There are few things better than settling down in front of the TV with a warm drink, some blankets, the Christmas lights twinkling and putting on a festive film. Whether your favourite is Home Alone or the Holiday, there is no denying the cheer and nostalgia that comes from enjoying a great Christmas film. If you’re in agreement, then why not visit the locations of some of the best Christmas films in the run up to the big day? You’d be surprised how many you can find right here in the UK!
As we mentioned the Holiday, let’s start off with that one…
The Holiday
Image: Rural Surrey.
The premise of this film is that two women who are struggling with their love lives decide to swap homes for Christmas. So, Amanda, a high flying Hollywood film producer finds herself in the Surrey countryside and Iris, a newspaper writer heads to an LA mansion.
The cottage itself that Amanda stays in doesn’t actually exist, that’s film trickery, but you can visit the village of Shere in Surrey which is where many of the exteriors were filmed and of course the pub. Some filming also took place in neighbouring Godalming too.
Nativity!
Image: Coventry Cathedral
This charming film about schools hosting a nativity play was mostly improvised by the child actors. The entire thing was shot on location in Coventry and there are plenty of places that you can recognise from the film, including Spon Street.
Love, Actually
Image: Nottinghill, London
As pretty much the entire film takes place in London, it’s no surprise that we’re going to mention areas of London (you can take a Colin style journey overseas if you like, but we won’t be able to tell you much about that). Grosvenor Chapel in Mayfair is the location of the wedding and where Mark turns up with his written message is filmed in Nottinghill – the street is one of the most instagrammed spot in the city. Somerset House is another spot that appears several times in the film and it’s a pretty good place to go at this time of year as the courtyard becomes an ice rink!
