� IN FOCUS l CHRISTMAS
RHS offers glowing gardens for groups The four Royal Horticultural Society gardens are planning festive winter events for visitors, including special ‘Glow’ illuminations.
Wisley Glow
‘Magical Christmas’ at Drayton Manor
Drayton Manor Park near Tamworth will create a ‘Magical Christmas’ spectacle for visitors this festive season. Taking place on selected dates
from November 17 to the end of December, the event sees the theme park – home to Europe’s only Thomas Land – transformed into a festive wonderland featuring Christmas music and decorations. The Castle of Dreams will be
where Father Christmas and his elves will welcome families and treat children with a Christmas gift. There will also be a firework
display every evening and reindeers at the 15-acre zoo.
Visitors looking to turn their trip
into a short break can stay at the four-star Drayton Manor Hotel.
draytonmanor.co.uk
The illuminations can be seen at RHS Gardens Wisley in Surrey; Rosemoor in Devon and Harlow Carr in Harrogate, while there is a new Winter Garden to visit at RHS Garden Hyde Hall in Essex. There are also group catering
packages with festive lunches, afternoon teas, suppers, and mulled wine with mince pies. The gardens’ plant centres and gift shops offer opportunities for Christmas shopping, with gift ideas such as tree decorations, seasonal plants, jewellery, crafts, books and tableware. Melissa Hackney, groups
marketing manager for RHS Gardens, said: “Our winter events offer really memorable days out for groups, as well as representing great value for money – with no additional charge for the illuminations, free parking and RHS members entering free of charge. “What’s more, by taking
Longleat's ‘Fantastic Voyage’ Festival of Light
Longleat’s annual Festival of Light will take visitors on a “fantastic voyage” with more than 645 illuminated lanterns in the grounds after dark. Following the
“fantastic voyage” story, visitors to the Wiltshire safari park can meet three new Longleat characters: brother and sister Harry and Bee, and their terrier companion, Monty. In each lantern scene, the characters can be seen exploring locations “from the exotic to the glacial”, filled with creatures, scenery and modes of
16 TravelGBI | July-August 2018
transportation. The characters
will travel by hot air balloon; trek by camel to the Great Pyramid of Giza; fly in a rocket ship; see dinosaurs from prehistory; and watch medieval knights on horseback surround a castle’s
battlements.
The seasonal spectacle also includes the Christmas Tree Show, Longleat House dressed for a 1920s Christmas and the Santa Train. The Festival of Light will be on
selected dates from November 9.
longleat.co.uk
advantage of our special offer available, if groups have already visited an RHS Garden this year, then a second visit to any RHS Garden is available at 50%. RHS Garden Rosemoor ‘Glow’
will be from November 16 to January 5. Groups can book Glow suppers, a festive cream tea or afternoon tea option. RHS Garden Wisley illuminations (December 1-January 2) will include giant illuminated flowers, and groups can book catering packages and private walking tours. At RHS Garden Harlow Carr, the illuminations (November 22 to December 29) are Thursday to Saturday each week. RHS Hyde Hall’s Winter
Garden will be in its first full year with its display of stem colours, peeling barks and bright berries.
rhs.org.uk/groups
Albatross showcases vintage-themed breaks
Albatross Travel features short breaks to Victorian-inspired Christmas events and Yuletide markets for coach groups during the festive season.
Highlights include the Portsmouth
Victorian Festival at Christmas, where the Portsmouth Dockyard is transformed into a Dickensian scene with stallholders in costume and a Christmas market. Melton Mowbray Victorian Fayre in Leicestershire has street urchins, stilt walkers, Punch & Judy shows and brass bands. The operator also features the
Black Country Living Museum Christmas in the Home event, which recreates 1920s Christmases, and the Ironbridge Very Victorian Christmas, which sees Blists Hill Victorian Town transformed as it would have been in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
albatrosstravel.com
VisitWiltshire: ‘Seasonal Salisbury is special’
Tourism agency VisitWiltshire says Christmas is a “very special time of year for groups to visit Salisbury”. Salisbury Christmas Market
(November 29-December 22) has German-style wooden chalets, a lantern parade and live music. The cathedral’s advent
procession (November 30-December 2) features the lighting of 1,300 candles and choir music. On December 12-13, it has a special
service for groups, with carols, mulled wine and minced pies. The National Trust's Mompesson House marks Christmas through the ages on selected dates (November 24- December 23) – with the dining room decorated for a Regency Christmas and the library in 1950s style. Overnight packages and festive
food for groups are available from many hotels and restaurants.
visitsalisbury.co.uk/groups
travelgbi.com
©visitwiltshire /Adrian Harris
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