Hi guys! It’s nearly Christmas, and I love spending the run up doing festive things , putting on a festive playlist, and going on days out with my boyfriend and my family. I live in West Somerset and work full time, so I like the keep things pretty local. I thought I would share a few of my favourite festive things to do in my area.
Dunster By Candlelight
This is a really cute event where the whole of the tiny village of Dunster is lit up with candles and fairy lights and they have a little parade going through. They also have a few stalls and entertainment throughout the village, and the whole night is just insanely pretty.
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, Tetbury and Westonbirt Arboretum
Myself and Aaron spent a whole day doing festive activities last year. We started at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm near Bristol, and had a walk around. Neither of us had been before so it was nice to walk round together and see it all decorated with lights and trees. They had a lovely range of animals who all looked very well cared for, and the highlight for me was seeing lots of little piglets running around! We then ventured further up to Tetbury and had a lovely meal in the Tetbury Inn. From there we went to the Westonbirt Arboretum where we had tickets to see the Enchanted Forest. All the trees are lit up with different colours and displays, and it is truly magical.
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm 
Westonbirt Arboritum 
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm
Wells
One event that I went to this year was the Wells Reindeer Parade. It is just a little parade of Reindeer pulling Santa down the main street, with lots of stalls and carol singers. The Reindeer were then in their pens for the afternoon and you could stroke them if you wanted to. Such a lovely day out.
Longleat Festival Of Lights
I didn’t get to go this year as we have just been so busy, but we went last year and it was completely magical. We went round the normal safari during the day, and of course it rained! We still managed to see all the animals despite the weather and it eased off by the afternoon. We were then able to walk around the rest of the animals and lights displays and they were amazing. It was a fairytale theme that year which suited me very well, and the stories were told as you walked round.
A more local evening out is the Burnham-on-Sea lights display. Each year a street in Burnham light up their houses in order to raise money for local charities.
Local garden centres
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the annual visit to the garden centre. I love looking round all the festive gifts and scenes, and of course I loving seeing the ‘Christmas animals’ they always have there, normally consisting of a couple of donkeys and some pigs.
Going out is always nice, but sometimes you just can’t beat sitting at home watching your favourite Christmas film.
What are your favourite festive days out? Let me know!
Until next time.
XOX
Thanks for sharing the things you like to do around Christmas time!! Gave me some ideas for the future if I go back to the UK!
I just like a good Christmas market with hot wine and loads of food, I love wandering through the different stalls š I’ve been to a few this year in Switzerland, it was so nice!!!
Happy holidays xx
AnaĆÆs
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Wow, beautiful lights
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This all looks beautiful and that reindeer is so cute! Would love it if something like this was done where I live x
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Looks like you had a lovely time and it was quite festive indeed.
But I have to admit, when I read the words “south west” my mind immediately goes “Arizona? Nevada? New Mexico??” Haha, I’m such an American!
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Cute photos! If I could, I would love to be able to explore more of the UK – the South West looks so scenic. Where would you suggest to stay for a weekend away in the area?
Would also love to be able to go out more during Christmas but there’s no where to go where I am and I’m scared of big crowds so staying at gome and doing crafts and baking is the usual. However, it’s always warming to read and see photos of the festive events.
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Fab blog
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Looks idyllic. š
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These are lovely festive ideas. I’ve always wanted to visit the light shows at either Longleat Safari Park or Westonbirt Arboreteum.
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This is great! Who knows what will happen at Christmas this year so it’s lovely to see a range of activities we can look forward to in future š
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I’d LOVE to visit Longleat Festival of Lights. That looks so, so magical!
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These all sound like fun days out! Dunster looks beautiful at night! I love visiting Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and Christmas markets in December but unfortunately I’ll have to wait until next year to visit them again!
Serena / http://www.ramblingsofanotherunigraduate.com
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I’d love to see the Longleat lights, they look amazing! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
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This post has got me all excited for the festive season!
http://www.dellalovesnutella.co.uk/
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I have wanted to visit Westonbirt for ages! I live in the Forest of Dean so on the other side of the river, making it quite a trek to get to but the photos I have seen make it look so worthwhile.
Helen
Tea in the Tub
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Christmas is truly in the air! I love going to Christmas markets and see the city with the bright decors!
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This looks like it has some lovely holiday decorations. In my area, we have a few houses that go all out and a few parks that do drive-through displays.
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