Given it’s the first week of December, even the Grinches among us might admit it’s putting up the tree time. But before you dust off the same old fairy lights, consider if your Christmas scheme requires a refresh. Whether you need new hand-painted baubles or novelty trimmings (a cheese-shaped glass ornament, maybe?) the UK’s finest year-round Christmas shops have the lot. The seven featured below (open seven days a week, unless otherwise specified) are in some of the country’s most popular tourist haunts, so you can turn your shopping trip into a full-blown festive weekender with seasonal nibbles, entertainment and a cosy hotel too.
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1. Käthe Wohlfahrt, York
For good old German craftsmanship, you can hardly do better than the UK’s only location of the Teutonic Christmas company Käthe Wohlfahrt, in a grand half-timbered shop built in 1434. Check out the timeless wooden nutcrackers, cuckoo clocks, delicate glass figurines and a kaleidoscopic range of baubles (kaethe-wohlfahrt.com). You’re then just steps from towering York Minster — home to some epic carol concerts, plus a month-long tree festival featuring 70 decorated evergreens (prices vary; December 5-January 5; yorkminster.org). The opulent interior displays alone are worth a look before you check into historic Grays Court, an antique-stuffed hotel that was once home to the treasurers of the Minster.
Details B&B doubles from £240 (grayscourtyork.com)
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2. Christmas on the Lakes, Bowness, Cumbria
Christmas on the Lakes brings seasonal cheer to the Lake District
From the elaborate Christmas light displays in Ambleside to the Hawkshead Christmas Fair, the Lake District is aglow with holiday fervour. Whether you visit in December or July, this Christmas shop in the popular hub Bowness-on-Windermere brings the seasonal cheer via red and green displays of poinsettias, Santa hats, gonks and baubles (christmasonthelakes.com). The Beatrix Potter decorations — from ceramic Peter Rabbit ornaments to Flopsy figurines — are a no-brainer purchase, given the location. But there’s also an impressive range of bespoke hampers and advent calendars. Nearby, the Ro Hotel has rooms with views out to Bowness Bay and festive afternoon teas with Christmas-pudding cheesecake and mince pies.
Details B&B doubles from £123 (therohotel.com)
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3. The Little Christmas Shop of Ironbridge, Shropshire
Done with your shopping? The Little Christmas Shop has a festive tearoom
The Little Christmas Shop, in the shadow of the world’s first cast-iron bridge,
pulls out the stops with its unique collection of wooden baubles, felt decorations and storybook-character ornaments, along with a festive tearoom. Tuck into a turkey, brie and cranberry panini, festive sausage rolls and Christmas cake (ironbridgechristmasshop.co.uk). Then, belly full, wander a few minutes to the Heritage View Guest House to snooze it off in a cosy room with beamed ceilings. Visit before December 23 and you’ll be able to shop (and eat) at the German-style Christmas market in Telford, bursting with bratwurst, hog roasts and glühwein (visittelford.co.uk).
Details Room-only doubles from £99 (heritageviewguesthouse.com)
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4. Cotswolds Christmas Shop, Lechlade-on-Thames, Gloucestershire
Cotswolds Christmas Shop is one of the oldest of its kind in the UK
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This honeystone building on Lechlade’s pretty high street has been open for almost 40 years, making it one of the oldest Christmas shops in the UK. Generations of local children have sent letters to Santa through an on-site post box (and received a reply), and families complete an annual holiday ritual of choosing a new ornament for the tree. For sale in the festive-scented interiors are handcrafted decorations from Germany, baubles you can personalise, hand-painted pewter pieces and light-up Victorian scenes (cotswoldchristmasshop.co.uk). Drop your bags at the Bell Inn Langford, a nearby gourmet pub with rooms, then soak up the region’s festive spirit by taking to the ice at Blenheim Palace’s new rink (from £16; blenheimpalace.com).
Details B&B doubles from £109 (thebelllangford.com)
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5. Old Rowlands, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset
Old Rowlands is full of handmade wooden figures and bearded characters
“Christmas heaven” is how most customers describe this cosy Victorian shop stuffed to the rafters with painted Polish baubles, handmade wooden figures and bearded gonks. Many come for the only-in-Cheddar decorations that change annually — from cheese-shaped glass ornaments to beaded velvet goats — while truly dedicated yulephiles book well in advance to stay in the on-site Christmas Cottage, decorated for the holidays 365 days a year (two nights’ self-catering for up to five from £329; oldrowlands.com). If it’s fully booked during your visit, stay at the family-owned Gordons B&B instead; nearby is the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company with a dairy that sells oak-smoked, truffle-infused and cave-matured wedges — perfect for your festive cheeseboard.
Details B&B doubles from £130 (gordonshotel.co.uk)
6. Tidings, Padstow, Cornwall
Tidings focuses on quirky decorations, including these Alice in Wonderland nutcrackers
Debbie Morris-Kirby opened her Christmas shop in the backstreets of Padstow, 150 yards from the quayside, after an inspiring trip to a Christmas village in New England. Drawing in customers with year-round flurries from her outdoor snow machine, she focuses on sharing quirky decorations you won’t find elsewhere, whether that’s delicate, handmade Fabergé-style glass eggs, 3D Mickey Mouse decorations, or baubles hand-painted with Padstow harbour scenes (closed Sundays; tidingspadstow.co.uk). Give yourself time to shop for stocking fillers at Truro Christmas Market (until December 24; trurochristmas.co.uk) and stay a few nights at St Edmunds House, owned by Rick Stein, to be within walking distance of the chef’s clutch of restaurants.
Details B&B doubles from £464 (rickstein.com)
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7. The Nutcracker Christmas Shop, Edinburgh
The Nutcracker Christmas Shop specialises in nutcrackers from around the world
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With its Georgian buildings and crowning castle, Edinburgh is a worthy festive getaway all the way until early January, with the castle illuminated by a colourful large-scale projection show (£22; edinburghcastle.scot). The Scottish capital is also home to the original Nutcracker, a Christmas shop sourcing decorations from around the world, from tartan reindeer to glass angels (nutcrackerchristmasshop.com). Pop into the High Street outlet for the impressive array of (what else?) nutcrackers, then make your way around the corner to the Market Street Hotel, where wooden shutters open to sweeping city views.
Details Room-only doubles from £160 (marketstreethotel.co.uk)
Have we missed your favourite? Let us know in the comments
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