Picture perfect
The UK’S most Instagrammable Christmas destinations… here are the best spots for a festive photo. Draping yourself in tinsel is optional
Christmas at Blenheim
Put your heart into Christmas. Tickets for the magical light trail at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire – former home of Winston Churchill – are on sale now; from £18.50, 17 November to 1 January. Blenheimpalace.com
Christmas in the Highlands
Snap festive afternoon tea with a Christmas tree and view of Loch Lomond in a cosy Christmas castle hideaway. Cameron House is just 30-minutes from Glasgow and its festive packages include breakfast with Santa, a pantomime and a Celtic Warrior cruise on the loch; from £2,995 per room. Cameronhouse.co.uk
Light trail extraordinaire
One of the biggest and most popular Christmas light trails in the country, winds around the beautiful setting of Kew Gardens with a spectacular light show finale; 15 November to 7 January, tickets from £19.50.
Kew.org
The BEST festive windows
Dressed for Christmas, the Fortnum & Mason windows on London’s Piccadilly are one of the highlights of the festive calendar and usually unveiled at the end of October.
Fortnumandmason.com
The moose is loose
His name is Chris, he’s a much-loved feature of Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market and does a mean version of O Tannenbaum; 2 November to 24 December.
Thebfcm.co.uk
What the Dickens…
Bonnets and top hats at the ready; the Dickens Christmas Festival in Rochester celebrates the life of author Charles Dickens with street entertainment, readings and performances in the town where Dickens spent his childhood and later years; 2 and 3 December. Rochesterdickensfestival.org.uk
And more Dickens…
Several locations in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol are said to be inspired by the City
of London – including the Leadenhall Market in Gracechurch St, which is where Bob Cratchit’s Christmas turkey was most likely purchased by Scrooge on Christmas morning. Visit all the locations on A Christmas Carol Walk; from £12, Londonwalking-tours.co.uk – and catch the Lord Mayor switching on the Christmas lights in the market on 16 November. Leadenhallmarket.co.uk
Enchanted gardens
The Enchanted Winter Garden at Antrim Castle in Northern Ireland is the perfect place to catch a photo that sparkles. Dates and price TBA. Enchantedwintergarden.com
Christmas at the castle
Nestled in Hillsborough Castle gardens, Co Down, Lady Alice’s Temple was a wedding gift to castle resident Lady Alice Hill by her brother in 1867 – and looks particularly beautiful in the snow; tickets from £10. Hrp.org.uk
Wintery woods
Frosty winter woods make a great backdrop for a seasonal photo – head for Scotland’s Loch Ard, the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire or the New Forest in the south. Carey’s Manor Hotel in the New Forest is a picturesque bolt hole if you want to make a night of it; B&B from £230. Careysmanor.com
UK’S biggest Christmas tree
You’ll need long arms to get all of this one in – it’s the UK’S tallest living Christmas tree (37m, covered in 1,800 lights) at Kew’s wild botanic garden in Wakehurst, Surrey. The garden’s Glow Wild light trail runs on selected evenings from 23 November to 1 January, tickets from £15.50.
Kew.org
The ghost of Christmas past
Snap yourself with Santa at Beamish, Co Durham, the open-air museum that tells the story of life in North East England from Georgian times to the 1950s, (he might even give you a spin in his car). November and December, daytime tickets included in general museum admission, from £18.95, evening ticket prices TBA.
Bright lights of Blackpool
Catch the wonderful Christmas Illuminations at Blackpool, along with the popular Christmas Village with its fairground rides, log cabins and an ice rink; November to January. Visitblackpool.com
High above the rooftops
London roof terrace The Lucky Club will be transformed into a cosy alpine lodge for the festive season, with twinkling fairy lights, festive foliage, fondue, raclette and cockle-warming cocktails overlooking Camden’s iconic market. Apres ski without all that messy snow.
Theluckyclub.com
Tripping the light fantastic Luminate Wales is back at Margam Country Park and Castle this year, a magical one-mile walk through a lightfilled winter landscape; 22 November to 31 December, tickets from £21.25. Luminate.live