No idea where to spend Christmas this year…

[undermycatsthumb]

…And hoping some of you experts might have some ideas.

All being well with covid, we are hoping to drive from the UK to France on December 27th to ski. We live in Scotland so need to break the journey from home to Dover anyway and have been thinking about leaving a bit earlier and having Christmas away in the UK.

But I have no idea where! Criteria would be
a) not a million miles off the motorway as we are going to be doing a heck of a lot of driving anyway
b) catered, or restaurants available - I’ve had so many Christmases of catering for piles of in laws and now really prefer Christmas Day to be spent focused on my kids
c) fun for 2, 5 and 7 year olds.

I did look at a few country house hotels around London but they were either sold out or rooms only took a family of 4. I also thought about Center Parcs but dimly remember the check in and out process taking forever and we would need to be away early doors on the 27th.

Has anyone got any genius ideas? Thanks in advance!

Chester?

Dunham Massey lights
Bewilderwood
Cheshire forest light trail
Chester Christmas markets
Reindeer safari Mold
Chester zoo lights

How about Cambridge? 2hrs to Dover. Still quite the drive but we use it to split the drive from west coast Scotland (7hrs) to France.

Chester sounds amazing in terms of activities but probably too near to here and too far from there!

I hadn’t thought of East Anglia. Is there anywhere you’d recommend staying?

If you were thinking of center parcs, the check out process is easy - you just drop your key in a box on your way out. And if you're leaving really early, there won't be any queues. You might be restricted with dates, though

The Ickworth in Suffolk?

Woburn Center Parcs works with dates I think (23-27).

Sorry I can’t advise for hotels, but just a thought if the rooms only cater for a family of 4.. would your 2 year old be able to sleep in a travel cot? We’ve got 3 kids and always asked hotels to pop one up in the room for us when they were younger. May just increase your options.
Hope you find something and have a wonderful time!

Oh gosh quite tempted by CP if there aren’t queue nightmares. We haven’t been for years but I remembered it taking ages to get in and out - we were probably leaving at rush hour though!

The 2 yo actually sleeps in our bed so space wouldn’t be a problem in a hotel - I just assumed those limits were strict.

Just had a look at the Ickworth - wow! That would be amazing. Not sure about the cost… will have to do some sums with DH.

Sorry if you've already covered this - what are you going to do about presents for the children? Are you taking those with you?

When we’ve gone away for Christmas in the past, we’ve opened presents on the last night at home and then I only bring stocking bits and bobs. The holiday is the main present really - they normally only ask for one or two gifts anyway.

@undermycatsthumb

Chester sounds amazing in terms of activities but probably too near to here and too far from there!

I hadn’t thought of East Anglia. Is there anywhere you’d recommend staying?

The Hilton, centre of Cambridge was great and did a double queen room plus travel cot. Adjoining rooms could be an option too.

If you’re considering Centre Parks, you may want to get a wiggle on. I think availability is pretty tight over the Christmas period due to so many people rearranging from last year.

As you were considering London, had you thought about Canterbury? It’s only a little bit further on down the motorway, it’s got carol services in the cathedral on Christmas Eve, which is pretty magical. You’ve got Howletts just down the road, Go Ape at Leeds Castle and it’s only 20 minutes drive from Dover, (where you’ve got another castle) which means you get a smidge more time to get moving in the morning.

Ikeworth also has (or had) cottage accommodation - still use all of the hotel facilities but might work out better space wise as you have 3. We stayed in one once when our 3 were younger.

I vote for CP! Leaving is literally a case of driving out and dropping keys in a box. Getting in can be a pain, took about 20 mins of the queue last time, but still worth it.

Why stay a night in UK?
Drive to Hull , spend the night on the ferry to Rotterdam/Zebrugge, continue journey in the morning.

Rotterdam to our end destination is a LONG drive. Several hours further than Calais. I’m also not a fan of the ferry… and keen for Christmas to be in the UK in case travel restrictions rear their head and we can’t go on to France.

Thanks for the thoughts, all… we are going for CP. The kids will be so excited.

It depends what your budget is - if you would prefer to spend less we have just discovered that Table Table (the pubs attached to some Premier Inns) are doing Christmas Day dinner - and you could stay in the hotels for not much as well. We are seriously doing it ourselves one year!