Christmas is creeping up on us and if there’s one thing we’ve learnt post-pandemic it’s that you need to be on the pulse with booking activities because they get booked up so quickly. But don’t worry, our festive guide for activities to book will get your diary filled up with Christmas spirit! From ice skating to creative workshops, festive feasting and more, 16 Christmassy activities to book.

Christmas Calligraphy Workshop with Mellor & Rose – Thyme, Lechlade

Saturday 10th Dec – 10:00-13:00

Fancy sprucing up your Christmas cards? Learn calligraphy skills with the master Lucy Mellor at Thyme, the country house hotel in the heart of the Cotswolds. You’ll learn the key fundamentals to amplify any festive setting, perfecting linking letters, festive words and Christmas phrases and adding festive foliage and flourishes. Take home with you everything you’ll need your craft into practice, including a personalised boxed modern calligraphy kit, Mellor & Rose Christmas calligraphy lettering guides, templates and worksheets and luxe Christmas stationery items and seasonal place name cards.

Festive Afternoon Tea – Claridges, Mayfair

7th Nov 2022 – 2rd Jan 2023

There aren’t many places that do afternoon tea better than Claridges, and inevitably the festive rendition will spark that Christmas magic to get you into the spirit like nothing else! Adorned with Christmas decor this English institution undergoes a festive make-over to set the scene. Inherently, Cambridge Bronze turkey, cranberry, pork and chestnut stuffing sandwiches are on the menu, as well as smoked salmon, Marie-rose and lemon and truffled Burford brown egg mayonnaise! Afternoon tea wouldn’t be afternoon tea without a selection of the finest scones served with Cornish clotted cream and a festive twist ‘Mariage Frères “Noël” gelée’ (which is essentially Christmas spiced jam). The luxurious handmade pastries include a pineapple and passion fruit Christmas bauble and a milk chocolate and hazelnut Bûche de Noël, all watered down with your choice of tea and the option to add a glass of bubbly! The Claridge’s Christmas pudding is an additional celebratory course, stirred to perfection in an annual ritual that dates back over 100 years

Glide Ice Skating – Battersea Power Station

Friday 11th Nov – Sunday 8th Jan

Home to London’s newest Ice Rink, Glide is perched on the riverside overlooking the architectural masterpiece that is Battersea Power Station. From the team who brought us the Natural History Museum Ice Rink and Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, we’re expecting great things from Glide! Featuring three interconnecting rinks with a spectacular 30ft Christmas tree as its centrepiece, Glide is the perfect festive activity to book with friends and family. Off the ice, you’ll find vintage-style fairground rides, live entertainment, photo booths and a selection of food and drink venues!

Festive Hand-Embroidery Workshop – Daylesford Farm, Cotswold & Notting Hill 

Monday 14th Nov 6:00pm-8:00pm & Thursday 1st Dec – 10:00am-13:00pm

Embroidery expert Lottie Mayland is joining forces with Daylesford Organic to host a special festive workshop. Showing you how to jazz up your linen napkins with your own unique embroidered festive decorations, Lottie will guide you through the design process and teach you key hand-embroidery techniques. Ideal to scape your Christmas table or to give as a gift, you’ll take home your embroidery set, curtsey of Daylesford.

Winter Wreath & Yoga Retreat Day – Studio iO, Brighton

Saturday 3rd Dec 10-4pm

This day retreat is the ultimate wellness way to get into the Christmas spirit, taking place at Studio iO in the Sussex countryside. Starting the day with an invigorating yoga flow looking out to lush green fields followed by a walk in the lush green fields to forage your very own foliage. Lunch will be a colourful array of healthy vegetarian dishes made by Louis Sparks, the chef from Burnt Orange. In the afternoon you’ll get creative, making your very Christmas wreath, using foraged Christmas tree branches along with dried fruits, berries, pampas, wheatgrass and more to decorate as you please. 

Christmas at Kew – Kew Gardens, London

16 Nov 2022 – 8 Jan 2023

Christmas at Kew is back again this year with its magical winter after-dark trail featuring sparkling tunnels of light, flickering firelit displays, dancing lakeside reflections, and trees drenched in jewel-like colour. Along the way enjoy hot food and sweet treats, spiced winter warmers and hot chocolate and be sure to pop by to say hello to Father Christmas! Showcasing fixating illuminations within the backdrop of London’s most renowned botanical gardens, Christmas at Kew is a must-see that all will be mesmerised by.

Festive Taste Of Rome Pasta Evangelist Workshop – The Pasta Academy, Barbican

Friday 9th Dec 6.30-8.30pm

Learn how to make fresh Fettuccine entirely from scratch in this festive masterclass with an Italian twist! Led by Pasta Evangelist’s Head Chef, Roberta at the Pasta Academy, the masterclass will kick off with an Italicus Spritz and antipasti, you’ll then get to work with ’00 pasta flour and fresh eggs to create traditional Italian fresh pasta! At the end of the class, you will sit down to eat your handmade pasta creations whilst sipping on prosecco with your new pasta masterclass friends and will be given a traditional Christmas sweet to finish.

Christmas Baking – Waitrose Cookery School, Finchley Road 

Fri 16th Dec & Thursday 22nd Dec

Get your Christmas baking skills up to scratch at Waitrose Cookery School’s workshop! Creating classic Alsatian kugelhopf, Canadian maple pecan buns and an elegantly decorated gingerbread loaf, this full-day workshop will also include breakfast pastries, tea and coffee, a mid-morning baked treat and hot drink and lunch accompanied by an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink! Whether your choose to freeze for the big day, gift to a friend or enjoy straight away, you’ll take away skills that will enable you to knock up these Christmas classics year after year.

Anya’s Grotto – Anya Hindmarch Village, Chelsea

14th Nov – 24th Dec

Act fast if you want to get your little ones into Anya Hindmarch’s Grotto, tickets are few and far between as this gets booked up early and for good reason. Step into the magical world with Father Christmas in the heart of Chelsea at Anya’s Village. Find your way through moonlit forests and crunchy snow in the immersive grotto and enjoy a story read by the big man himself. Anya’s Grotto adventure is a truly unforgettable experience that will see children’s faces light up with festive gleam, spark the magic and get your list into Father Christmas!

Coppa Club Igloos – Various Locations

Perfect for festive lunch or dinner with friends, colleagues or family, Coppa Club’s igloos give an intimate dining experience! With locations in Tower Bridge, Putney, Brighton, Surrey and Berkshire, you can enjoy panoramic views in this unique setting whilst tucking into a festive feast. Coppa Club’s signature menu gets a sprinkling of Christmas cheer with something to please everyone, including veggies and vegans!

Masterpeace Creative Winter Specials – Eccleston Yards, Belgravia

Various dates

Create your very own wreath to hang on your door, a spiced candle, a gingerbread house or a handmade bauble to hang on your tree for the festive season at Masterpeace, the mindfulness creative studio. Taught by professional florists, artists and bakers, you will be taken through step-by-step creative workshops learning new techniques and skills. This is such a fun one to do with friends or family, some are suitable to bring your little ones along for festive arts and craft fun. Enjoy festive drinks and sweet treats as you construct your masterpeace!

Pottery: Festive Decorations – Birch, Cheshunt

Various dates

Get creative with clay and be guided by Birch’s expert teachers to make your very own handmade festive decorations to use on your tree or around your home. In Birch’s clay workshop, you’ll spend time away from digital distractions building decor that you’ll use for Christmas’ to come or why not give a handmade gift to a loved one that they’ll cherish forever!

Ice Skating, Dine & Stay – Beaverbrook, Leatherhead 

1st Dec 2022 – 31st Jan 2023

Beaverbrook has announced the return of its wintertime traditions! Embrace a magical winter experience with ice skating on The Lawns when you dine or stay at Beaverbrook. Providing the picture-perfect setting for a winter treat, the quintessentially English estate will be decked out with Christmas adornments. Glide on the ice whilst listening to melodies and indulging in festive treats from the winter stalls, from hot chocolate to festive tipples. Tickets will be available to purchase for both hotel residents as well as guests visiting the estate for dining or spa days.

Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol – Southbank Centre

8th Dec 2022 – 8th Jan 2023

Watch the classic Dickens’ tale with a Tennessee twist in a brand new musical; Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol. Featuring an original score written by the country queen, Dolly Parton, the show is set in the 1930s in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee where Ebenezer Scrooge is reimagined into the owner of a mining company town, where his callous greed blinds him to the joys and gifts of the season. It’s worth noting that Dolly Parton will not actually be in the production itself to avoid any confusion. This heart-warming and truly unforgettable production brings Dickens’ classic characters and Dolly Parton’s one-of-a-kind songwriting and storytelling for one joyful show that you’ll love this Christmas!

Love Actually Live In Concert – Eventim Hammersmith Apollo

10th Dec 2:30pm & 7:30pm

If Love Actually is one of your favourite Christmas films, this showing with a live orchestra is a must-see! The seasonal romcom will be shown in HD at the Hammersmith Apollo for one day only so be sure to ‘add to basket’ quick as it’s been a sell-out show for the last few years. Bellowing the songs from the cult classic, this incredible orchestra will fill the arena getting the crowd up on their feet dancing and singing along. One to book with your friends, this is the ultimate girly night out for the festive season.

Christmas Wreath Making – The Georgian Coppa Club, Haslemere

27th Nov 10am-12pm

Make your very own wreath at the Coppa Club’s beautiful hotel, The Georgian. All the materials will be provided to create a wreath using wild foliage under the expert tuition of local florist Melissa of Marley Flowers. You’ll be greeted with a glass of Piper Heidsieck bubbly to sip as you get creative making your showstopper that will sit pride and place at your front door.