Christmas Markets and Festive London: Timing the Season by Car

The markets worth the drive

Bath sets out its chalets in the lanes around the Abbey and is the most atmospheric of the English markets because of where it is rather than what it sells. Winchester puts its market in the cathedral's Inner Close with an ice rink alongside, which is a hard combination to beat. Further north, York, Manchester and Birmingham all run substantial markets, and Edinburgh's occupies the gardens below the castle. Dates, layouts and even whether a particular market runs at all change from year to year, so confirm before travelling.

What the crowds and the roads do

The market weeks concentrate visitors into small historic centres that were already difficult for vehicles. Bath in particular sees substantial extra traffic and altered access around the Abbey, and the approaches back up well before the centre. The practical implications are simple. Arrive earlier than feels necessary, expect the last mile to take as long as the previous twenty, and agree a pickup point away from the market entrances rather than beside them.

• Weekday afternoons are far calmer than any weekend
• The last mile into a market city can take longer than the motorway
• Agree a pickup point away from the market itself
• Confirm the market's dates for the current year before booking

London in December

London does not need a market to be worth an evening in December. The Regent Street and Bond Street lights, the Covent Garden displays, the Carnaby installation and the tree in Trafalgar Square make a circuit that works from a car when the pavements are full.

Beyond the streets, the winter trails at Kew and other botanic gardens, the ice rinks at Somerset House and the Natural History Museum, and the seasonal programming at the opera houses and theatres fill the calendar. Most of these are timed-entry and sell out well in advance.

Country house light trails

Illuminated trails at country estates have become one of the fixtures of the English winter, running at properties including Waddesdon, Blenheim and a number of gardens. They are ticketed by timed slot, run after dark and finish with a walk back to a distant car park in the cold. That last part is what makes being driven worthwhile. A dark country drive home after a trail, following an already long day, is the least appealing part of the outing and the easiest to remove.

The days around Christmas itself

The pattern of the last fortnight of December is distinctive. Roads become extremely busy in the run-up, then extraordinarily quiet on Christmas Day itself, when public transport across most of the country does not run at all. Boxing Day brings sales traffic back into the cities.

For anyone travelling on the days when trains stop, a car is not a convenience but the only option. Demand on those specific dates is heavy, so arranging travel early rather than in the week before matters more than at any other time of year.

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