Where Are the Most Festive Places in the Chilterns and Hampshire?
If you’re planning a stay in the beautiful county of Hampshire, Chilterns and the surrounding countryside in the run up to Christmas, you are in for a real treat. There is a veritable plethora of amazing things to do. Whether you fancy curling up indoors with a log fire and creating some beautiful floral wreaths, or baking some fabulous cakes and festive biscuits, that’s certainly a wonderful option. But there are so many places to visit in the countryside that it’s well worth getting out for a day or two, depending on how long your stay is.
Festive Markets
Winchester
If you really want to get into the Christmas spirit, the Christmas market in Winchester is absolutely beautiful. Whether you want to do a bit of last minute Christmas shopping or just soak up the atmosphere with a glass of mulled wine, looking at all the lights, listening to all of the music and just taking it all in.
Bath
And you’ll find a similar setup, although in a very different way down in the beautiful City of Bath, all of the little sparkling chalets sit under the amazing Bath Abbey. And the atmosphere is just absolutely wonderful. Maybe you fancy something a little more cultural and want to go exploring some of the beautiful, old, stately homes. Well, again, they have gone to town for the run up to festive, to make the most of all of the beautiful late autumnal colors. So, Blenheim Palace with their 100,000 light bulbs, so rumour has it, to make their amazing light displays.
Stately Homes, Estates & Gardens
Stonor Park
If you want something a little more low key and personal, Stonor Park, just outside Henley-on-Thames is just the most beautiful, old stately home. The Camoys family have lived there for 850 years and they really make the most of the old Gothic hall and their beautiful setting in the valley to bring the whole estate to life with lots of lovely lights, and so on. And if you choose, you can even have a lovely lunch or dinner there, which is really rather really special. If you want to wrap up and make the most of the countryside, there are a huge number of things that you can choose to do. If you want to admire all of the colors and the beautiful autumnal colors in the countryside, climb on horseback and go exploring the woodland and the parkland and the beautiful countryside.
Highclere Castle
Alternatively, you might want to climb inside a beautiful, old, classic car, meander down through the winding roads and see what you can find, maybe ending up at Highclere Castle, possibly a butler opening the door for a private tour. Or, you might just want to make your destination one of the lovely, old traditional pubs, where we will happily reserve a table for you for a good warming lunch after exploring the countryside.
Country Pursuits
If you want to don the layers and get out there and really enjoy some of the wonderful old British country pursuits, it’s the best time of the year, obviously for game shooting. We’re right in the heart of the game shooting season, and you can head off into one of the lovely, old estates. Feel as though you are the only ones in the middle of nowhere, apart from obviously your trustee instructors and loaders and those providing all of the lovely refreshments. If you prefer to shoot at something clay rather than the birds, we are creating some really wonderful simulated shoots, again, in the heart of these old country estates. And you have all of the wonderful trappings of a game shoot, but you are just shooting the clays.
Vineyard
And you may be aware that we are becoming the new champagne region of the world and producing some award-winning wines that are being heralded by all of the experts. So, if you fancy visiting a vineyard or one of the brilliant gin distilleries, if you come to Henley Distillery, you can even make your own gin, which makes a rather fabulous Christmas present. And combine that with making some lovely festive candles or floral wreaths, and you really can bring all of your creative abilities to the fore.
So, as you can see, the Chilterns and Hampshire, like so much of our wonderful British countryside, has a huge amount to enjoy during the festive season, both inside and outside. We recommend if you want to make the most of it, that you do a little bit of both, but we’re happy to help with whatever you choose to do.