Best winter city breaks

Best winter city breaks

Lisbon, Portugal

Sweet aromas of roast chestnuts fill the air in the Portuguese capital from 11 November (St Martin’s Day). Grab a paper cone and wander the steep, cobbled streets, joining locals in corner kiosks as they shot cherry liqueur (ginja). Warming snacks include O Trevo’s suckling pig rolls and The Bifanas of Afonso’s paprika-laced pork bifana. Get cosy in a taverna for hearty stews and rice dishes or make a reservation for contemporary plates and wine flights at popular Prado. The technicolour designs of Conserveira de Lisboa’s tinned fish make pretty stocking fillers to take home for loved ones, as do pastéis de nata scented lip balms and hand creams from Lisbon beauty brand Benamôr. For more unique gift ideas and festivities, Rossio Square comes to life in December with wooden huts in its Christmas market, as does the old Campo Pequeno bull ring, that hosts exclusively Portuguese artisans between 30 November-4 December.

Where to stay: In the ancient Alfama district in cobbled Campo das Cebolas, AlmaLusa Alfama boasts views of the Tagus River. The 25-room boutique hotel breathes life into a mustard yellow 12th-century building, offering friendly service, elegant design and a commitment to Portuguese products (think handwoven blankets, artisan ceramics and Benamôr toiletries). Ground floor Mediterranean-style café bar Delfina is a popular spot for breakfasts of mini custard tarts, local cheese and charcuterie, as well as port-laced cocktails and elevated Portuguese tapas dishes later in the day.

Doubles from £198, check availability at booking.com, expedia.co.uk or almalusahotels.com/alfama

Milan, Italy

Festivities kick off officially in the northern Italian design capital on 7 December with the feast of Sant’Ambrogio. Time your visit over this weekend to join the Italian national holiday, Ponte, when the Christmas markets scattered around the city add extra vibrancy. Twinkling lights and festive window displays make shopping on Via Monte Napoleone particularly magical. Grab an espresso at Marchesi 1824 then build your own Italian gourmet hamper to send home at Pasticceria Cova Montenapoleone 1817 – think panettone, biscotti and pralines. Drink to the season at iconic Camparino in Galleria for a negroni in the shadows of the impressive duomo. The canal district makes pleasant mooching ground before lunch at neighbourhood favourite Trattoria Madonnina – must-order classics include veal Milanese and saffron-laced risotto.

Where to stay: The four-bedroom LaFavia guesthouse, an urban hideaway tucked inside a refurbished 19th-century building, takes its inspiration from owners Fabio and Marco’s travels: no two rooms are the same. Start the day with breakfast in the rooftop garden or on a pretty tray delivered to your room – eggs cooked to order, pastries, cakes, bread, homemade jams, fruit and juice squeezed from oranges grown in the owners’ citrus grove.

Check rates and availability at lafaviamilano.com

Jerez, Spain

It’s a wonder that the home of sherry isn’t already a go-to destination at this time of year, considering its sweet, nutty wines are synonymous with Christmas. The city comes alive during the festive season, with flamenco-filled street parties called zambombas. These begin at the start of December until Christmas Eve and are best experienced at Ruta de los Tabancos, where tapas and sherry flow freely, including amontillado served straight from the barrel. Make sure to try the next-level Cádiz-style chicharrón, slow-roasted pork belly seasoned with paprika and lemon juice, served on traditional papel de estraza (brown paper). Peruse Jerez's Mercado Central that bursts with festive treats, including pestiños (honey pastries) and brandy de Jerez, that are perfect for Christmas gifting. Visit Bodegas González Byass – home of the legendary Tío Pepe – where the cooling temperatures bring a more intimate experience for tasting fino, amontillado and palo cortado in the soleras. Head to one of Jerez’s smallest but most revered sherry bodegas, Bodegas Tradición, where you can taste old and rare sherries (including a 1975 oloroso añada) surrounded by masterpieces of Spanish art and ceramics painted by an eight-year-old Picasso.

Where to stay: Astuto Boutique is hidden down a cobblestoned side street, where its pool and gardens offer a laid-back haven from the city, with it being fenced by a 12th-century Islamic wall. Its bright, pared-back rooms are intimate yet cosy. But the real gem is hidden on the rooftop, where you can enjoy 360-degree views of the entire old town with live music on the weekends.

Doubles from £71, check rates and availability at booking.com, expedia.co.uk or astutoboutique.com

Bath, England

Shop the Christmas market (28 November – 15 December) with more than 170 independent, sustainable retailers offering everything from baked goods to drinks and more. Don't miss the ice skating at Bath on Ice. If you're in Bath for the weekend, start the day at small but thoughtfully formed Landrace Bakery and choose from the counter heaving with fresh-from-the-oven Eccles cakes and cinnamon buns. Stroll up through the stunning Circus crescent to Berdoulat, an impeccably restored grade-II listed food emporium complete with over 50 spices from the jar, shelves of small-batch wines and a concession from Frome’s Rye Bakery. Amble back down into town, via the sweeping grandeur of the Royal Crescent, to browse the market stalls. For lunch, unpretentious The Scallop Shell offers hake in crisp batter with proper ‘chippie’ chips. Around the corner is contemporary tea house Comins Tea, a serene spot to while away an hour or so making your way through its single estate teas. For dinner, try OAK’s exceptional meat-free feast in a little alcove with views of an unseen angle of Bath Abbey.

Where to stay: Hotel Indigo is a honey-hued Georgian terrace, a stone’s throw from the markets and city festivities. Unwind after a day out with barrel-aged negronis in The Elder’s cosy rooms, decked with plush red leather stools and panelled walls painted a deep-sea green.

Doubles from £107, check rates and availability at booking.com, expedia.co.uk or bath.hotelindigo.com

Berlin, Germany

Its boulevards are dotted with designer shops, and when the iconic Kurfürstendamm is dressed to the hilt in Christmas lights, Berlin’s City West district is as glitzy as shopping destinations get. At the fabulous KaDeWe department store the decorations are so bling that they alone would make the visit worthwhile. You’ll also find hip boutiques and design shops in City West, many of them in Bikini Berlin, a concept mall with pop-ups, cafés, bars and food stalls – and Vitra & Artek plying modernist kitchen accessories. Then there’s Käthe Wohlfahrt, Berlin’s largest dedicated Christmas store. Head to the area around Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church for roasted almonds, hot chocolate and mulled wine as you browse the City West Christmas Market, or pop to Markthalle Neun for your pick of food stalls.

Where to stay: The Waldorf Astoria Berlin, towers over the city. Enjoy views that reach from the Brandenburg Gate to what was once East Berlin and its iconic TV Tower. Rooms and suites are decorated in peacefully subtle hues, some with balconies. The hotel’s main restaurant, Les Solistes (there are also four other restaurants and bars), is under the direction of Pierre Gagnaire and combines traditional French cooking techniques with local ingredients. Head chef Roel Lintermans' menus include hare served three ways – roast saddle, civet à la royale (stew) and pie with plum paste. Don’t miss the grand dessert, a selection of Gagnaire’s five favourite puds, from coconut milk dotted with tapioca pearls to passion fruit fudge. And, if you’re there over New Year, head upstairs to the hotel’s 15th-floor Library Lounge for views of Berlin’s fireworks.

Doubles from £262, check rates and availability at hilton.com or booking.com

Bordeaux, France

This city’s robust signature dishes, rib-sticking entrecôte cooked in red wine, butter, shallots, herbs and bone marrow sauce, confit duck and lamprey, come into their own in winter, and it’s an excellent place to shop for foodie stocking fillers. Each year, Bordeaux’s Allées de Tourny is transformed into a Christmas market with wooden huts and stalls selling local gifts, many of them food-related. Stock up on canelés from Baillardran, and don’t miss Maison Darricau for handmade chocolates peppered with honey and spices. For dinner, find rustic regional cooking (roast rib of black pig, beautifully pink lamb) and a great local wine list at La Tupina.

Where to stay: Twenty minutes’ drive from Bordeaux, Les Sources de Caudalie is the epitome of French country chic. There’s a stone manor house at its heart, a small lake, and a hard-working kitchen garden, plus a hamlet-like extension of suites. Great food and wine are the focus at this gastronomic getaway, but even the finest dining (the hotel’s main restaurant, La Grand’Vigne, holds two Michelin stars) is done without fuss. The newer, cabin-like suites (designed to reflect the oyster fishermen’s huts of Cap Ferret, in the nearby Arcachon Basin), with their whitewashed timber walls, retro-influenced furniture and spa-like bathrooms, are the ones to splash out on; in the evenings you’ll be serenaded by frogs as you return to your room along flower- and water-lined pathways. In the mornings, step onto your private terrace and watch carthorses ploughing the vines just outside.

Doubles from £272, check availability at booking.com or mrandmrssmith.com

Helsinki, Finland

Head to Finland's seaside capital for a winter getaway filled with rye bread, cured fish and street food. At Christmas, the Helsinki Christmas market has more than 100 stalls and a daily visit from Santa Claus. Start your day with voisilmäpulla, a Finnish twist on a cinnamon bun, baked with a knob of butter in the middle with cardamom sugar that melts in the oven. Café Success dates back to 1957 and is the perfect spot to enjoy a comforting bowl of lohikeitto, a creamy salmon soup topped with mountains of fresh dill. Alternatively, go for breakfast and knock back a Finnish coffee and a korvapuusti cinnamon roll.

Where to stay: Located majestically amid the design district, the elegant Hotel Lilla Roberts embraces a cosy feel. A wooden fireplace crackles beside a wall of birch logs, and leather chairs are perfectly placed to watch hip passers-by. Bedrooms come with cosy fur blankets, plush rugs on parquet flooring and velvet armchairs in deep plums, mustard yellows and teals. Funky touches such as elephant lamps, zebra print throws and monochrome vases tie in with the glamorous feel, and bathrooms are stocked with Neal’s Yard toiletries. The hotel bar, Bar Lilla E, is a destination in itself for those in the know on Helsinki’s hip cocktail route. The dramatically spot-lit wooden bar (it just happens to sit next to a crackling fire) makes a stylish backdrop to a menu of Nordic-inspired cocktails.

Doubles from £145, check rates and availability at booking.com or lillaroberts.com

Winchester, England

Known for its historic college and cathedral, Winchester and its surrounding villages are becoming something of a culinary hotbed. The cathedral grounds are transformed over the Christmas season, with the Christmas market running from Friday 22 November to Sunday 22 December. For hotspots beyond the market, The Yard in the Candover Valley is a stunning working farm with a café that offers gourmet brioche buns and toasties, with coffee from on-site roastery Moon Roast. Academy is a coffee ‘laboratory’ which serves up speciality coffees, showcasing independent producers from around the world. And Cabinet Rooms is a family-run wine bar that serves cheeseboards and sharing platters in the evening to accompany a discerning wine list and seasonal cocktails, like its Montreal negroni and mango-chilli margarita.

Where to stay: Just a short walk from the house Jane Austen once lived in is The Wykeham Arms, an apparent favourite of Colin Firth and Robert Plant. It’s an 18th century coaching inn with beautiful curved, Georgian bow doors, a cosy but bright bar that’s managed to escape modernisation (we loved the tankards hanging from the ceiling) and a separate dining room decorated with wonky framed photos, Persian rugs, gnarled oak chairs and more tankards. It’s easy to imagine Austen in here, scribbling away by one of the original fireplaces.

There are rooms upstairs (including superior doubles with four-poster beds) and it’s a popular place for dinner – book in advance for prettily presented plates of ambitious seasonal food, including tempura oysters with wasabi ice cream; Hampshire ribeye steak; and chicken and pig’s trotter pie with mash and liquor.

Doubles from £152, check rates and availability at booking.com or wykehamarmswinchester.co.uk

Marrakech, Morocco

Souks made for eclectic Christmas gift-buying and usual daytime temperatures of 16-20C make Marrakech an ideal winter getaway. There are plenty of intriguing food stalls to be found among Marrakech’s crowded streets and, after sunset in the main square, Jemaa el-Fna, where pop-up restaurants serve Marrakechi delicacies (sheep’s eyes, anyone?). Fight for a spot on a surrounding roof terrace and watch the stalls set up while you sip a mint tea. At Le Tobsil restaurant in the medina, guests sit on two levels around a courtyard, taking in live gnawa music (blues/Arabic fusion). Book and come hungry for the set menu of aperitifs, endless meze dishes, pastilla, tagine, couscous, fruit, mint tea or coffee, and pastries to finish. In the city’s bakeries, look out for the local special-occasion cake, m’hancha, a coiled ‘snake pastry’ made with almond paste, orange flower water and cinnamon. Take home saffron and spices from the souks, eating street-sellers’ roasted nuts as you go. For something more refined, head to Le Jardin, a courtyard restaurant filled with verdant plants and wildlife – you’ll often find tortoises slowly meandering between tables. Sweet, flakey pigeon pastilla, Moroccan cous cous and whole grilled sardines are must-try dishes. Be sure to book in advance as these tables are highly covetable.

Where to stay: Riad Farnatchi is a luxurious, all-suites hotel – and a welcome oasis from the commotion of Marrakech. Five houses were remodelled (and joined together) to create Riad Farnatchi’s ten luxurious suites. All are gathered around two central courtyards, one of which is home to a small swimming pool, one abundant with orange trees, and each with plenty of private nooks to relax in with a mint tea. The 10 suites vary in size but each one blends Moroccan and European styles, with neutral white and stone-coloured walls and eye-catching black and white tiling. Book suite 10 and you’ll also have a walk-in shower, a marble-topped bath and your own roof terrace.

There is no minibar, nor tea and coffee-making facilities, but obliging staff are on call to deliver whatever you fancy, often accompanied by traditional sweets or biscuits. Breakfast can be taken anywhere throughout the hotel and includes a menu of eggs alongside fresh fruit and traditional homemade breads. The hotel restaurant Le Trou au Mur offers international dishes alongside refined versions of dishes that would be found in traditional Moroccan homes. Many restaurants in Marrakech are understandably dry, but Le Trou Au Mur is not one of them. Morocco also has a burgeoning wine scene – something the team there has embraced. The menu offers a range of local wines by the glass or bottle, with staff on hand to talk you through the selection.

Suites from £298 per night, check availability at booking.com or mrandmrssmith.com

Boston, America

Boston delivers a mix of history, culture and charm with a buzzing modern food scene, and is magical in December. Boston is known for oyster bars and one of the oldest and most famous is Union Oyster House. Grab a cosy booth or get right in on the action at the raw bar where expert shuckers will prepare half a dozen to order and pour you pints brewed for the restaurant. Head to Quincy Market Food Colonnade, the largest covered food hall in New England, with 32 stalls selling everything from clam chowder and lobster rolls to pizza, Philly cheesesteaks and enchiladas. Work it off ice-skating on nearby Boston Common under the lights of the famous giant Boston Christmas tree.

Where to stay: The boutique XV Beacon hotel is located in a beautiful Beaux Arts building in the redbrick neighbourhood of Beacon Hill. Inside, there’s a serene, old-school glamour with polished wood and tiled floors in the lobby area, and 63 bedrooms luxuriously fitted with cosy, open-flame gas fires, four-poster beds, cashmere throws and crisp Frette linen. Hotel restaurant Mooo is popular with locals as well as guests. It’s all about the steaks (hence the name) with 13 cuts and sizes expertly grilled and served with roast garlic and bone marrow butter, and sides such as whipped potatoes, truffled parmesan fries and Maine lobster mac ‘n’ cheese.

Check rates and availability at mrandmrssmith.com or xvbeacon.com

Vienna, Austria

Head to Vienna for sachertorte, schnitzel and strudel galore. In winter, the palaces throughout the city look extra beautiful lit up on dark evenings with twinkling fairy lights. Christmas markets are found across the city, in the grounds of every palace and square. Spend a long weekend visiting them all, keeping warm with mulled wine and hot, crispy potato pancakes. Another must-try traditional treat perfect for winter indulging is kaiserschmarrn: a thick, shredded pancake with almonds and raisins, flambéed with Austrian rum and served with homemade apple or plum compote. Traditionally made and served in a large pan, it’s the perfect dessert to share in a group, whether in a chalet or fine restaurant.

Where to stay: Enter the plush Grand Ferdinand Hotel via its statement lobby (go easy past the life-size horse statue) and check into one of its moodily minimal bedrooms. Then, follow your stomach and either swing up to the Limone restaurant, with its panoramic views over the city, or swerve into the hotel’s dedicated schnitzel joint, Meissl & Schadn. The top-floor Limone sits beside a large terrace and lap pool but we recommend heading up at breakfast and loading your plate with Austrian sausages, pickled fish and typical bakes and eating them from the comfort of a floral-patterned armchair looking out across gilded rooftops, intricate domes and palaces.

Doubles from, check rates and availability at booking.com, mrandmrssmith.com or grandferdinand.com

Copenhagen, Denmark

Experience cosy hygge vibes alongside Copenhagen cool in the Danish capital. Wrap up warm for walks through the colourful Nyhavn district and head to the famous Tivoli Gardens after dark for fairy-lit fairground rides. The Broens ice rink in the heart of the city is surrounded by street food stalls for warming up after a spin. Elsewhere, Meyers Bageri is a must visit for snegls – a take on a cinnamon bun, which is more buttery and topped with thick chocolate. For a weekday brunch, head to the aptly named Granola for a breakfast plate of golden pancakes, muesli, chopped fruit, yogurt, almond cake and whipped chocolate spread. And don’t leave before paying a visit to Lidkoeb – a stylish yet cosy cocktail bar with its own whisky den.

Where to stay: For a primer on mid-century Danish design that’s almost as good as a trip to Copenhagen’s Design Museum, book a room at stylish Hotel Alexandra. The hotel owner has curated pieces built in Denmark in the 1950s and ‘60s, so the bedrooms’ wooden floorboards and large windows form the perfect backdrop to a collection of rattan headboards, graphic turquoise armchairs and wooden writing desks. The stylish lobby area doubles up as an all-day hangout, with an honesty bar, complimentary wine hour and a record player ready to play the hotel’s selection of vinyl. In the morning, head down to connected bistro Godtfolk and create your own breakfast wheels from the continental buffet laid out in the conservatory – dill gravadlax, Danish sausages, holey cheeses and slices of seeded, malty rye.

Doubles from £108, check rates and availability at booking.com or hotelalexandra.dk

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