Christmas suggestions in England
 

Not directly BA related, but many FT members on this forum will be able to provide some suggestions (I hope).

We're looking to spend a quiet Christmas away from our family, and the dire non-existent Christmas spirit of Amsterdam, with just the two of us (myself and Mr FOHA). Just looking for a small village with a nice B&B or cottage for hire (nothing too basic), where we could likely attend a Carol service and midnight mass on Christmas Eve in the local church, have a quite dinner somewhere nearby on Christmas Day, and then do some exploring on Boxing Day. Whilst we absolutely love the presence of the little ones, and my god daughter can attest to that, we'd rather not be around them for this time, so somewhere a less family oriented would be preferred. We're in our late 20's/30, and realise that we may end up the youngest couple in the restaurant, but that does not bother us. I realise that Christmas dinner may be an issue, but i've noticed numerous country inns on the internet which do a Christmas dinner (however they're all meant for families, with clowns, Father Christmas, etc).

Am I being too picky with my request? My internet searches have not really brought up anything to our liking, hence my posting. If all else fails, we'll probably just end up in Paris or somewhere sunny (Morocco or Canary Islands), but that won't give us the cosy, romantic atmosphere we are hoping for.

Sorry if something similar has been brought up, but I've used the search function and could not find any such thread.

I realise i went on a bit - for those who got this far in the message, thank you for your patience :).

FOHA

You should consider Wales, Scotland and Ireland

Cotswolds can be nice in a quaint English sort of way:D Some nice Villages but if you want Christmas Dinner I would look at booking that very quickly as if they are any good they will book up very early in the year.

We'll give this the customary run here before moving to UK & Ireland for further input.

Swanhunter
Moderator, BAEC

Full of Hot Air, can we just clarify - do you mean 'England' as in the UK (in which case you need to realise the terms are not usually synonymous) or are you really just restricting your request to England?

I've got a really nice place in the west of Scotland, but obviously, if you are only interested in England, then there's no point passing on the details!

For a really festive and unique Christmassy atmosphere I suggest Bucklers Hard. You could stay either at Whitley Ridge and have one of the best value Michelin star quality meals at a bargain price and great surroundings in the middle of the New Forest (and hope for some snow .....) or stay at Bucklers Hard itself at The Master Builders. The advantage of the Master Builders is that it has no traffic and an open log fire in it's great bar. And you get the atmosphere of Bucklers Hard when the last visitor has left. You could then go to Beaulieu which is the next village for both the Christmas service and A Victorian Christmas at Beaulieu and have a good look round Beaulieu itself.

I believe there are direct flights from AMS to SOU and you could hire a car for your stay. Miss Heathrow completely, direct from AMS to The New Forest. What could be better?

That'd be my suggestion.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8800/4.5.0.124 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/150)

I originally wrote this in a bit of a rush... Of course I'd consider Scotland and Wales. Although the idea of flying Club to LHR and then driving from there is attractive, but I realise we'll prob have to slum it with KLM:(

AMS -> LHR -> GLA is available with BA but the domestic route has no premium cabin, luckily its only a little under an hour.

There are plenty of places just outside Glasgow, I can recommend the Turnberry resort down by Ayr. It has a great spa and rooms that overlook the golf course and sea, though restaurant wise there is a little fish place just up the road or you eat in the hotel. There have small cottages though the hotel is great.

If you fancy the east coast then Fairmont St Andrews, we spent Christmas with family there last year because no one wanted to host it. There were a fair amount of children running around but luckily they couldn't get into a few of the bars there.

Alternatively there are plenty of small cottages in and about Glasgow and Edinburgh, you'd never be too far from the cities to go do something on Boxing day.

Double post

This is absolutely spot on uk1; just what we're looking for... Thank you so much! I've checked the Whitley Ridge, and unfortunately they're fully booked, but I've emailed the Master Builders and will hopefully hear from them soon.

Meanwhile, and further suggestions are welcome, just in case the Master Builders is fully booked.

FOHA

Glad to have helped.

To be frank, I think it has everything going for it. Short hop to small unstressful airport both ways. And a magical place in winter. Short drives to either Salisbury and Winchester (for the Cathedrals!) etc.

If either of the two hotels are booked then another equally worthwhile one would be the Montagu Arms Hotel in Beaulieu itself. Has special Christmassy arrangements - and you can use the excellent facilities at the sister hotel the Careys Manor close by or PM me for more suggestions. My main base is a few miles away.

Just remember that hire cars usually are all booked out over Christmas in much of the UK given the near complete shutdown of public transport for a few days.

Some years I've turned up to Christmas lunches in a Ford Transit van, with friends rolling around in the back, because it was all we could find to hire in the week prior.

James

I booked our hire car last week, still decent availability.

We spent 5 days in the New Forest (near Fordingbridge) last new year. Very enjoyable - as uk1 says there is plenty to do and enjoy around there. Memories for me as my first job post University was in Bournemouth and spent a fair bit of time in the Forest.

http://www.handpickedhotels.co.uk/hotels/

Many of these are offering good deals on Christmas breaks. Enjoy!