Christmas getaways
If you want to turn the festive period into a real holiday, SARA WHEELER has some imaginative tips on where to go
Water world
The advantage of strolling round some of the 150 lakes in the 40-square-mile Cotswold Water Park in winter is that you don’t have to put up with the jet-skiers, sailors and water-skiers who throng in during summer. Also, you get to spot wintering water birds. Choose a self-catering option for privacy, and in the evening snuggle up round the fire in a country pub. The park spreads over West Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. If it rains, there’s plenty of inside viewing in Thameside villages such as Lechlade, again not rammed with coaches in December. Some places get booked up many months in advance for Christmas, but Orion Holidays still has self-catering units available (01285 861839; contact@orionholidays.com). Take your own turkey.
Austrian snow scene
Do you want to look out of a window and see a real-life Christmas-card snow scene? Try Innsbruck. I think it’s far nicer than Salzburg, which gets more visitors and is too chocolate-boxy and net-curtain-twitching for its own good. Although it is a winter-sports mecca, in my experience Innsbruck is never too crowded, and with a population of 130,000 is small by metropolitan standards – perhaps why people there are inordinately proud of Ferdinand I’s 16th-century Gothic Hofkirche, a masterpiece by any European standard. Above all, this is a great Tyrolean base for gentle Alpine exploration, even from the Nordkette cable car designed by the starchitect Zaha Hadid: it climbs 2,256 metres from the city centre. Now that would be a cool Yule.
House swaps
Two years ago I extolled the virtues of house-swapping, and last year those of Airbnb. Folk seem to think that the latter rendered the former obsolete, but that is not the case, and I am surprised at how few people go in for house swaps. I’ve done about nine of them (one at Christmas, to Naples) and always use the site Homeexchange.com. The advantage over Airbnb is that you don’t pay for your accommodation; the disadvantage is that you have to put your knickers away before leaving home. But you do not have to make your house or flat look like a hotel. Why not go for a Christmas lucky dip: put your place on the site (there’s a fee) and see what offers you get? You have to upload a few photos of your home but even I can do that.
Bath time
Fancy a UK city break? I love Bath, even though I am a Bristolian and therefore imbued with inter-urban rivalry. It’s small enough to get to know the best bits (which are not all Regency) in a short time, especially if you aren’t able to walk too far. The Visitor Information Centre (0844 847 5256) can help you locate hotels that still have availability over the festive season. Consider going by train as the station is central – but you must book very early. Bath’s Christmas Market focuses on local produce and goods and is the city’s