electric-vehicle charging spaces and 17 Tesla Superchargers. Coach and motorhome parking is also available. The headline appeal is that all standard parking is free with no time limit — you do not need to scan receipts or pay on exit. Address for satnav: Bluewater Parkway, Greenhithe, Kent DA9 9ST.

By train

The closest railway station is Greenhithe for Bluewater on the Southeastern line from London Charing Cross, Cannon Street and London Bridge — about 25 minutes from London Bridge to Greenhithe. From Greenhithe a frequent shuttle bus runs to the Bluewater Bus Station at the rear of the centre. Ebbsfleet International is a short bus or taxi ride away and offers high-speed services from London St Pancras (about 20 minutes) and from continental Europe via Eurostar.

By bus

The Bluewater Bus Station sits at the rear of the centre and is served by routes from across Kent and south-east London including Dartford, Gravesend, Bexleyheath, Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells and Lewisham. Direct services from London Victoria run hourly with a journey time of about 60 minutes. The Fastrack network connects Bluewater with Ebbsfleet, Dartford and Gravesend on dedicated bus-only routes for shorter peak journey times.

Where to Eat at Bluewater

The Bluewater eating offer runs to more than 50 cafés and restaurants across the three malls. Sit-down restaurants are concentrated along the Plaza and Thames Walk, with the food court at the Wintergarden housing the bulk of the quick-service options. Notable options include:

Côte Brasserie — French-style sit-down
Wagamama — pan-Asian
Wahaca — Mexican street food
Comptoir Libanais — Lebanese, family friendly
Bella Italia, ASK Italian, PizzaExpress, Zizzi — Italian dining range
Bill’s — all-day British dining
Five Guys, Nando’s, Wahaca — fast-casual favourites
Pret, Costa, Caffè Nero, Starbucks — daytime coffee and lunch

Restaurant hours typically run later than the boutique close — most sit-down restaurants serve through to 10.00pm even on standard trading days, with extended hours during the December festive period. If you want to combine an early-evening meal with a final couple of hours of shopping, arriving for a 5.30pm sitting then heading to the boutiques in the last hour or two before close works well outside the busiest weekends.

Bluewater Opening Times: Frequently Asked Questions

What time does Bluewater open?

Bluewater opens at 10.00am Monday to Friday, 9.00am on Saturday and 11.00am on Sunday. During the December festive period (around 17 December onwards) most days open at 9.00am, and Boxing Day typically opens at 10.00am.

What time does Bluewater close?

The standard close is 9.00pm Monday to Saturday and 5.00pm on Sunday. The 5.00pm Sunday close fits the Sunday Trading Act six-hour trading window for stores over 280 square metres. During the December festive period most days extend to 10.00pm; Christmas Eve closes early at 5.00pm and Boxing Day closes at 7.00pm.

Is Bluewater open on Sundays?

Yes — every Sunday, 11.00am to 5.00pm. The shorter Sunday day reflects the Sunday Trading Act, which restricts retail units over 280 square metres to six hours of trading on Sundays. Smaller shop floors, the food court and the Showcase cinema typically stay open longer.

Is Bluewater open on bank holidays?

Yes, with the exceptions of Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, both of which are closed for retail units over 280 square metres under UK trading law. The early May, late May (spring) and August (summer) bank holiday Mondays typically run 10.00am to 7.00pm. Good Friday trades on the longer 10.00am to 9.00pm Easter hours, while Easter Monday is usually a shorter 10.00am to 7.00pm day.

What are Bluewater Christmas opening times?

Bluewater Christmas opening times typically run on extended hours through December — most days from around 17 December onwards extending to 10.00pm. Christmas Eve closes early at 5.00pm, Christmas Day is closed, Boxing Day opens 10.00am to 7.00pm and the days between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve typically run 9.00am to 8.00pm. The exact 2026/27 festive schedule is published on the operator’s site each November.

What are Bluewater Boxing Day opening times?

Bluewater Boxing Day opening times typically run 10.00am to 7.00pm — a nine-hour trading day. Brand-led promotional pricing tends to drop simultaneously at door-open rather than building through the day, so for serious bargain-hunting it is worth being on site close to the 10.00am Boxing Day opening. The food court and the Showcase cinema both keep longer Boxing Day hours.

Does Bluewater do late night shopping?

Bluewater late night shopping runs to 9.00pm Monday to Saturday as standard — one of the longer evening windows of any UK shopping centre. The genuine late-night extension is the December festive period, when most days from around 17 December through to 23 December extend to 10.00pm. The Showcase Cinema de Lux runs to its last screening of the evening every night of the year.

What time is Bluewater open on Saturday?

Bluewater is open on Saturday from 9.00am to 9.00pm — a twelve-hour trading day, the longest of the week. During the December festive period Saturdays usually extend to 10.00pm. Saturday is the busiest day of the week — for a calmer browse, arrive at the 9.00am door-open or after 5.00pm.

What time is Bluewater open on Sunday?

Bluewater is open on Sunday from 11.00am to 5.00pm. The six-hour day reflects the Sunday Trading Act limit for shop floors above 280 square metres. The food court, the Showcase Cinema de Lux and the leisure venues (Pirate Cove Adventure Park) keep longer Sunday hours.

What are Bluewater Easter opening times?

Bluewater Easter opening times follow a published seasonal pattern. Easter Sunday is closed by law for retail units over 280 square metres under the Sunday Trading Act, with a small number of leisure operators (the cinema, food court restaurants, adventure park) typically remaining open on shorter hours. Good Friday and Easter Saturday trade on the longer 9.00pm hours, while Easter Monday is usually a shorter 10.00am to 7.00pm day. The exact Bluewater Easter opening times for each season are published on the operator’s site three to four weeks in advance.

What are Bluewater opening times bank holiday Mondays?

Bluewater opening times bank holiday Mondays typically run 10.00am to 7.00pm — a slightly shorter day than the usual 9.00pm weekday close. Easter Monday, the early May bank holiday Monday, the late May (spring) bank holiday Monday and the August (summer) bank holiday Monday all tend to follow this 10.00am to 7.00pm pattern. The exact times are confirmed about three to four weeks before each bank holiday on the operator’s official opening hours page.

How many shops are at Bluewater?

Bluewater houses more than 300 retailers and restaurants — a comprehensive list of shops at Bluewater across fashion, beauty, jewellery, electronics, home, sport and food. The Bluewater shopping centre directory on the operator’s site lists the full and current line-up; the categorised guide above covers the headline shops at Bluewater across each major category.

More Late Night Shopping Guides

Looking for late-night shopping in other UK cities? These guides cover the major centres and high streets:

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