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10 InstaPics That Will Make You Want To Visit London's Winter Wonderland On Its 10th Anniversary This Christmas

Hey everyone,

So I know we’re still in November, but I have been feeling ever so festive lately, mainly because I took a trip to London’s Winter Wonderland last weekend! I went with my two sisters and two of my cousins and we had a wonderfully festive day out at the Hyde Park Christmas fair. In my opinion, it’s never too early to get in the Christmas spirit, and with the festival’s 10th year anniversary celebrations in full swing, here are 10 of my favourite photos from the day proving why you should visit Winter Wonderland this Christmas!

#1 The Carousel

Winter Wonderland 🌲🎅☃✨

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Just look at it. The inner child in me is just raring to get on that thing, it’s the ultimate fair ground ride, and there’s a giant Christmas tree right next to it. I. Am. SOLD.

#2 The Sparkly Lights

 

The park looks pretty amazing during the day time, but it looks truly spectacular after dark when the millions of lights are turned on and the park truly glitters in the night sky. Just LOOK at those lights!

#3 The Markets

 

It’s no secret that Winter Wonderland is brimming with Christmas markets selling everything from candles and soaps to handmade jewellery and wood carved ornaments. Wander round the market stalls, soak up the festive atmosphere and bag some unique gifts from these traditional German style wooden huts.

#4 The Rides

 

The rides are just amazing, from tiny spinning tea cups for the kids to giant rollercoasters for the thrill seeking adults and every kind of ride you can think of packed in between, there’s something for every rider and the queues are well worth the wait!

*TIP* To beat the queues go o on a week-day, not a weekend, and ride in the morning/early afternoon instead of the evening.

#5 The Food Stalls

🌲🌲

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There are hundreds of food stalls stocking everything from burgers and chips to German Bratwurst (sausage), roasted chestnuts, chocolate waffles and as many pick n mix sweets as you can manage! The Bavarian Village is a great place to escape the cold and relax for an hour, whilst the Carousel Bars (yes, really) are super cool, just be prepared to stand up while you waltz!

#6 The Special Attractions

 

Although entrance to the park is free, there are a number of additional attractions which are charged separately. I’d recommend booking online to guarantee your time slot, especially as the park will get busier in the lead up to December. The attractions include a Magical Ice Kingdom, Zippos Christmas Circus and a special showing of The Nutcracker on Ice.

#7 The Games Stands

German markets, giant towers and scary rollercoasters… It could only be winter wonderland! 🎅🌲 #London #visitlondon #winterwonderland

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There may be fairground rides aplenty, but there’s also tonnes of games stands to be found whilst wandering round the park. Try your hand at a game of hook-a-duck, mini-basketball or take on the shooting-gallery to be in with the chance of bagging a special Winter Wonderland prize!

#8 The Ice Rink

 

Is there anything more romantic than gliding across the ice and soaking up the festive atmosphere? I doubt it. But, this only applies if you don’t fall over. And end up looking like a total fool in front of all the ogling spectators. Don’t do it if you can’t skate! Only joking, it’s all good fun, and it’ll warm you up if you’re cold – you will sweat SO FRIKKIN MUCH!

#9 The Ferris Wheel

 

Just like The London Eye, but not as expensive, the ferris wheel at Winter Wonderland is one of the absolute must do’s. You’ll soar high into the sky and rotate slowly, enabling you to take in the most spectacular panoramic views of the park, and the rest of London too. I’d recommend taking your ‘flight’ once the sun goes down, as the park looks sooo much more impressive from above after dark, when everything is lit up!

#10 The Selfie Opportunities

Christmassy little day with my gorgeous family 🎅🌲☃🌟🎡 #winterwonderland #london #girlsgirlsgirls

A post shared by Jess Buck|JourneyswithJessica (@jessica16_x) on

 

There are SO many places to take great selfies and you’ll be totally spoilt for choice, but we loved this polar bear/ ice cliff/waterfall sculpture and took our favourite photo of the day right in that very spot!

Have YOU visited Winter Wonderland yet? If not, what are you waiting for?! It its totally FREE to enter, and the park is open from 10am-10pm every day until 2nd January 2017. Go go go!

Love Jess x

 

Oxford Christmas Market

 

Hi everyone,

I’m starting to feel really Christmassy now after my recent visit to Disneyland Paris – blog post to follow!! – I had such a fantastic time; everything was sooo magical and sparkly I just didn’t want to leave! To continue with my festivities now that I’m back home I decided to head over to Oxford this weekend to discover their beautiful Christmas markets…

fairylightcompany         christmas markets

Located on historic Broad Street in the heart of the city, the Oxford Christmas Market has welcomed thousands of visitors to their eye-catching stalls for the past three years running. This year, the event promised to be bigger than ever with a record 50 stalls selling festive gifts, foodie treats and Christmas decorations.

I attended yesterday with my mum and sister and we wandered around the markets looking for lots of goodies to snap up! I usually find the prices of Christmas Markets extortionate, and I expected them to be high as we were in Oxford, but I was pleasantly surprised that they weren’t as expensive as I had thought! Hotdogs and burgers were around the £5 mark and handmade Christmas tree decorations started from just £2 each – bargain!

Our buy of the day was a box of the fantastic Schoko Kuss, a traditional German delicacy of fluffy creamy marshmallow on a waffle base smothered in heaps of chocolate. There were over 10 flavours to choose from including After Eight, Baileys, Coconut and Caramel… are you drooling yet?! I know we were! So much so that we bought a WHOLE BOX of them and devoured them later on that evening! A box of 12 cost a reasonable ten pounds and they were worth EVERY penny.

schoko kuss

The markets run until 20th December from 10am-8pm Thursday-Saturday and until 7pm Sunday-Wednesday so make sure you visit before they close! With musical performances throughout the day, from jazz singers to school choirs, you’ll love everything about the beautiful Christmas Market and will come away feeling ever so festive.. I dare you not to embrace the Christmas spirit!

Love Jess x