Just a fleeting glance at our website or social media pages will likely tell you that we love to wax lyrical about things to do at Christmas in London. Even if we didn’t adore the festive season here at Secret London (don’t worry; we’re not Scrooges), we’d have no choice over bombarding you with the sheer breadth of activities that Londoners can enjoy around this time of year. Whether it’s gliding around an ice rink or strutting through a Christmas market under the lights, it’s safe to say we’re pretty spoiled for festive choices.
Therefore, it’s really no wonder that London has been named the best city in the UK to spend your Christmas. Thanks to a whopping sixteen Christmas markets, a good chance of snow (real or fake, we hear), and high popularity during the season, London has taken the crown with ease.
Thanks to botanical drinks brewers, Fentimans, we have official data that confirms what we thought. They’ve tackled the Christmassy data for both the UK and EU in order to find the ultimate Christmas destination. In mainland Europe, there was no beating Berlin, who predictably nabbed the top spot.
However, through metrics including the number of Christmas markets to visit, the chance of snow, average costs while you’re there, the popularity of each location in December, and even how aesthetic the city is for your Instagram posts, London took 1st place in the UK, seeing off Liverpool (#2) and Manchester (#3).
London is by no means the cheapest place to stay through the festive season (duh!), but with its impressive array of markets and a whopping 153,000,000+ Instagram hashtags, the Big Smoke came out as worthy winners.
View the data in full and find out how other cities compare via Fentimans’ nifty interactive map here.