A friend of mine is considering a trip to England at Christmas. This is the best time for her to be away from work, and would be her first trip to Europe. She would travel with her husband and two adult sons and their significant others.

She is thinking of spending most of their time in London, but then also wanted to experience the English countryside.

I have never been to England in the winter and although I'm pretty sure London would be a great base over the Christmas holidays, I don't know what to suggest to her to get a taste of the countryside. I know the daylight hours are short that time of year.

Any suggestions for my friend's trip? I'd love for her to have a wonderful first experience in Europe, especially in England.

Kathy

You don't say how long your friend will be here which will determine how much time she and her family have for travel, but I am very fond of Kent. It's fairly close to London and there are good rail links to places like Canterbury but you can cover even more ground by car. I know everyone throws up their hands in horror at the thought of driving on the "wrong side of the road", but during the Christmas week, everyone will be hunkered down in front of the telly at home or out at the pub so the roads should be pretty clear.

Kent has historic cities such as Canterbury and Rochester, castles (Leeds and Dover) a diversity of landscapes such as Romney Marshes, White Cliffs of Dover, small country villages with the winding country lanes, olde worlde pubs (Kent is a hop growing county) and tea-rooms and there is easy access to the continent by car or train. Of course it is known as the Garden of England so there are beautiful gardens to visit in the summer but even in the winter there would be plenty to enjoy.

I would head North to Yorkshire. The city of York is a good place to be at Christmas and, if the weather is not too severe, both the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales can be magical at that time of year. I would also suggest that Fountains Abbey would make a good winter walk (we used to go on Boxing day - Dec 26).

You could take the train from London to York and rent a car there to avoid London traffic.

Kathy,

Beebee and Robert have great suggestions. Whatever your friends choose, have them check out opening hours in advance, as some places close entirely during the winter off-season.

For London - be aware that the Tube is closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Even the buses don't run on Christmas Day (limited service on Boxing Day).

If your friend is in an apartment and cooking Christmas Day, no problem, but a restaurant booking for Christmas Day can sometimes be difficult to find and usually very expensive. Pre-booking for Christmas as far in advance as possible is a necessity. We waited until Thanksgiving to book our first year there, and almost got skunked on anything we could afford.

Taking taxis on Christmas Day - you order in advance, pay premium prices, and even the really good taxi companies won't guarantee that your ride will arrive at the time booked - you have to allow at least a two-hour window. So if in London proper on Christmas Day - cook yourself, or book a place that you can walk to. That said, we had a lovely Christmas lunch in 2001 at The Grenadier near Hyde Park Corner. (It used to be Wellington's officers mess.) Historic place, great food, friendly welcome, and darned good Bloody Mary's!

Daylight hours in London will be about 8:00 am to 4:00 pm around Christmas, and of course shorter the farther north you go.

Kaydee, I hope your friends have a wonderful first visit.

(Robert - London traffic Christmas week???? It's the only time of year you can find parking! Of course, you're absolutely right that the train to York would be more efficient/more relaxing than negotiating all the one-way streets in both towns.)

Kathy - if they want to experience the country and would like something special to center their time, I would suggest one of the holiday events sponsored at National Trust properties. Most take place before Christmas, but I found a couple listed on the National Trust website for dates between Christmas and New Year:

Ham House (in Surrey)Date(s):Thursday 28 December 2006Description:A guided walk to learn more about the Ham and the surrounding area.Time(s):11am to 1pmPrice(s):Adults: £3.50, Children: £2.00Contact:020 8940 1950

The Bath Skyline (in Somerset)Date(s):Wednesday 27 December 2006Description:An invigorating guided walk taking in parts of the Bath Skyline and Prior Park Landscape Garden, to include a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie.Time(s):10am for approx 3hrsPrice(s):Adults: £8.00Contact:01225 833977
priorpark@nationaltrust.org.ukNotes:Booking recommended

A trip to Bath and the Cotswalds would be a nice foil to big city London, and would not require much travel time. But again, Kent is lovely, Sussex is lovely - any of the "home counties" offers its own treasures.

I envy them!

Judy

This will sound a bit odd, but one of the best evenings we had with friends in London around Christmas time was ice skating at Somerset House. Somerset House Ice Rink
The ice rink is set up temporarily in the in the courtyard of Somerset House, which is on The Strand, there is a huge beautiful tree, a tent serving hot drinks, and you ice skate with 18th C architecture and statues looking down on you. Sure beats the local ice rink for atmosphere! Even just watching is fun -- the world's smallest Zamboni comes out between shifts.

quote:

Originally posted by Janie&Geoff:
The ice rink is set up temporarily in the in the courtyard of Somerset House, which is on The Strand, there is a huge beautiful tree, a tent serving hot drinks, and you ice skate with 18th C architecture and statues looking down on you. Sure beats the local ice rink for atmosphere! Even just watching is fun -- the world's smallest Zamboni comes out between shifts.

Somerset House ice rink has proved so successful that this winter they've added several more outdoor rinks throughout London. This site gives the information on the outdoor rinks. I know that they do get very popular and I know for certain that pre-booking is very important for Somerset House.

Hi,
There are several ice rinks that have now become traditional during our winter months as Bee bees says.
The rink Kew gardens is nice even if Bee Bee doesn't like the noise of the aircraft. The winter festival is quite pretty with special late night openings and attractions.

I like the idea too of Yorkshire. We had a thoroughly good New Year close to Harrogate staying at the Boars Head Inn.

The village iteself is delightful but it is also close to Fountains Abbey which was open every day throughout the holiday period except for Christmas day.
There are many wonderful walks on the doorstep as well as Betty's tea rooms,a national institution.
Wendy

Thanks for all the info, and I will pass this along to my friend. I can offer her some input about the Cotswolds, Bath, Yorkshire and even Kent... just wasn't sure what it would be like in any of these places in late December!

We spent a week in Yorkshire near Harrogate and had a wonderful day at Fountains Abbey, thanks to Wendy's suggestion. And our Coast-to-Coast walk took us right across the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. I had not thought of these for wintertime!

We didn't visit Kent during our most recent extended stay in England, but we were there for a couple of days a few years ago. We stayed in Rye and visited Leeds Castle (loved it!) and Sissinghurst. Sissinghurst has got to be one of my favorite places in all of Europe. Canterbury is still on our list for another trip.

Thanks all-- as always-- for the suggestions (including info on London at Christmas) and I'll post back when my friend makes some decisions.

Kathy

There are some wondefully scenic places in Cumbria (Lake district) and lots of accomodation in old inns/hotels/cottages etc. Train from London to Carlisle then maybe rent a car and explore the lovely lakeside villages.

Although this winter has been exceptionally dry, I would suggest keeping to the eastern side of the country in winter. The east side is normally the dry (and cold) side. The west is milder but wetter. I would rather go for a walk on a dry crisp day at 32 deg F than a wet mild day at 40 deg F. For that reason, I would avoid the Lake District in mid-winter.

It really depends on what sort of thing they`re looking for.
London has it`s lights, shops & bustle - obviously worth a visit. However, Brits who don`t stay at their homes or head for the sun over the Christmas period like to take themsleves off to the country for a more traditional Festive time.
While Robert is absolutely right that the east coast is colder & usually drier than the west, the more outlying areas are those chosen by "the natives". Devon, Cornwall, the Lake District, Yorkshire etc.
Log fires, Christmas trees & local accents in the village pubs to say nothing of Christmas Pud!!

One of our most memorable Christmas holidays was spent in Wells. The Christmas Eve carols service in the Cathedral lit only by 3000 individual candles was amazing. Great Bed and Breakfasts, pubs with Christmas dinners and warm fires.

Kaydee
Log fires, country pubs and very small market towns are perfect - city centres are absolutley awful nowadays in Christmas week.The traffic is horrendous, the parking nonexistent and all goodwill to fellow man vanished with the Christmas pudd.This is because of the Christmas sales, which now start at 8am on Boxing Day, in case anybody is gasping to buy a new sofa on a Bank Holiday, working up to full frenzy on the 27th when everybody rushes around buying cut price Xmas presents for relatives they won't be seeing until later in the week (guilty). Maybe your friends should head for the hills as suggested, and not go anywhere near any place with shops. And definatley don't take a car into any city centre!

Julie

I notice that JulieC is from Chester - which is another prefectly lovely place to spend time over the holidays. My wife and I fondly remember dashing from one comfy pub with a warm fire to the next during a visit one cold wintertime not too long ago. And there are still plenty of stores you can walk to around the center without a car -- if it's not too cold.