Treat yourself to a Derbyshire Christmas - even in November!

This year at Oaklands Country Lodges we are fully booked for Christmas week itself, but we’ve still got some availability in the festive weeks running up to the big day. In Derbyshire we like to celebrate Christmas during November and December, so even if you visit us this week you’ll find that our very best festive events are running, so that you and your loved ones can enjoy them.

If you love a traditional Christmas event, you’ve got a wonderful choice. From Chatsworth House’s Christmas in the Farmyard (www.chatsworth.org), Haddon Hall’s Christmas in the Hall (www.haddonhall.co.uk) or one of Derbyshire’s Christmas Markets (www.christmasmarkets.com).

If you’ve got some little loved ones that want to see Santa, then there’s lots of events to choose from too. Just over the border in Leicestershire, Conkers’ Winter Wonderland will let you see Santa, ride a train and take part in the fabulous visitor attraction that is Conkers itself (www.visitconkers.com/events/winterwonderland). And just down the road from us, although over the border into Staffordshire, at Amerton Farm you’ll find a whole variety of festive fun from visiting Santa, painting a pot and enjoying a traditional Christmas roast (www.amertonfarm.co.uk). If you’d rather cook your own in front of a toastie log burning stove at your temporary luxury Oaklands home, then why not visit of Derbyshire’s superb farm shops to get all of the excellent quality ingredients you’ll need.

Hackwood Farm Shop near Radbourne (www.hackwoodfarm.com) has a butchery, farm shop and deli, as well as a tea room in case you need to take a break from tantalising yourself with all its yummy food!  On the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border, Denstone Hall’s farm shop and café now stocks more than 500 local lines from Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and has a special Christmas Food Fair on November 20^th too (www.denstonehall.co.uk). Family-run Bluebells Dairy & Farm shop (www.bluebelldairy.co.uk) will give you a different taste of Christmas as it’s a homemade ice-cream specialist, as well as a farm shop! And if you’re already attending the Chatsworth House’s Christmas in the Farmyard event, then you can pop into their renowned farm shop for some tasty locally sourced treats.

If you are looking for super-local luxuries, then don’t forget you can always ask us! We know pretty much everything that’s available on our door step, as we use most of them! And don’t forget, you don’t have to venture far if you don’t want to, you might want to spend your whole holiday tucked up in your lodge, enjoying the cosy, quality of Oaklands, and to give yourself a real break before you do home.