Gemma 
Hello again!
Contrary to what the name of this blog suggests, I have (on occasion) been known to leave my house and venture out into the Real World. Shock! Horror! Surprise! Few things can entice me to do this, but an evening filled with Christmas lights, hot drinks and even toasted marshmallows (!) is definitely one of them. Enter: Christmas at Stourhead, a Christmas light trail at a National Trust property in Wiltshire (coincidentally: the setting of Mr Darcy’s first (ill-fated) proposal to Elizabeth in the 2007 version of Pride and Prejudice! This, obviously, was the main reason I both found out about Christmas at Stourhead and decided to go). The following photo is my desperate attempt to get a photo of the Temple of Apollo, which is where the scene was filmed!
Yeah… the darkness may have been conducive to a light trail, but it was not so good for getting me my fangirl’s photo of the far-away temple (note: much to my disappointment, this was the closest the trail got you to the temple).
Anyway, today, I thought I would share some pictures from our trip! We went at the end of November, just as the trail was opening, and booked an early-ish slot (5pm), in the hopes that it would be relatively quiet. We were right! While there were still a good few groups walking the trail, there was no queue to enter. The trail was also quite spread out, so we very rarely felt like we were being shepherded along.
The lights themselves were beautiful! My favourite was the Tunnel of Light (pictured above). Each of the lights was a tiny flower up close!
Aren’t they pretty?! The trail was split up into sections, with a different light display in each one. There was a lot of red light, which did, admittedly, feel a bit ominous in some places, but looked stunning in others, such as this hanging poppy showcase:
Even the trees had been illuminated for the occasion- these stars were a particular highlight for me!
Coincidentally, these stars were found just after the marshmallow toasting station, which was another highlight of the trail. You purchase a marshmallow on a stick (it does cost extra, but it really was worth it), which you then take to one of the fire pits to toast. Super delicious! This could get a bit messy though, particularly if you have children- you might want to pack some wipes, just in case! Unfortunately, the only picture I have of said marshmallows also features me, doing an extremely accurate impression of a T-Rex devouring its prey. I will, of course, not be sharing that!
Marshmallows were not the only snacks you could pick up around the trail- there were plenty of kiosks and stalls selling snacks, hot drinks and meals. This stall was by far the coziest, prettiest one of all- it sold a variety of hot and alcoholic drinks. I think it was called The Box. Both the mulled wine and the hot chocolate were delicious: lovely and warming to sip as you walked around the trail. A quick side note: there are multiple kiosks selling hot chocolate throughout the trail- this one is a good bit of the way around! If you can hold out, I definitely recommend waiting to buy your hot chocolate here. It sells Hotel Chocolat hot chocolate for £4, whereas the other kiosks all seemed to sell Cadbury’s instant stuff for the same price!
This final picture shows one of the later instalments of the trail, which I thought was so original and unusual that I just had to show you!
Isn’t it cool?
Anyway, that was my trip to Christmas at Stourhead 2022. I have to say, I really loved it! I’m so glad I ventured out of my house for it, as it was a lovely, christmassy experience. Have you ever been? Or have you been to a different Christmas light trail? Let me know!
Gemma
xxx
