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Swoosh down a snowy slope, swim above a colourful reef ... it’s a new kind of festive togetherness

HUGO BROWN

FUN AT THE FAYRE

DESTINATIONS don’t come more charming than the spa town of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, which is famed for Bettys tea room, valley Gardens and Turkish baths. Harrogate Christmas Fayre is home to stalls in Market Place and Cambridge Street, with local traders selling wares. DETAILS: The Fayre is open Mondays to Saturdays from 10am to 7pm (Sundays 10.30am to 4.30pm), until December 11. (visitharrogate.co.uk).

LIGHT IT UP

LIGHTOPIA returns to Heaton Park in Manchester this winter with a bigger and brighter trail of Christmas lights featuring all new attractions and a fiveminute audio-visual show. Families can also enjoy festive food and drink. DETAILS: Tickets from £17.50 (adults) and £11 (children) until January 2 excluding Christmas Day (manchester. lightopiafestival.com).

TAKE A WALK

ONCE a residence to Henry vIII and where elizabeth I grew up, Ashridge House in Hertfordshire goes all out in winter. This year some of the 190 acres of landscaped gardens will be illuminated by light art company Luminism through bright tunnels and colour and sound installations. A food and drinks village also features. DETAILS: Tickets from £16.50 (adults) and £10.50 (children) until January 2 (christmas.ashridgehouse.org.uk).

AULD REEKIE

No city in the UK does christmas as well as Edinburgh. the cobbled streets of the Royal Mile are filled with the smells of mulled wine and roasting chestnuts, while Princes Street twinkles under lights and its market is filled with attractions from a Ferris wheel to an ice-rink.

DETAILS: the Edinburgh Winter Festival runs until January 3. More information at visitscotland.com.

ROYAL RUMBLE

BLENHEIM Palace has been open for its christmas extravaganza since November 18. there’s plenty of atmosphere provided by 500,000 baubles decorating the interior, 160 christmas trees and 3,000 light orbs and 200 candles in the garden. Displays in the state rooms will tell a story entitled the Kingdom of the Snow Queen. DETAILS: Family tickets from £166 (two adults and two children) until January 2 (blenheimpalace.com/christmas).

GO WEST!

THE Bristol area is hosting a range of events throughout December. there is the Enchanted christmas trail at Westonbirt Arboretum (until December 21), the Victorian christmas Weekends at SS Great Britain (December 3, 4, 10, 11), the Festival of light at longleat (until January 8), Winter Wonderland at Wookey hole (until January 1) and plenty more. DETAILS: See the full range of events

visitbristol.co.uk.

GET YOUR SKATES ON

ICE skating at Somerset house, under the twinkling lights of a 40ft christmas tree, is one of london’s best festive offerings. there are also late-night skating sessions with music and hotel chocolat chocolatemaking masterclasses each thursday. DETAILS: tickets from £10 (adults) and £7.50 (children) until January 8. Visit somersethouse.org.uk.

AN ENGLISH CLASSIC

TICKETS are a little pricey for this christmas extravaganza at Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire.

But a market set in a vast country home under a winter light show does offer something different. the manor is decorated inside and out, with tours of the house available, too. DETAILS: Market runs Wednesday to Sunday until January 3. tickets for the house and grounds cost from £32.70 for adults and £16.35 for children (waddesdon.org.uk).

Escape: Cover Story

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