Chatsworth at Christmas 2022

Chatsworth at Christmas 2022

My partner and I recently visited the Chatsworth at Christmas 2022 event with my partner, and I want to share my thoughts with you about the Chatsworth House Christmas.

Disclaimer: I love Christmas and everything about Christmas.

A long weekend in Derbyshire

Because we booked Chatsworth at Christmas 2022 we decided to make it a long weekend by staying in Biggin, Derbyshire. We rented a cottage with Airbnb. The surroundings were beautiful and great views from the cottage.

I have heard a lot of negative things about Airbnb, but our experiences so far have been great and at worse satisfactory.

Biggin is very close to some of the beauty spots in Derbyshire, a couple of our favourite places to visit Ilam and Bakewell.

Ilam steppingstones

If you are ever in Derbyshire, then Ilam is a place you must visit. Ilam it is the place of the river Dove, stepping stones and long walks. The river Dove separates Derbyshire from Staffordshire, so depending on which side of the river you walk on you could be in Derbyshire or Staffordshire.

During our stay, I walked the trail from Ilam National Trust car park to Milldale village so that I could also see the Doveholes. Millvale’s name reminded me of something out of the Hobbit, but the houses of course were larger.

About 30 minutes into my walk I started asking people how far it was to Milldale and the answer I got every time was ‘It’s about a 10-minute walk’ about an hour later I arrived. I am not a walker and when I arrived, I was shattered and need refreshment. 

Fortunately, Milldale had a house that opened up as a tuck shop and so I bought a latte, a cheese and onion pasty, a Mars bar and a can of Doctor Pepper. I have never tasted a pasty like it, the pasty wasn’t that special, but I was so hungry and shattered it tasted like the best pasty ever at that time and the energy it gave me was unbelievable.

I sat by the river, which had a millstone in the river close to the bank that a young boy was playing on. Once I had finished my pasty, latte, and Mars bar I headed back along the trail to the car park in Ilam. 

If you are in Derbyshire a visit to Ilam is a must, just for the stepping stones. If you enjoy the challenge of a walk then walk the trail to Milldale and back, it is great fun no matter the weather.

Getting to Chatsworth House and the cost

We made our way to Chatsworth House by car, which was about an 18-minute drive through some of the most beautiful countrysides in the country. We also drove through the market town of Bakewell, famous for its delicious Bakewell Puddings, not to be confused with Bakewell Tart, which isn’t as good as the pudding.

The price for two adults to get into Christmas at Chatsworth was around £59.00, which at the time was around $71.00. I also did gift aid on that, and for doing that I did get an £8.00 ($9) voucher to spend in the shop or café. Which bought my partner and me two coffees and a piece of Tiffin.

I would say that Christmas at Chatsworth experiences was worth the money and also it is good to know that by paying that you are helping to preserve a little bit of British history.

Chatsworth at Christmas Theme

Chatsworth at Christmas 2022 had a Nordic theme, I knew that because it said so in the advertisement. To be honest, I wouldn’t have known if it was a Nordic theme or not, I would have thought that it was a traditional snowy Christmas theme.

At the Chatsworth at Christmas, 2022 there were a great number of Christmas trees in every room we went in.

From what I understand Chatsworth House has 126 rooms, visitors don’t have access to all the rooms but the ones you do have access to are a glimpse into history. In every room, we could go in and view there we at least one Christmas tree, if not more.

Chatsworth House Shop

I enjoyed looking around the Chatsworth House shop, I normally have a look when I visit the National Trust houses or other historical places. obviously, this was a Christmas Themed shop and one thing caught my eye while looking around. That was an illustrated copy of The Christmas Carol. It was beautifully illustrated and had a lovely cover.

A Chrismas carol has been my favourite story since I was a child. I was tempted to buy a copy there and then. I did wait and when I got home I did purchase a copy. I will save it as a Christmas present for myself, but it is such a lovely book I don’t think I will dare to open it just in case I spoil it.

Christmas at Chatsworth 2022 Market

The was a vast array of shops on the grounds of the Christmas market. The grounds had been transformed into a small market with colourful lights, it gave you that Christmassy feeling, even in November.

There were stalls selling food and drinks such as Bratwurst hotdogs, baked potatoes, pizza, and hog roast baguettes and one stall was selling Chinese crispy duck wraps, but at the price of £12 ($14), we decided to give it a miss.

There were stalls also selling handmade toys and crafts like jewellery that was made from real leaves off trees and coated with metal, no two leaves were the same because they had previously grown on trees.

Also, there were a lot of stalls selling Christmas candles, Christmas decorations and even Christmas Gin, I didn’t know there was such a gin.

They also had a London Transport red double-decker bus that had been transformed into a bar. You could buy your drink from the lower deck and if there were spaces you could sit on the upper deck to drink your choice of beverage you purchased.

Chatsworth at Christmas 2022 Illuminated Garden

We waited until it was dark before venturing around the Christmas at Chatsworth illuminated gardens so that we could see the beauty of the lights fully.

The trees in the garden were illuminated with all kinds of lighting, from the usual Christmas lights to laser lighting and a soundscape.

If you look carefully at the picture below you may see a face of a woman, my partner spotted it first and then after she pointed it out I could see it myself. It has been created by the shadow cast by the blue light through the branches of the tree, let me know in the comments if you can see it too.

As I said in my disclaimer that I love Christmas and I do enjoy going to a Christmas market or two. Chatsworth at Christmas 2022 is probably one of the best I have been to, with the variety of attractions, markets and illuminations putting all the others into the shade, except maybe for the Lincoln Christmas market, which is worth a visit too.

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