If you’ve decided to spend Christmas away from home, a farm stay in the UK is a wonderful choice. It’s an opportunity to swap the hustle and bustle of everyday life for frosty fields, crisp morning walks, and cosy evenings by the fire in a beautiful rural setting.
And choosing a traditional farmhouse, historic cottage, or a beautifully converted barn, means you’ll have the perfect backdrop for a memorable family Christmas with exposed beams, original period features, and inglenook fireplaces that make the festive season feel even more magical.
Of course, if you’re spending Christmas somewhere new, there’s a good chance a small voice will eventually ask: “How will Santa know where we are?”
The good news is that it’s a question with a very simple answer.
Santa has been delivering presents for hundreds of years, so he’s become rather good at finding children wherever they happen to be on Christmas Eve.
Whether you’re at home, staying with grandparents, or enjoying a festive farm holiday, he always seems to know exactly where to go. In fact, thousands of children spend Christmas away from home every year, and Santa has never missed a delivery yet.
We’re in the middle of nowhere!
To children, a farmhouse tucked away at the end of a country lane can feel a world away from home.
To Father Christmas, it’s simply another stop on his Christmas Eve journey.
If anything, the peaceful countryside makes his job even easier. With dark skies, quiet lanes, and wide, open fields, there’s plenty of space for his sleigh to fly overhead and land before Rudolph guides it safely on to its next destination.
A real fire is all part of the magic of Christmas.
Santa has been visiting homes with open fires for centuries so he knows exactly what he’s is doing. By bedtime, the fire will have burnt down to glowing embers, leaving the fireplace safe and ready for a very special visitor later that night.
Farm animals are used to quiet, peaceful nights but won’t mind a little Christmas magic passing overhead. Most will already be tucked up in bed by the time Santa arrives, although the sheep might catch the faint jingle of sleigh bells drifting across the fields, the cows may glance up for a moment before settling back down, while an owl out on its nightly hunt will almost certainly spot something unusual – but will never tell.
It’s one of those wonderful Christmas mysteries that only the animals truly know.
Wherever feels right. By the fireplace, at the end of the bed, or on the bedroom door, Santa somehow always knows whose stocking belongs to whom.
Every family has its own special traditions, and Christmas away from home is a wonderful opportunity to create some new ones.
A few simple traditions can make Christmas Eve at your farm stay feel even more magical.
If your children are feeling a little uncertain about being away from home, encourage them to write a note to Santa explaining where they’re staying. He certainly won’t need the directions, but it can help little ones feel reassured.
Before bedtime, wrap up warm and step outside together for a few minutes. Away from the bright lights of towns and cities, the night sky comes alive with hundreds of stars. And if you’re very lucky, you might even catch sight of a bright light disappearing across the fields …
You could also make some reindeer food. Simply mix 100g of rolled oats with a couple of tablespoons of wild bird seed and a teaspoon of biodegradable edible glitter, then sprinkle it outside the front door. It’s a little treat for Santa’s hardworking reindeer while he drops off the presents and helps guide them to your holiday cottage.
Don’t forget to leave a mince pie for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph by the fireplace or beneath the Christmas tree before everyone heads to bed.
Finally, why not borrow a festive tradition from Iceland? On Christmas Eve, families exchange books to read while enjoying a hot chocolate. The quiet time away from screens with a warm drink should also help excited children sleep that bit better.
For many families, Christmas Eve at a farm stay will be their first evening there. After travelling, unpacking, and settling in, the last thing parents need is the pressure of preparing a perfect dinner.
You could take some inspiration from Germany, where families traditionally enjoy a simple Christmas Eve meal of sausages and potato salad.
Or look to Sweden and create your own Christmas Eve buffet, known as a julbord? Although pickled herrings and sour cabbage may not be on the menu, for your own version try easy finger foods that children can help prepare, such as a board of local cheeses and crackers, sliced meats, bread rolls, vegetable sticks, dips, cocktail sausages, smoked salmon, fruit, gingerbread men, and chocolate fudge. Little hands can help arrange the plates, fill bowls, and decorate the table, making the meal feel like part of the Christmas Eve celebration.
Add a few festive scented candles, cosy jumpers, and plenty of mulled wine, and your first evening in the countryside can become one of the most memorable parts of your Christmas.
Years from now, your children probably won’t remember exactly which presents they unwrapped that Christmas.
But they’ll remember waking up in a farmhouse surrounded by fields, pulling back the curtains to a frosty morning, wondering whether they could hear sheep outside, collecting a still-warm egg for breakfast (which can make them just as giddy with delight as opening a gift) and knowing – without a shadow of a doubt – that Santa had found them.
And that’s the real magic of a Christmas farm stay.
Browse our collection of family-friendly farm stays that are all perfect for Christmas with a tree, decorations, and twinkly lights as standard. Many of them are dog friendly too so your four-legged companion won’t miss out on the fun.
