For those of you lucky enough
to be spending the festive period in the UK, the Telegraph have compiled a list
of the 7 best towns to visit this Christmas. The next few weekends have a whole host of seasonal activities in store so why not take a trip to one of the following?:
1. Best for…Christmas Markets
Lincoln, Lincolnshire - From 5th to 8th December
the medieval square by the cathedral is filled with more than 250 stalls
selling handmade crafts and Christmas delicacies.
2. Best for…Nativity
Falmouth, Cornwall - The live
nativity in Falmouth (15th December) is played out through the main
streets of this Cornish parish. Mary, Joseph, a donkey, sheep, goats and horses
make their way from Events Square to the moor, accompanied by spectators, many
in nativity costume.
3. Best for…Christmas Trees
Helmsley, Yorkshire - Each December the village holds a Christmas
tree festival (6th to 19th
December) where 30 trees decorated in a different theme each year form a trail
through the town and the shop windows are decorated to match.
4. Best for…A Picture Postcard Christmas
Broadway, Gloucestershire - Broadway certainly gets into the Christmas
spirit, with hundreds of lights, horse and carriage rides, a Christmas Tree
Festival and ice skating on the village green from 8th December.
5. Best for…Folk Plays
Chipping Campden,
Gloucestershire - Chipping Campden starts the Christmas season in style with a
three-day Enchanted Weekend (6th – 8th December, 2013).
Locals can enjoy reindeer petting (with real reindeer) and performances from
the Chipping Campden Mummers, one of the longest standing Mummers groups in the
country.
6. Best for…Horse Riders
Pytchley, Northamptonshire - The
Pytchley Hunt, formed in 1750, is based around the pretty Northamptonshire
village of Pytchley and despite the 2005 ban, still meets for a variety of
horseback activities, with additional dates added around Christmas time.
7. Best for…Unusual Christmas Traditions
Carhampton, Somerset - Carhampton’s
quirky wassailing celebrations began in 1930 and are now famous throughout the
county. Each year on twelfth night villagers form a circle around a lare apple
tree and fire a gun to ward off evil spirits and appeal for a good apple harvest.
