The perfect overnight pitstops for your festive drive
“I’m driving home for Christmas,” Chris Rea crooned in his festive number about congested roads. But though the idea of being top-to-toe in tailbacks sounded almost romantic in his gravelly warble, being stuck in traffic is probably the worst thing about the festive season – especially if your mother-in-law’s sprouts or your sister’s snide comments are all that you face at the end of your journey.
Though it hasn’t yet released its projections for 2023, the AA predicted that up to 45 million cars would take to the UK’s roads on December 23 and 24 in 2022, causing travel chaos. Our advice? Break up an arduous Christmas journey with a festive stopover two or three hours from your destination and turn the trip into a mini holiday. Why? Because it turns out that tackling the A30 or M6 is made much more enjoyable with a stiff drink and a bubble bath half-way through.
Below, we take a look at the most popular end-points for your festive drive (Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, London and the Lakes), and calculate the perfect pit-stop based on its proximity to the main thoroughfare and distance from the finish line, and throw in a brilliant hotel with availability for good measure. You never know, your pit stop at one of these towns and villages might even be the best thing about your Christmas break.
Driving home to… Cornwall
Stop off in Topsham, Devon
On the drive to Cornwall, all roads lead to the A30, an inevitably traffic-clogged stretch where the motorway peters out. You need stamina for this final furlong (especially if you’ve already tackled the arduous A303), so break up the journey in Topsham. On the River Exe estuary about 15 minutes’ drive from where the A30 starts, the town is like a Turner painting come to life – even more so when pastel sunsets explode over the water during wintery dusks. Christmas brings added excitement with the windows of the town’s old merchant houses packed with glittering stars and the skies of its centre strung with festive lights.
Stay here: Great beds and showers elevate the Salutation Inn, a 17th-century tavern on historic Fore Street. It serves up a breakfast of champions to fuel your onward journey too. Doubles cost from £160 on December 23.
Eat here: It’ll be turkey for the foreseeable, so get your fish fix while you can. Behind the cobalt facade of The Galley, a sea-centric menu includes pollock with cavolo nero and white wine velouté as well as halibut with wild mushrooms, mussels and beurre blanc sauce. The restaurant has limited availability on December 23.
Driving home to… Scotland
Stop off in Teesdale, County Durham
Often overlooked in favour of the neighbouring Yorkshire Dales, the North Pennines National Landscape (formerly called an Area of Outstanding National Beauty) is a stonking stretch of dramatic moorland squiggled with rivers and waterfalls. The views alone are worth the quick detour from the M6 or M1, but the nearby towns and villages are good for a mooch too.
Some might suggest it was more than an eye test that took Dominic Cummings to Barnard Castle, with its romantically crumbling ruins and stone-clad High Street. Beyond that much-loved market town, little Middleton-in-Teesdale has book, antique and coffee shops as well as walks into the empty hills.
Stay here: An icy wind roars across the more remote landscapes of Upper Teesdale, but you’ll get one of the country’s warmest welcomes at High Force Hotel. At this inn, fires crackle in the hearths and hosts George and Andrew serve up mince pies and mulled wine to new arrivals. Evenings are for early nights in cloud-like beds. From £135 B&B on December 23 (the hotel reports the roads are in good condition and gritted every day).
Eat here: Beams, flagstone floors and checked curtains make The Rose & Crown at Romaldkirk as close to the quintessential British inn as it gets. Settle in with a platter of local cheeses and cold meats, or warm up with beef bourguignon pie. There’s currently availability on December 23.
Driving home to… the Lake District
Stop off in Cheddleton, Staffordshire
Around half an hour’s drive from the M6, tiny Cheddleton has plenty to fill a pre-Christmas pitstop on the way to the Lakes, including walks along the leafy towpath of the Caldon canal, which once carried Peak District limestone to the potteries of the Midlands. A steam railway also chugs through the village (though its Polar Express trips are fully booked for 2023, it’s fun to see it puffing past). Meanwhile, in nearby Consall Woods, winter walkers can spot willow and marsh tits playing at the edge of plate glass pools.
Stay here: Set in 70 acres of formal gardens and sweeping countryside, The Tawny Hotel’s collection of treehouses, huts and lodges come with an outdoor pool that’s heated to 31 degrees at all times. There are a handful of rooms still available for the pre-Christmas weekend, including a glam ‘Retreat’ with an outside bathtub. Huts from £330 B&B.
Eat here: The mood is casual at The Flintlock at Cheddleton, which comes with bright walls and comfy chairs – but the food is extremely fancy. Tasting menu dishes include tortelli with pigs cheek and winter squash and hake with charcoal butter and pickled vegetables. There are currently tables on December 23.
Driving home to… London from The North
Stop off in Stock, Essex
You’ve done the long hard slog down the M1. Don’t tackle the computer game weave of the A12 or the jams of the M25 without a revitalising stop-off. Rural Essex is dappled with the kind of cutesy market towns and ancient inns that evoke good old-fashioned Christmases and Stock, one of a string of pretty villages on the outskirts of Chelmsford, should garner a smile from even the Scroogiest visitor. Three pubs line its genteel main thoroughfare and a tea shop hides in the streets behind, while the Phoenix Smokery on the outskirts is a great place to pick up a smoked salmon starter for the big day.
Stay here: A little bit of Essex glitz has crept into Greenwoods, a smart hotel in a 17th-century manor house. There’s an unexpectedly glam spa and rooms come with chandeliers and chintzy touches. Doubles are available from £230 on December 23.
Eat here: Behind The Hoop’s clapboard facade lurks a proper boozer with dark wood beams, a bar busy with locals and classics such as fish and chips or pie, mash and liquor on the menu. There’s currently lunchtime availability on December 23.
Driving home to… Wales
Stop off in Hereford
This underrated city makes a perfect pre-Christmas break for those heading off England’s motorways and over the border. A number of A-roads congregate in Hereford, with two snaking west into the wilds of Wales (the A438 connects with routes into central Wales and the A465 runs south to Abergavenny, and then on to the south coast). Hereford may be big but it’s every bit as pretty as the nearby market towns: dainty Georgian villas line the banks of the Wye while its vast cathedral looms over the city centre. Pack in some last-minute shopping in the well-preserved streets – including a trip to the Christmas market surrounding the huge tree at High Town if you’re there on December 22.
Stay here: Next to the medieval moat that once ringed Hereford Castle, Castle House is a real treat, especially if you book into the Townhouse annexe which is done up in soothing creams and greys (there are currently two rooms left in it for the night of December 23 with more in the main house). Decanters of sherry in the bedrooms should raise Christmas spirits. Doubles from £240 B&B on December 23.
Eat here: Brunch is a slap-up affair at The Bookshop. Choose from eggs every which way (they’re especially good with beetroot, feta and almond dukkah) or carb-load with mac and cheese on sourdough. Better still, book in for an evening of mulled wine, mince pies and live music at December 23’s Duelling Pianos night, during which a Christmas singalong is promised.
