The 20 most fabulous places for a Christmas break in Britain
Struggling to decide what to put on your Christmas list? Take our advice and put the following somewhere prominent, under the noses of your loved ones: pretty independent shopping streets, great walks, cosy old pubs, fabulous food, warm fires and dependable Wi-Fi.
Because once you reach an age at which Father Christmas has stopped your stocking delivery, there is one Christmas gift better than any other, by a long stretch. A break. Whether it’s a hotel or a self-catering house, a few days somewhere novel, far from your own oven and to-do list, can transform the festive period into something truly magical.
In a new and exciting place, no one is automatically responsible for the washing up, the peeling or the 5am turkey basting. You can rewrite the rules and the responsibilities. Taken out of their natural habitats, teenagers turn on smiles and turn off their phones. Bickering siblings behave. Shirkers stack the dishwasher. It’s a Christmas miracle.
But only if you choose the right location. One that covers all the criteria on your Christmas list. Luckily, such places do exist and we have found the very best. Just remember to book early, or send up a prayer to St Nick.
Find a festive break by region:
South West
1. Bosinver, Cornwall
Bosinver is brilliantly located: 15 minutes to the higgledy-piggledy port town of Mevagissey and its marvellous Christmas shopping, or to beautiful beaches (for walking off that turkey). Best of all, it is tucked away, off the beaten tourist track, and home to Bosinver Farm Cottages: 20 cosy self-catering properties arranged over 35 lush acres and perfectly equipped for kids of all ages. There’s a soft-play centre, adventure play, tennis courts, an indoor pool and a “village hall-style” games room for teenagers. You can meet and feed the farm animals. Feeling overstuffed? Take a scenic stroll to the Polgooth Inn – a classic Cornish pub, full of character, where you can fill up again on excellent grub.
Stay: Rose Cottage, at Bosinver Farm Cottages, sleeps four and is available for seven nights over Christmas for £1,700.
Plan your visit with our Cornwall travel guide.
2. Tresco, Isles of Scilly
Fancy a car-free, island Christmas? Tresco, the bijou family-owned island 28 miles off the Cornish coast, is at its wildest and most magical over the winter months. The New Inn (a proper Cornish pub – all cosy nooks and crannies) has lovely, lighter bedrooms upstairs and serves up some pretty special food too. Hunker down in front of the log burner, do some last-minute shopping at the island’s gallery, troop down to the tiny church for a carol service and take a Christmas day walk on the island’s pristine white beaches.
Stay: The New Inn offers a five-night Christmas break – including reception drinks and lunch – from £705 per person.
Plan your visit with our Isles of Scilly travel guide.
3. Kingham, Cotswolds
Nowhere does English country chic quite like the Cotswolds, and Kingham – the heart of the Daylesford Organic empire – is arguably the most Cotswolds corner of the Cotswolds.
Honey-coloured stone cottages are decked – in the best possible taste of course – in fairy lights. Down the road, the tills at Daylesford’s farm shop and boutique are ringing just as jubilantly as those at the lovely Norman church. At the Wild Rabbit (the village’s outstanding pub and restaurant), Father Christmas himself stops in for a drink, Christmas Eve carols are sung around the tree, and champagne is popped the following morning. At Kingham Village Cottages, 12 neighbouring holiday cottages have also been done up in inimitable Daylesford style, with open fires, stoves and Agas. Of course.
Stay: Kingham Village Cottages has cottages sleeping two from £1,314 over the festive period, with a two-night minimum stay.
Plan your visit with our Cotswolds travel guide.
4. Mousehole, Cornwall
Every December since 1963, the harbour of this most picturesque of fishing villages has been set ablaze. The quayside heaves with coloured lights, reflecting in the sea below: fishing boats, whales and even a sea monster bob brilliantly in the water. In total 7,000 coloured bulbs and 55 miles of cable create the magic. In the daytime, Mousehole’s lanes are dotted with galleries, gift shops and good places to eat. At low tide, the harbour becomes a sandy beach and on Christmas Day, brave swimmers take a bracing plunge.
Stay: The Old Coastguard Hotel has double rooms from £198 per night, B&B, over the festive period.
5. Castle Cary, Somerset
Full of pretty, honey-hued stone buildings and cobbled streets clustered around the characterful 19th-century Market House, Cary is a calmer counterpoise to nearby Bruton (hip, but often bursting at the seams with tourists).
There are lovely walks in every direction and plenty of places to stock up the Christmas larder (props to The Creamery and the Somerset Wine Co). Plus, Cary is home to cult country estate hotel The Newt. Here, St Nick himself visits the gardener’s cottage, guided dawn walks make the most of frosty mornings, chestnuts are roasted and Christmas dinner will be incomparably decadent.
Stay: The Newt in Somerset offers four-night stays over Christmas from £8,300 per room, half board, including Christmas lunch, Boxing Day brunch, a festive minibar and 12-month membership.
Plan your visit with our Somerset travel guide.
6. Avebury, Wiltshire
For a pretty little village, Avebury punches well above its weight, with the world’s largest stone circle, Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments and ancient tombs. Little wonder that much of the village is owned by the National Trust, but Avebury is also home to a small, family-run, working farm (The Farm at Avebury) , with six cool and contemporary holiday cottages converted from stables. Throw on your wellies and feed the pigs on Christmas day, then cook lunch with produce raised and sold on site.
Stay: The Farm at Avebury offers two-night, self-catering stays over Christmas from £418 in Swallowhead Springs cottage, which sleeps two.
South East
7. Holt, Norfolk
Each year, this Georgian market town is lit up like a fairy-tale landscape. Its hidden yards and high street are crowded with independent galleries, boutiques and antique shops (should you be a last-minute gift buyer). It is also just a 10-minute drive to the annual Christmas Spectacular at Thursford (if you know, you know). Most of all, Holt is heaving with food. Bakers and Larners – one of the UK’s finest independent department stores – has a fantastically old-school food hall. Holt’s butchers are brilliant too, while the North Norfolk Fish Company, a tiny hidden gem, and the Sunday market are a marvel.
Self-catering stay: The Old Chapel (sleeps eight).
Hotel stay: The Maltings (a ten-minute drive away in Weybourne) has double rooms from £159 per night, B&B, over the Christmas period.
Plan your visit with our Norfolk travel guide.
8. Winchester, Hampshire
Dubbed “the Christmas capital” of the UK, Winchester really leans into Christmas. The traditional carol service sung by the choir of Winchester Cathedral will melt the heart of the biggest humbug. Visit one of the best Christmas markets in Europe, walk along the River Itchen to the frosty Water Meadows then stay at Lainston House. A stately country house hotel set in 63 acres of grounds, its staff will welcome you with roaring fires, wood panelling, roasted chestnuts and mulled wine. They’ll even drive you to Midnight Mass.
Stay: Lainston House offers three-night Christmas packages from at £3,085 per room, including all meals, reception drinks, wine, activities and entertainment.
9. London
From lamp-lit ice skating at Somerset House to carols under the illuminated dome of St Paul’s Cathedral via the 300,000 bulbs that make up Oxford Street’s Christmas lights, the capital sparkles at Christmas. If you really want to lean into this opulence, the Lanesborough is the only place to stay. Every room is decked out with its own decorated Christmas tree – and chauffeurs are on hand for last-minute shopping trips to Harrods, just around the corner.
Stay: The Lanesborough offers a three-night Christmas in Residence Package – including lunch, stockings, and a boxing day outing to Harrods – from £1,553 per room per night.
Plan your visit with our London travel guide.
10. Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
Is there anything more quintessentially Christmassy than candle-lit carols at King’s College Chapel? The famous Christmas Eve broadcast is actually pre-recorded in early December, but the College’s Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is held every Christmas Eve with half of all tickets available to members of the public via a ballot. A new, specially commissioned carol has been written for this service every year since 1983.
More broadly, the city’s streets come alive with Christmas markets and festive lights. Bundle up and take a special, festive-themed punting tour along the River Cam, then warm up in one of its countless cosy pubs.
Stay: The University Arms Hotel has double rooms over Christmas from £204 per night, B&B.
Plan your visit with our Cambridge travel guide.
11. Midhurst, West Sussex
Peppered with cobbled streets and Tudor buildings, Midhurst knows how to do Christmas shopping. Each year it kicks the season off with a Christmas street party, where its tree and tasteful lights are ceremoniously switched on and its countless boutiques open late. Cowdray (the famous 16,000-acre estate and “home of British polo”), hosts a Christmas market, while later in the month an Artisan Makers and Vintage Fair takes over the market square.
Good walks abound (Midhurst is surrounded by the South Downs National Park) and good food too – The Spread Eagle is one of England’s oldest coaching inns, and you can stock your own larder from the legendary Cowdray Farm Shop. In fact, you can stay on the estate too, in one of six traditionally and luxuriantly decorated self-catering properties, or indeed, in the 22-bedroom Cowdray House itself.
Stay: Cowdray offers Christmas breaks from £500 per night, in a cottage that sleeps four, with a three-night minimum stay.
North
12. Broughton, Yorkshire
The tiny village of Broughton is home to a 3,000-acre estate that – encompassing dramatic dales and England’s largest woodland-creation project – is a pretty close match for Narnia.
Broughton Sanctuary is home to 16 smart holiday homes, ranging from one-bedroom hermit huts to the 22-bedroom, opulently restored, 16th-century hall itself. There’s something for everyone here, from tours of the historic Hall to a state-of-the-art wellness centre. In-house catering can be arranged, or take a frosty walk through the estate to a wonderfully warm and cosy pub, The Bull, where the Christmas Day menu includes duck fat roasties and all the trimmings.
Stay: Three-night stays at Broughton Sanctuary over Christmas start at £465 per person, based on full occupancy, self-catering in the three-bedroom Chapel Flat.
Plan your visit with our Yorkshire travel guide.
13. Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria
A traditional market town full of historic buildings, cobbled yards, quaint corners and independent shops, Kirkby Stephen has breathtaking views across the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The stark ruins of Brough are particularly striking when laced with frost, but you’ll be far more comfortable at Augill Castle. Queen Victoria is rumoured to have stayed here, and it is still easy to imagine her beneath its azure vaulted ceilings flecked with gold stars, or against its stained-glass window and vast oak doors carved into lacy shapes. Book in today, and you will feel less like a hotel guest, more like a family friend invited for the festivities. Monumental Christmas trees tickle the ceilings, tables groan with festive food, the drawing room is well-stocked with toys, games and a film projector for the young, while the honesty bar tempts adults with spirits and local beers.
Stay: Augill Castle offers a three-night Christmas package from £1,500 per room, including all meals from December 24.
14. York, Yorkshire
York’s cobbled streets are at their cosiest when framed by fairy lights and decked with wreaths. Visit the Christmas market clustered around Parliament Street and St Sampson’s Square but don’t forget the Shambles (which supposedly inspired Diagon Alley in Harry Potter) or the Midnight Mass and Christmas Day services that take place at the magnificent Minster (bribe the kids with a visit to York’s Chocolate Story where, throughout December, you can make chocolate in the company of Father Christmas himself).
Stay: The Grand, York offers three-night Christmas breaks from £2,100 per room, including Christmas lunch, afternoon tea and a champagne reception.
Plan your visit with our York travel guide.
Scotland
15. Cairngorms, Scotland
Board the Caledonian Sleeper at London Euston and – much like the Polar Express – it will deliver you into a winter wonderland by morning. The UK’s largest national park – all forest and snow-topped mountains – is even home to Britain’s only free-ranging herd of reindeer.
There’s no shortage of good food or warm beds either. Local musicians play and Scottish whiskies flow at the bar of the Fife Arms in Braemar. The Victorian coaching inn also has a stellar restaurant and incredibly sumptuous rooms. Travelling as a family? Book in at Glen Dye, a 15,000-private estate where cosy and cool cottages are scattered across woodlands and wild rivers, along with wood-fired hot tubs and the Glen Dye Arms – a “bring your own booze” pub with a log fire and record player. This Christmas Eve, they are even showing The Polar Express in their woodshed cinema. Magic.
Stay: Four-night stays at Glen Dye over Christmas start at £1,750, for the Corner House, which sleeps six.
Plan your visit with our guide to the Cairngorms National Park.
16. Edinburgh, Scotland
Ferris wheels turning above Georgian townhouses, Christmas markets everywhere, and ice skating down George Street. The Castle and Botanic Gardens both transformed into illuminated wonderlands. The Palace of Holyroodhouse strewn with garlands and carols in the gothic St Giles’ Cathedral... Edinburgh becomes a playground at Christmas.
Lean in to luxury and stay at the gloriously glamorous Gleneagles Townhouse where they will do all the cooking for you (nay, better than you – do you include lobster in your menu?) while carol singers serenade from the grand staircase. With a bit of luck, you may even get snow for the traditional Boxing Day walk up Arthur’s Seat.
Stay: Gleneagles Townhouse has doubles from £700 per room during the festive period, with a two-night minimum stay.
Plan your visit with our Edinburgh travel guide.
Wales
17. Hawarden, Wales
A picturesque Flintshire village, with a fantastic pub in The Glynne Arms, Hawarden is also home to an eponymous estate where, should you be staying for Christmas, you can roam the ruined castle on a hill, pad around the lily-padded lake, or visit the outdoor sauna hiding in a walled garden. Its several magical self-catering cottages are filled with characterful antiques, books and record players, plus big, properly stocked kitchens for cooking up a feast. Over Christmas, each one is beautifully decorated, so no need to bring your own tinsel, and equipped with a free hamper, stocked from the estate’s legendary farm shop.
Stay: The Beekeeper’s Hut, which sleeps two at on the Hawarden Estate, is available for £175 per night over Christmas, with a two-night minimum stay.
18. Hay-on-Wye, Wales
Hay is hardly an undiscovered gem. But its famous charms multiply when the festival ends and the summer crowds vacate. Cobbled streets are fringed with fairy lights, independent shops are full of makers, bakers and books. Wrap your hands around a mulled wine under the ancient black beams at the Old Black Lion and stay just out of town at Drover’s Rest, a 16th-century organic farm where kids can feed the animals in the stables, then retreat to beautifully renovated stone holiday cottages, with wood burners and woollen blankets.
Stay: Christmas breaks at Drover’s Rest cost from £600, for four nights at the Shepherd’s Shack, which sleeps four.
19. Cardigan, Wales
Cardigan is a gem. A pretty rural market town, full of independent shops and businesses, that somehow thrives without selling its soul entirely to tourism. Get a dose of history at the 900-year-old castle, then cross the stone bridge over the beautiful River Teifi to warm your cockles at the Castle Inn – a tiny pub packed with character. Stock up on supplies at Crwst deli and take windswept walks at the two beautiful beaches within spitting distance (Poppit Sands and Mwnt), then stay at the Albion, a wonderfully snug and luxurious hotel on the river.
Stay: The Albion has doubles available from £185 per night, up until December 21, and then from December 27.
20. Laugharne, Wales
Lovely Laugharne is never more poetic than at Christmas. Its most famous former resident, Dylan Thomas described it as “a timeless, mild, beguiling island of a town”. It still is.
Directly on the Wales Coast Path, where the River Tâf flows into Carmarthen Bay, its monumental medieval castle lends mystery, pastel-painted Georgian houses add charm, while Thomas’ favourite, Brown’s Hotel, remains a very welcoming watering hole, with a great restaurant. High up on the hill, the Dylan Coastal Resort has glossy self-catering lodges with breathtaking views over the water and facilities to keep everyone happy (spa, pool, restaurant, playground, you name it...)
Stay: The Dylan Coastal Resort has lodges, sleeping six, available from £869, for four nights over Christmas.
Prices subject to availability and correct at time of writing.
