Glowing birds and animals, luminous orangutans, colour-changing rainforests and a show-stopping giant octopus: the annual Lanterns and Light at Chester Zoo are a crowd-pleasing spectacle.

Prices £18 adults, £12 children (free for children aged 2 and under) Lanterns and Light, Chester Zoo, Cheshire

At the garden gates, the neo-Tudor Five Arrows hotel, with its decorative ironwork and twisted chimneys, has 16 tastefully refurbed bedrooms.įorestryengland.uk Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent 7. Inside the house, with its gold ceilings, candelabras and portraits by Gainsborough, themed installations include the Mad Hatter’s tea party and the White Witch’s castle. There are new animated projections, an engaging light trail and Christmas Fair. Why settle for just one story when you can showcase three? The manor’s chateau-style turrets look like a fairy tale at any time of year, but they’re even more surreal bathed in iridescent colours that shift in sync with the soundtrack. Narnian snowscapes, Peter Pan’s adventures, the playful psychedelia of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Waddesdon’s theme this year is classic British tales. Prices from £22 adults, £10 children (National Trust members half price free for children aged 4 and under) Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshireĭates November 22, 2023, to January 1, 2024 Northern Lights, which debuts in Leazes Park in 2023, will be similar to this trail in Bute Park 3. The garden has great views across the city too, taking in Edinburgh Castle, which is hosting its own lights. Ten minutes’ walk from the garden gates, with teal-and-heather decor, roll-top baths and a big log fire in the bar, the Raeburn makes a comfy Edinburgh base. With new lights for 2023, this trail features cosmic crocuses blooming across the lawns, rainbow-bright grasses sprouting and huge incandescent seedheads floating through the air.

Prices from £19 adults, £13.50 children, £62 families (free for children aged 3 and under)įlowers, vines and leaves unfurl across the walls of Inverleith House at Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden as plant-themed projections light up the 18th-century stones. If you click and buy a product, we may earn revenue.ĭates selected evenings from November 16 to December 30, 2023 These buttons and adverts are clearly signposted, and provide direct links through to external sites. We also feature properties and itineraries from a specially selected list of trusted operators. Our travel journalism is written and edited by independent experts to inform, inspire and advise our readers about the best choices for your holidays.

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