Suggestions for the best place to stay in the UK please

[Teisen1990]

Hi all
Hoping you'll have some fab suggestions for a UK based holiday December/January time.

Husband and I haven't had a proper holiday in years and we have a 5 month old. In January we have my 30th birthday and 1st wedding anniversary. We got married while i was pregnant and because of hyperemesis I had a tough time of it and we couldn't honeymoon.

So really I'm hoping someone can suggest somewhere special- not abroad ideally as I don't fancy air travel with a 7 month old. Budget can stretch a little way because its a birthday/ anniversary/ honeymoon all rolled into one.

Open to anything really from city to super remote. Would just love to hear what your go to locations are

Thank you for your suggestions!

Scotland- highlands, Aviemore, Inverness, Ullapool, or Edinburgh, or East Neuk of Fife.

I wouldn’t really recommend Ullapool in January, it’s a long way north, and road conditions might not be great. Even if the weather is good it’s a long drive from most places. The East Neuk is lovely but the wind is punishingly cold in winter. I would tend to go for a largish town/city in winter rather than seaside or remote rural, unless you’re just going to hunker down in a lovely hotel. Edinburgh would be fine (though again that east coast wind is bitter in January). York maybe?

York, loads to do inside and cozy pubs to snuggle up in afterwards.....

London? I think I would go for a city and also a hotel. I’ve had a couple of cold damp experiences self catering in winter.
Chester?
i suppose it depends where you are. I don’t disagree with the highlands but for me it would actually be easier to go to Paris via the tunnel.

Came on to say exactly this. If the weather happens to be (unusually for December/January) lovely, you could drive out to the coast or the moors from York. If not, plenty to do and some lovely pubs.
Alternatively, somewhere lovely in the Cotswolds and do Oxford.

MacDonald Aviemore
Sands Resort
Another Place
Staunton Sands

Hever Castle has good Christmas lights and you are also in reach of Penshurst Place, Chartwell, Tunbridge Wells and Ashdown Forest (Winnie the Pooh country).

Will this be your only holiday of the year? Because if it were me, personally I'd ignore the annivesary/birthday dates and postpone until the weather is warmer. Freezing cold weather in December and January can make for a pretty boring holiday with a baby unless they are content to go round museums and galleries and things. Essentially it would be an indoors only holiday I would have thought. Whereas if you were to wait until summer your baby would be a little bit older, the weather woulld be warmer and you might manage lovely things like a beach, a little farm etc.

Which part of the country are you starting from? Assuming you also don't want a 10 hour drive??

Maybe one of these? www.luxuryfamilyhotels.co.uk/

Do you have any preference for city/beach/mountain? I love the beach in winter but not everyone does. Bedruthan in Cornwall
would be another baby friendly beach based option.
Or Aviemore as suggested above if you want the possibility of snow. But both of those could be a very long drive depending on where you’re coming from!

Did you book anywhere?

I know you don’t want to go abroad with a baby, but it’s supposed to be super easy to travel (particularly if you’re breastfeeding).

I never did this, but really wish I had!

Honestly?

I would go to the Canaries.

At that age they are easy to travel with. Much harder once crawling and walking. Chill outside in the warmth. A self catering apartment with restaurants near by. Maybe Playa Blanca in Lanzarote, with the long promenade to wheel the buggy along, little beaches, cafes and restaurants. Lots of day trips easily arranged through the excursion companies.

Way back in the distant pre child era we used to go to the Lizard Peninsula for the weeks covering Christmas and New year.

Not a huge amount to do other than walks, cooking and snuggling. I loved it.