Winter Wonderland - Hyde Park, London, UK

For those of you who, like us, LOVE Christmas it’s amazing just how many excuses you can find me do Christmassy things! Living in London we are lucky enough to enjoy Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park on a regular basis.

When we worked together last year we were able to walk the 10 minutes to Hyde Park almost every lunch time to indulge in the array of food – bratwursts, Angus burgers, turkey & stuffing sandwiches and profitijes (how did I wait 25 years to taste them!!!) – it’s a lunch only fit for Christmas time!

This year as we don’t work together we have had less chance to go and wander round but we thought we would get in early with Sarah and Lauren. So after our Thanksmas celebration we headed to Harrods and then on to Winter Wonderland. With Willow with us and dressed to combat the ever-so-cold weather we braced ourselves for the hoards of people. This place is BUSY!! Poor Willow (or maybe lucky Willow) ended up being carried round to save her from the buggies and feet. This place is not for the faint-hearted or those who hate crowds.

Once inside the parameter you have plenty of attractions to see. The area is divided into sections; The Fairground, Food Markets Stalls, Christmas gifts stalls and the Ice Rink, oh and the Zippo Circus area and an Observation Wheel. You can wander for free but it costs to go on anything or into any of the attractions.    

There are over 100 festive rides and attractions and even Santa Land, where Santa hangs out in is his famous grotto!

Having had the experience of Winter Wonderland at a weekend we would say DON’T DO IT! If you can head up during the week otherwise the atmosphere is lost trying not to get trodden on or crushed – festive if you love the Christmas shopping crush – but not fun if you are there to enjoy the day.

That’s not to say you can’t enjoy it and our tour with Sarah, Lauren and Willow was enjoyable, from the talking tree welcoming us to sitting in a very Bavarian style wooden terrace full of food stands and bars, to the delicious food to the Christmas tunes blasting over the tannoy we all felt the Christmas spirit.

You can easily spend a couple of hours wandering round the 100 or so stands, time it right and there are live bands playing and all kinds of random entertainment. It’s not the cheapest place to find a Christmas gift but there is definitely plenty of choice. We got a personalised tree decoration there last year:

As Sarah still works 10 minutes walk away she definitely has the best deal, even if her pre-Idaho diet has been destroyed, well it would be rude not to indulge in the delicious food – right?!

Open from late November to early January there are plenty of weekdays to head over and with Hyde Park Corner tube station right outside (although often closed as it gets overwhelmed) and Green Park or Victoria Station just 10 minutes walk away it’s definitely well-located.

If you are in London on a weekday make sure and pop in, it's well worth a look around!