If you want a proper festive break, the UK in December punches well above its weight. A recent edit from Condé Nast Traveller UK rounds up eleven destinations, and the shortlist makes a strong case for skipping the airport altogether this Christmas.

Cities do the big-hitter stuff. London goes all-in on lights — the angel installations over Regent Street, Christmas at Kew with new light trails and adults-only evenings in 2026, plus shows like A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic and The Snowman at the Peacock. The Ned is hosting carols from Gareth Malone's choir and a two-night Christmas Eve package. Bath turns its honey-coloured Georgian centre into a market of 250 traders, with a warming soak at Thermae Bath Spa as your reward for braving the crowds. Edinburgh starts early, from mid-November, with markets and rides around Princes Street Gardens — and if you can hang on until 31 December, Hogmanay is one of the best New Year's parties anywhere.

Market lovers have two standouts. Winchester Cathedral's German-style market, running 20 November to 22 December in 2026, fills the grounds with over 100 wooden chalets, and the cathedral's own carol concerts are worth the trip alone. York's market on Parliament Street and St Sampson's Square is heavy on local produce, with more than 80 per cent of traders from Yorkshire.

Then there's the countryside, where the UK arguably beats its own cities. The Cotswolds is pure Christmas-card material — candlelit stone cottages, fire-lit pubs and walks along the Cotswold Way — with Thyme at Southrop running cookery classes, cocktail masterclasses and candlelit Bach over the festive season. Up in the Scottish Highlands, Killiehuntly, an 1850 farmhouse with just four bedrooms in the Cairngorms, is the escape hatch for anyone who wants their Christmas silent; nearby, the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre lets you visit Britain's only free-ranging reindeer herd at its festive paddocks.

For something wilder, Cornwall in winter is a different county to the summer version: empty stretches of the South West Coast Path and Mousehole's famous harbour lights. The Scarlet at Mawgan Porth runs an adults-only four-nighter ending in a Boxing Day sea dip. On the Kent coast, Updown Farmhouse near Deal goes big on festive programming — a 21-foot Christmas tree, wreath-making and a Winter Solstice Supper. The Lake District delivers misty fells and quiet trails around Windermere, where Cragwood Country House adds a Boxing Day lake cruise to its three-night package. And in Lincolnshire, Stamford's honey-stone streets get a one-day market plus Burghley House's Christmas Fair with around 200 stalls.

Whether this suits you depends on the Christmas you want: book Bath, Winchester or Edinburgh for markets and buzz, the Highlands or Lakes for a digital-detox-with-gravy, or Cornwall and Kent if your ideal festive morning involves wind, sand and a bracing dip. Book soon either way — The Royal Crescent in Bath has already sold out its Christmas package, though B&B stays remain.