Light trails
This year, there are plenty of light trails to brighten up the winter gloom. The Northern Light is an immersive light and sound show at the Slieve Donard hotel in Newcastle, County Down, with projections conjuring up the Arctic, an ice cave, the stars and the aurora borealis (£35 adults/£22 children). Cornwall’s Eden Project has an immersive light show that transports visitors to a Christmas party, as well as a new theatrical experience and carousel (from £38 adults/£12 children, selected evenings until 5 January). Christmas at Westonbirt, the national arboretum in Gloucestershire, has been designed by the light trail producers behind Christmas at Kew. Expect neon trees, luminous birds and tunnels of light, plus a Christmas village (from £18 adults/£12 children, 29 November to 31 December).
The Ancient Forest Twi-Lights experience at the Landmark Forest Adventure Park near Aviemore in the Highlands is a 1km trail through the pines. It includes a Red Squirrel treetop journey, eight metres up in the tree canopy, for a view of the illuminated woodland below (£15 adults/£10 children, open now at weekends, then during the Christmas holidays and February midterm). Wilderspool Woods, an ancient woodland next to the Trafford Centre in Manchester, has a family-focused Christmas Trail with a pop-up by the street-food hub Freight Island (£11 adults/£9 children, family 2+2 £36, until 2 January). More contemplative is the eco light festival at the 18th-century naturalist Gilbert White’s House in Hampshire, featuring solar-powered, low-level and renewable lighting to minimise the impact on nocturnal wildlife, plus installations from local artists (£12.50 adults/£9 children, Thursdays to Saturdays until 21 December).
Saunas
Saunas have been springing up across the UK over the past couple of years, from city centres to seafronts. The latest is Wyld Sauna, a floating sauna at Princes Dock in Liverpool, which opened on 23 November. The Finnish-style coal sauna has space for 30 people, who can cool off with an ice bath or a cold shower – or brave a swim in the docks (from £7 an hour). The Slomo Floating Sauna also opened this month, at Tapnell Farm on the Isle of Wight. Facilities include two wood-fired saunas, a lake and a plunge tank for dips, and a lounging area with a firepit (£20 an hour). Next month, Tiptoe Retreat opens on Tiptoe Farm in Northumberland. Two luxury tree cabins, with wood-burning stoves and outdoor copper baths, share a mirrored woodland sauna (£390 for two nights, each cabin sleeps two).
Ice rinks
There are some magical settings for pop-up ice rinks this year, including Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. The Great Skate is a covered rink in Blenheim’s Great Court; other festive goings-on include a Neverland display in the palace, a light trail in the gardens and a Christmas market (skating from £15 adults/£10 children for £45 minutes, until 1 January). Equally spectacular is the new rink at Another Place, The Lake, a hotel in Cumbria. The rink overlooks Ullswater and is open to hotel guests and visitors. Skaters can also swim in the lake, use the sauna and hot tub, drink mulled wine and shop at the weekend markets (skating from £13 adults/£10 children for 45 minutes, 1 December to 4 January). Courts Club, a social hub in Manchester that opened earlier this year, has turned into the Winter Assembly for the season, with an ice rink, chalet-oke (karaoke in a hut!), festive films, bratwurst and boozy hot chocolate (skating from £16 adults/£14 children for 45 minutes, until 5 January). In Gateshead, there is a new outdoor covered rink at MetroCentre – beginners can book a four-week learn to skate course (skating from £12.40 adults/£9.90 children for 45 minutes, until 5 January.
Other activities
Cairngorm Bothies, near Ballater in Aberdeenshire, has launched Star Bathing Parties, which include an evening of guided stargazing, spirit-tasting with Lost Loch Spirits and locally made stovies (£45, ages 12 and under free, 7pm-10pm on selected Fridays until 28 March). The Alpine Coaster opened at Midlothian Snowsports Centre near Edinburgh this autumn. It’s a 980-metre ride with a 360-degree helix, a 74-metre drop and a maximum speed of 28mph (£7 a ride or £19 for three, open at weekends). Southampton has a family walking trail through the city centre. The Snow Windows Trail has 20 snowy scenes to discover on the north and south pole routes, with clues to solve along the way and a prize at the end (free, 29 November to 31 December).
Entertainment
The Polar Express train ride is coming to Wales for the first time this winter. Based on the book and film, it’s a live show on a steam train on the Vale of Rheidol railway from Aberystwyth to Devil’s Bridge, with singing, dancing and a visit to Santa (from £37.95, 30 November to 24 December). St Peter’s Square is hosting the Brighton Winter Fayre in December, with Santa’s grotto, craft workshops, party nights, festive films, a makers’ market and live music (free entry, 5-8, 12-15 and 19-22 December). Winters of the World is a pop-up party venue in Finsbury Square, London, with games (Eisstock and Jingle Bowls); DJs and après-ski bands; food – including smash burgers, steak-frites and donburi bowls – and winter cocktails (2-20 December).
Heritage and culture
National Trust properties across England and Wales have a host of new Christmas events this year, including Powis Castle, which is throwing a Dickensian Christmas inspired by A Christmas Carol (adults £15/children £7.50, until 5 January); Buckland Abbey, in Devon, which is celebrating a Viking Yule (adults £15/children £7.50, 30 November to 31 December); and Christmas at Nymans, West Sussex, inspired by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (adults £18/children £9, to 5 January). Wild in Art has four free outdoor sculpture trails across England this winter: they are Snowdogs in Buxton, Derbyshire; penguins around Fleet Street, London; The Snowman in Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey; and Elmer and other elephants in Doncaster (free, various dates).
Christmas villages
In Cambridge, Parker’s Piece common is becoming a Christmas village. There are Christmas market chalet huts and a street food area, as well as an alpine lodge bar with ski gondola booths and a tipi. You’ll also discover heated domes next to an ice rink, an après terrace with curling lanes and other activities – and a Christmas tree maze (free entry, some paid-for activities, until 5 January). The Fabulously Festive Christmas village, at Hurtwood Park Polo Country Club in Surrey, has market stalls, an après-ski bar, fairground rides, an ice rink and visits to Santa (from £12.50, until 5 January).
Food and drink
Edinburgh has a pop-up Polar Ice Bar, with tables, chairs and glasses made from ice, and engraved ice walls and sculptures. The temperature is a chilly -8C, but guests are given jackets and gloves (from £14, including a cocktail, until 4 January). A handful of eastern England pubs in the Chestnut collection have winter gardens. The newest one is the Lifeboat Inn in Thornham, Norfolk, which provides guest with blankets, faux furs and hot-water bottles, and a menu of tartiflette pizza, smoked bockwurst and pretzels. The Hare & Hounds, a country pub near Windermere in Cumbria, has an alpine chalet-themed tipi in the garden for parties, serving fondue, Christmas dinner and mulled wine (from £45 a head, groups of four or more, availability on selected dates in December).
