Christmas In York: Favourite Things to Do and Places to See
I absolutely adore Christmas time. The lights, the cold air being perfect weather to curl up under covers with hot chocolate and watching reruns of Doctor Who or the Polar Express, easily my favourite time of year. Christmas in York definitely elevates that.
While I do normally go home a few days before Christmas, I do get the fantastic opportunity to watch as the lights start going up around the town centre and feel a lot more winter-esque as the usual lemonade stand trades out the lemons for hot chocolate and mulled wine. The way that the cold air shifts through the shambles makes it feel so much more magical. Christmas in York was one of my favourite parts of my first time in the city last year and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon. There’s something so exciting about Christmas, especially in York. Between the shambles market being targeted towards everything festive to the opening of the shops that are fully dedicated to spreading Christmas joy.
If you can make it to one (or both) of these Christmas shops, I highly recommend it. They filled me with so much festivity last year, mainly due to the fact that they reminded me of how my home is at Christmas time with my mum’s vintage decorations that she had up when she was little to the utter chaos and bustle that is Christmas in my family. My favourite out of both these shops is Käthe Wohlfahrt, as it brings a sense of nostalgia that I absolutely adore about Christmas to one place that is heavily decorated with all sorts of Christmas themed Knick-knacks.
During Christmas, I take a lot of pride in recreating Pagan traditions surrounding Yule. This includes spending a lot of time with family and friends to show my admiration and love for them. I love going on long walks, wrapped up warm and watching all sorts of Christmas movies after these walks. I love the Christmas Market in York, being able to find the final pieces for gifts for everyone and finding the perfect Christmas cards to write a few nights before Christmas Day to further show my appreciation for my loved ones.
I’m not a major drinker, however, I love having mulled wine during the festive period. There’s something so festive about how it warms from the inside out, especially when walking around and looking at the many stalls the Christmas Markets have to offer. Along these lines, I adore flavoured hot chocolates, such as peppermint or orange flavoured hot chocolates and there’s never a shortage of places to get a festive hot drink in York with the amount of coffee shops and cafes around the centre. I find that going for hot drinks with friends or flatmates happens more at Christmas than it does any other time of the year. I think this is due to the craving of being warm or relaxing towards the end of the year to prepare for the new year to take over.
I think one major part of Christmas holidays is to prepare for the new year, to be able to focus on everything that went the way it was planned to or think of all the good things that happened in the previous year and focus on how these things impacted the last year. I find it harder to focus on the good things, so towards the end of the year I think this is an incredibly important time for reflection, to get the most out of the new year.
One of my favourite activities at Christmas time is definitely Christmas markets, they fill me with so much nostalgia from when I was a little kid and used to get dragged around shops all the time by my mum. Christmas for me has always been about family, and being able to live in a city that has one of the biggest Christmas market reminds me so strongly of being a little kid again and getting excited for Christmas. I think as well, Christmas markets played such a strong role in my life from where I used to work at one during my time at secondary school to raise money for the new year for the school.
I’m not a major fan of eating out, mainly because I love to cook so much more than I do finding restaurants. However, I adore Christmas themed drinks, especially hot chocolates or festive teas. Nothing will ever come close to memories I have of my mum making me and my siblings hot chocolate while we watched as many Christmas movies as we could on Christmas Eve.
At university, there are so many activities that are all related to the festive season in December. From the 7th to 16th December there are so many activities going on within the Student Union. This includes the Snowball and a Gingerbread Decorating Workshop (both of these things require booking in advance) however, there are so many walk ins available too, such as a Christmas Fair on Tuesday 6th December, or a Christmas movie night with popcorn and hot chocolate on the 7th. These festive events ran by the Student Union could be great fun to go along to with your friends or your flatmates to help everyone get into the festive spirit.
Happy Holidays!
If you’re planning to do some work during Christmas, read Amy-Louise’s blog on how to manage your studies during Christmas Break.
