Area of Sussex named the most festive region in England

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An area of Sussex has been named the most festive region in England, according to a new study.

With just four days to go until Christmas Day, a study by GO Outdoors has revealed the most festive region in England.

Analysing factors such as the number of snow days, the average duration of Christmas markets, the number of cosy pubs and more, GO Outdoors ranked and rated the most festive areas in England.

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The Brighton and Hove area embraces the holiday season, offering a warmer, coastal backdrop for the festive time of year. With no shortage of nature, there are 46 nearby walking trails. Popular trails along the coast and into the scenic South Downs make for refreshing winter walks.

An area of Sussex has been named the most festive region in England, according to a new study. Picture by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)An area of Sussex has been named the most festive region in England, according to a new study. Picture by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
An area of Sussex has been named the most festive region in England, according to a new study. Picture by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

The area also has 4.17 restaurants per 1,000 residents and a bustling festive scene. For dining, local gems include The Salt Room, which serves freshly caught seafood with coastal views, and Terre à Terre, which offers festive vegetarian feasts.

Visitors can also enjoy the magical Brighton Lights in One Garden Brighton; a light show and magical escape with tickets from £16. There is also open-air ice skating at the Royal Pavilion open now.

In second place is Nottingham, with a score of 9.31/10. Nottingham is home to over 22 winter hiking trails, and visitors can stay in a multitude of cabins for the ultimate cosy weekend. Pubs such as the Poppy and Pint are celebrated for their cosy interiors and festive feel.

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Manchester comes in third place, with a score of 9,29. Famed for its Christmas Markets, which hosts over 200 stalls and eateries, Manchester is the perfect place for a festive visit.

Inverness is the best place in the UK to spend Christmas, while Dundee is best location for a family Christmas getaway in the UK.

The full GO Outdoors study can be viewed here.

To reveal the most Christmassy cities and towns, GO Outdoors created a seed list of locations using sources such as VisitEngland, Time Out, VisitWales, The Independent, and Northern Ireland World.

GO Outdoors used Komoot to source the total number of hiking trails to the nearest point for each location. GO Outdoors then filtered this by ‘easy trails.’ GO Outdoors also calculated the number of easy hiking trails as a percentage of total trails. This data was calculated on October 15.

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Using Google Keyword Planner, GO Outdoors searched terms such as ‘Christmas walks’ and ‘winter trails,’ looking at the total number of searches in each location from October 2023 to September 2024.

To source the number of pubs and restaurants, GO Outdoors used Tripadvisor, filtering by ‘bars and pubs’ and ‘restaurants’ on October 16 and then calculating this per 1,000 population using the latest ONS population figures and City Population, looking at 2021-2022 data.

For London, GO Outdoors looked at the total number of ‘cheap eats,’ ‘mid-range,’ and ‘fine dining’ separately and added them together to get the overall figure.

Tripadvisor was also used to source family-friendly pubs and restaurants, filtering by ‘good for kids/child-friendly’ on October 11. This data was then calculated as a percentage of each location’s restaurants, bars, and pubs.

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GO Outdoors looked at each location on Airbnb to determine the number of cabins in and around each area, filtering this data by ‘a weekend in December’ to get results specific to the festive season. GO Outdoors then noted the search results within approximately 30 miles on October 15.

GO Outdoors used ArcGIS to gather the average annual snow days over the last 30 years.

Using the official website of each event holder, GO Outdoors sourced the number of days each location’s Christmas market is open, looking at their opening and closing dates for 2024. For places that have yet to confirm their official dates for this year, GO Outdoors used 2023 dates.

GO Outdoors looked at one of each location’s most popular ice skating rinks, highlighting the session cost as of October 11 using the official site for each location.

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Where applicable, GO Outdoors included the cost of a single adult ticket and a single child ticket. If all members of the public pay the same price, GO Outdoors noted the adult and child prices as the same.

For towns and cities that do not have an ice rink, GO Outdoors included the closest location within the limit of approximately a 30-minute drive using Google Maps.

GO Outdoors used Google Reviews to source the review rating of each ice rink out of five as of October 11.

GO Outdoors created two indexes to highlight the top Christmas locations in the UK and the best locations for families.

The indexes considered the average scores out of 10 for each relevant factor across each area and an overall score out of 10 for each location.

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