One of the staples of an amazing Christmas in London, Winter Wonderland is back at Hyde Park for the festive season and it’s better than ever. Here’s a dozen reasons why it might just be the best thing about Christmas in London this year.

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It’s massive

Like, properly huge. I think it might be the size of Andorra. People were getting sponsored to trek from one border to another. In all seriousness, there’s enough to wander round to make your legs tired and keep you occupied for hours, even without the queues (which to be fair, are often massive too).

It’s like a Christmas market

No disrespect to the Christmas market’s on the continent but you have to travel all the way to the continent for them. Instead, you can get all the sights, sounds and – most temptingly – smells of a good old fashioned festive European market in Hyde Park.

And, as an added bonus, there’s a whopping fun fair and a circus next door too.

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All the fun of the fair

Which brings us on to this. It’s a huge funfair with all of the waltzers, rollercoasters, tea cups ghost trains and swingy things you would hope for. And mostly with a Christmassy slant. We had a spin on the waltzer and felt sick for at least the next three hours – something we’re informed is part of the fun, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Food, glorious food

We're not just talking about the odd bratwurst, vats of mulled wine or roasting chestnuts (though they are here in abundance) – Hyde Park Winter Wonderland has just about every kind of food and drink you can imagine and plenty of snug places to sit and eat or drink, including a revolving carousel bar.

We spied crepes, waffles, pies, all manner of fancy burgers and heaps of different spirits to spice up your gluhwein. Naturally, we had a bratwurst. Delicious it was too.

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Skating

It wouldn’t be a winter wonderland without ice skating this rink will be in high demand. Set around a Victorian bandstand, with barriers low enough to cling on to (trust me) and illuminated by more than 100,000 lights, it is really magical. You can’t take your phone or camera on the ice but there are photographers on the ice to take your picture, with the added bonus that they’ll get it in focus, too.


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Family fun

With lots of rides for little people and the family friendly Zippo’s circus, it’s good clean family Christmas fun for all.

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Santa

Yep, he’s here, and by the looks of his beard he is the real deal.

Music

As if cheesy tunes rocking out over the sound system wasn’t sufficient, there’s real life crooners doing their thing too.

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Getting high

If you like heights, there are a good number of rides for you – including one that wafts you around up and down, a set of swings that twirl at a terrifying distance from the ground and a London-Eye-alike big wheel.

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This guy and his bird

No idea. But he rocks.

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Another dimension

We’re used to wandering round in three dimensions. Occasionally we’ve heard of cinemas doing a gimmicky 4-D, but 5-D? Mind blown.

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Roll up, roll up

Right in the middle of the wonderland is a big top, inside of which lives not one but two circuses. There’s the family-friendly Zippo’s Christmas Circus and the more daredevil Cirque Beserk – Adrenaline.

Go to hydeparkwinterwonderland.com