Christmas country houses aren’t just the famous names; this list covers six National Trust houses running full Christmas programmes in December 2026.
The popular version of a country-house Christmas is the best-known house in the county.
Most people miss the National Trust’s lesser-known list. One house has recreated the first Christmas its family spent there in December 1926. One has opened its kitchen and scullery for the first time in over ten years. One has over 50 trees. The dates below come from the Trust’s own pages, and where a page is unclear, this article says so.
Quick Facts
Region: Devon, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Northumberland, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire
Best for: Decorated rooms, short trails and a warm café after a cold walk
Getting there: By car. Attingham sells grounds-only tickets per car, not per person
Time needed: Half a day for each house; Hanbury Hall suggests about three hours
Christmas country houses: Coleton Fishacre, Devon
Coleton Fishacre is at Brownstone Road, Kingswear, Devon, TQ6 0EQ. The National Trust says the D’Oyly Carte family moved into the newly built house in 1926. It has an Arts and Crafts exterior and Art Deco interiors.
This year the house is the party. The Trust’s “Roaring Twenties Christmas” marks 100 years since the family moved in and is set in December 1926. It runs from 11am to 4pm on the weekends of 21 to 22 and 28 to 29 November and 5 to 6 and 12 to 13 December, then daily from 16 December to 3 January, excluding Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The Saloon offers era party games and pop-up Charleston classes on selected dates, led by SwingOut SwingDance and the South West Lindy Hoppers. A hidden bar at the back of the house serves sample cocktails inspired by The Savoy Cocktail Book. Book the classes through the events page.
Read the current notice before you go. After a tree failure on 16 October, the Trust has closed the upstairs of the house, parts of the downstairs servants’ areas and the route to Scout Point. The upstairs guest rooms and photo booth are part of the Christmas offer, so check what has reopened.
Adult admission is £18.00 without Gift Aid, and members enter free. Only assistance dogs are allowed in the house. Dogs on leads are welcome in the garden, shop and café. Beyond these six, our guides cover Nostell Priory, Brodsworth Hall and Chatsworth at Christmas.
Where to Stay: No stay is verified for Coleton Fishacre.
Worth Knowing: Parking is pay-and-display for non-members. The page gives two different figures, £1.30 per hour and £3.60 for three hours, so check before you pay.
Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire
Hanbury Hall is at School Road, Hanbury, Droitwich Spa, WR9 7EA. The Trust says the Vernon family built it in 1701, and Sir James Thornhill painted the original wall paintings, including the Painted Staircase.
“It’s Christmas!” runs from Saturday 28 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, and the property is closed on 24 and 25 December. The theme is a 1970s and 1980s Christmas, with bright colours, tinsel and retro toys. No booking is needed.
The property opens at 9am and the Hall at 10am. The last entry to the Hall is 3.45pm, and the Hall closes at 4pm. The grounds and car park close at 5pm. The Trust suggests allowing about three hours and arriving early or after 2pm on busy weekends.
Normal admission applies, and members go free. Dogs on short leads are welcome in most of the formal gardens, the parkland, the courtyard and the Stables Café. Only assistance dogs are allowed in the Hall.
The Stables Café and Courtyard Kitchen serve gingerbread lattes, hot chocolates, pasties and seasonal bakes.
Thornhill’s paintings on the Painted Staircase are best viewed slowly, with the retro decorations around them.
Where to Stay: Hanbury Lodge is a National Trust cottage at the estate entrance, built in 1840, sleeping three, with an open fire. One dog is welcome.
Worth Knowing: The Trust says the upstairs isn’t wheelchair accessible and offers a video.
Attingham Park, Shropshire
Attingham Park is at Atcham, Shrewsbury, SY4 4TP. The Trust says Noel Hill, 1st Lord Berwick, commissioned the Georgian mansion in 1782, and that John Nash designed the picture gallery.
The Christmas programme runs from 28 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, though one section of the Trust page gives 29 November as the first day, so check before you book. The mansion is closed on Christmas Day. More than 50 decorated Christmas trees fill the mansion and grounds, and the mansion’s theme draws on Italy and Teresa, Lady Berwick.
Entry is by half-hour timed slots, and you can stay until the mansion closes at 4:30pm. Tickets are released in stages, starting on 19 November for 28 November to 6 December. Members must still book. Grounds-only tickets are sold per car, online from 19 November or by phone on 0344 249 1895.
Father Christmas is at Sunnycroft in Wellington this year, not at Attingham, and the Trust says public deer feeding has ended.
Dogs are allowed on leads in outdoor areas except designated off-lead areas, and assistance dogs are welcome in the café, shop, mansion and bookshop.
Where to Stay: West Lodge is a Grade II listed neo-classical lodge at the main entrance, from the 1860s, sleeping three. No dogs are allowed.
Worth Knowing: The Trust says the Mansion Café and Stables Kitchen serve festive food and drinks.
Wallington, Northumberland
Wallington is at Cambo, near Morpeth, NE61 4AR. The Trust says Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, a Socialist MP, and his family once lived there, and that the Blackett family remodelled the estate into the house and grounds you see today.
A 20ft tree stands in the Central Hall. Visitors and local makers made the decorations, with each room using a different material, such as ceramics, embroidery, knitting and floral arrangements.
Hours change weekly, so check the Trust’s page. From 30 November to 6 December, the house is open Monday, Thursday, Friday and weekends and closed Tuesday and Wednesday. From 28 December to 3 January, it is open daily, 11.30am to 3.30pm. The house closes from 4 January. The whole property is closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The house is also closed on 1, 2, 8, 9, 15 and 16 December for bookable events.
These events include a festive afternoon tea from 2pm to 4pm in the Central Hall, with live piano. Book in advance. A wreath-making workshop on 12 and 13 December is £60 per person.
The Clocktower Café serves Christmas food and drink and has a wood burner. The Trust rates Wallington two pawprints, with miles of parkland, woodland trails, and a walled garden.
Where to Stay: Laundry Cottage is in the courtyard at Wallington, sleeps five in three bedrooms and welcomes two dogs.
Worth Knowing: The Trust page lists live music in the Central Hall on weekends from 28 November to 20 December and daily from 27 December to 3 January.
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
Anglesey Abbey is at Quy Road, Lode, Cambridge, CB25 9EJ. The Trust describes a history running “from 12th-century priory to 20th-century home”, and the present house is Jacobean in style. Lord Fairhaven lived there, and the Trust says he curated the statue collection.
From 16 November, six rooms are decorated with a travel theme inspired by Lord Fairhaven’s winter voyages on his family yacht, The Sapphire: the Living Room, Oak Room, Library, Upper Gallery, Tapestry Hall and Dining Room. He collected many of the artworks on display during those trips.
On days other than Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the garden is open 9:30am to 4pm (last entry 3pm), and the house is open 11am to 3:30pm (last entry 3pm). The house is a 10- to 15-minute walk from the visitor centre.
The Trust lists a 3-mile circular winter walk through woodland, tree-lined avenues and the historic gardens, ending at the Winter Garden, planted for scent, texture and colour.
Only assistance dogs are permitted in the house and gardens. Dogs are welcome in the outside area of Redwoods Restaurant, and a dog-walking route on local footpaths starts from the car park.
Where to Stay: No stay is verified for Anglesey Abbey, so check the Trust’s Cambridgeshire holiday listings.
Worth Knowing: Meet Father Christmas visits run on 5 to 6, 12 to 13, and 18 to 22 December at £24.95 per child, including one adult and a gift.
Belton, Lincolnshire
Belton is at Grantham, NG32 2LS. The Trust says the Brownlow family owned the estate for around 300 years and calls the house an exceptional example of Restoration architecture.
The Christmas page says the kitchen and scullery are open to visitors for the first time in over ten years. The house is decorated around the family’s Christmas traditions, with parlour games and a festive feast. Children can search each room for red crackers.
Dates need care. The estate’s main page lists upstairs displays from 28 November to 4 January, with a behind-the-scenes look downstairs from 20 November. The Christmas page’s text still shows the 2025 to 2026 dates: 28 November 2025 to 4 January 2026, with the house open 11am to 3.30pm, last admission at 3pm, and closed on Christmas Day. Confirm the year before you drive.
Dogs on leads are welcome in the gardens, parkland, shops and Stables Café. Only assistance dogs are allowed in the mansion and Conservatory.
The estate page says the house opens only 25% of its rooms on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so check which rooms are open.
Where to Stay: No 1 Belton is a Grade II listed cottage built in 1896, just across the road from the entrance, sleeping six. No dogs are allowed.
Worth Knowing: The Trust says the estate may close at short notice in high winds or extreme weather.
Practical Tips
- Book Attingham Park mansion tickets from 19 November for the first weeks of the programme; members must book too.
- Phone Coleton Fishacre or check its page before you drive, because the upstairs is closed after the 16 October tree failure.
- Read Wallington’s weekly hours, because the house is closed on six December dates for events.
- Check the year on Belton’s Christmas page before you plan, because it still shows 2025-2026 dates.
- Arrive at Hanbury Hall early or after 2pm at weekends, as the Trust advises.
- Only assistance dogs go inside the houses. Check each page for garden and café rules.
Responsible Visiting
Do not touch decorations or furniture, and follow the room stewards. Keep dogs on leads where the Trust asks. Park only in the estate car parks, and use your booked timed slots so rooms don’t get overcrowded.
Reader Q&A
Which of these houses needs booking?
Attingham Park’s mansion needs timed tickets, and members must book. Wallington’s afternoon tea and workshops need advance booking. Hanbury Hall says no booking is needed.
Is Coleton Fishacre’s Christmas still on?
The Trust lists the Roaring Twenties Christmas from 21 November to 3 January, but its upstairs is closed after a tree failure on 16 October. Check before you go.
Are dogs allowed inside?
Only assistance dogs are allowed inside Coleton Fishacre, Hanbury Hall, Anglesey Abbey, and Belton. Attingham welcomes assistance dogs in the mansion. Wallington’s pages give no rule for the house.
Can you take children?
Several houses run a family offer, including a red-cracker search at Belton and a trail at Attingham. Father Christmas is at Wallington and Anglesey Abbey but not at Attingham this year.
Which house is open on Boxing Day?
Wallington is closed on Boxing Day, and Coleton Fishacre is closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Check the other pages.
Do members pay?
Members go free at the houses, but Attingham asks them to book.
Where to Stay
Hanbury Lodge, Hanbury Hall. A cottage at the estate entrance, built in 1840, sleeping three, one dog welcome.
West Lodge, Attingham Park. A neo-classical lodge at the main entrance, sleeping three, no dogs.
Laundry Cottage, Wallington. Three bedrooms in the courtyard, sleeping five, two dogs welcome.
No 1 Belton, Belton. A cottage across the road from the entrance, sleeping six, no dogs.
No stay is verified for Coleton Fishacre or Anglesey Abbey.
The best of these houses are the ones with a party still going on in the rooms when the light goes.
