North Wales Christmas | Bodnant Garden Blog

However you like to celebrate Christmas there’s something for all at Bodnant Garden; whether you’re after peace and tranquility, or food, fun and festivity, you’ll find it in our 80 acres. It all starts with a warm welcome from our Visitor Centre staff, who’re putting on their best Christmas pullies just for you…

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Enjoy peaceful walks in a frost-sparkling landscape, bring the children to meet Santa and the elves, discover unique gifts at the shops and craft units and warm up with seasonal food – be that marshmallows over a brazier or a full Christmas lunch.

Bodnant Garden - Winter Garden in February The star on our tree is the Winter Garden. This feature was opened five years ago after a major garden renovation and is now bursting with colour, texture and scent. As other gardens are going to sleep the Winter Garden springs into life; flowers, foliage and bark creating a real winter pick-me-up for the senses. A cold weather forecast is an added bonus – it looks even more beautiful with a dusting of frost and snow.

See our website for the Winter Garden Trail, which guides you around highlights of the this area and formal East Garden. It’s a short, level, accessible trail, which will suit all the family – perfect for a quick escape from the high street hurly-burly.

Take your ease over our Christmas menu in the tearooms, or combine lunch and a gardener guided walk on one of our special events. If you drop in at the Pavilion you can leave a memento of your hopes and dreams for for 2018 on our special Wish Tree…and pause to read some of the moving, and funny, wishes left by others.

Kids will love the popular Elves’ Workshop. Drop in at the Old Mill in the Dell and make Christmas crafts with our band of Bodnant elves, followed by toasted marshmallows by the roaring brazier outside. There’s hot food in our special marquee in The Dell at weekends too, where children can have a go at decorating Christmas cookies.

Sandy Hughes

The National Trust Gift shop and our neighbours at Bodnant Garden Centre offer a huge range of Christmas ideas, from cards, decorations and gifts to plants, as well as Christmas trees and wreaths (you might even bump into Santa.) What’s more there’s a unique collection of local arts and crafts products at Bodnant Craft Centre, from jewellery, paintings, ceramics and furniture.

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And of course there’s a big beautiful garden to explore; you can bring your dogs every day from November until the end of March too.

We’re open all year-round (apart from Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day). We hope you’ll join us – every visit helps us look after Bodnant Garden #ForeverForEveryone, so your support will certainly make our Christmas!

Elves’ Workshops: November 25/26, December 2/3, December 8/9 and December 16/17 from 11am – 2.30pm (£3 drop-in event, booking not required)
Santa’s Grotto: Pop along to our neighbours at Bodnant Garden Centre and see Father Christmas, on December 2/3, December 9/10, December 16/17 and 23rd from 11am – 2pm (£3 donation per child, proceeds to charity)
Winter walk and tea: Wednesday, December 6 from 11am, a guided walk with a gardener followed by afternoon tea in the Pavilion (£19.95 per person, call to book)
Birds of Bodnant Walk: Friday, December 8, 11am (free, please book)
Winter walk and lunch: Wednesday, December 13, a guided walk with the head gardener at 11am followed by a two course Christmas lunch in the Pavilion (£25.95pp, call to book)
Festive dessert tasting evening: Friday, December 15, sample puddings created by our chef in the Pavilion (£24.95 pp, call to book)

All details on our website www.nationaltrust.orh.uk/bodnant-garden

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It’s going to be a cracker of a Christmas at Bodnant this year, with more than ever to see and do during the festive season. We’ve joined forces with our neighbours Bodnant Garden Centre to make Christmas 2014 a spectacular seasonal event.

Enjoy frosty garden walks in the garden, shopping at the garden centre (which now includes a new Edinburgh Woollen Mill) and craft units, bring the children to meet Santa and the elves and top the day off with Christmas fare – from a sit-down turkey lunch to al fresco chestnuts and mulled wine.

Bodnant Garden is now open all year-round (apart from Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day with 80 acres of frosty winter landscape to enjoy, including a Winter Garden. Every weekend through December in the run up to Christmas visitors can enjoy guided winter walks with a gardener and, for the kids, an Elves’ Workshop in the Old Mill in The Dell. Visitors can also bring their dogs for a walk on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through the winter.

There will be hot lunches at the two garden tearooms plus al fresco refreshments in front of a roaring brazier in the Dell, a barbecue in the garden centre and a roasted chestnut stall. Visitors can also do some Christmas shopping in the new National Trust Gift shop.

Bodnant Garden Centre (seen above) has a huge range of Christmas ideas for shoppers, from cards, decorations and gifts to plants, and of course Christmas trees and wreaths. There will be a chance to do some late night shopping on Friday, December 19, and Santa will also be popping in to the grotto every weekend in December up to Christmas. A big new addition to the site is the Edinburgh Woollen Mill – perfect for those winter woollies! What’s more there’s a unique collection of local arts and crafts products at Bodnant Craft Centre, from jewellery, paintings, ceramics and furniture.