Ideas for the perfect Harrogate winter getaway

North Yorkshire is the perfect place to take a mini-break and winter is a time when this area really comes into its own.

With cosy luxury accommodation, festive events, and feel-good food, Harrogate is a great stay for a girlie retreat, a family jaunt or a romantic weekend.

To give you inspiration when booking your next trip here, we’ve noted down some ideas to make your getaway even more special…

Pick the perfect accommodation

When it comes to choosing where to stay, the 5-star accommodation near Harrogate offers many different options.

Harrogate town centre itself is home to many wonderful places to check-in, or you can venture a little further out of town, giving you access to stunning scenery and idyllic vistas of the Yorkshire Dales.

You can pick from lovely big hotels with spas, small & quirky B&Bs with character, or choose to stay in an exclusive private hire venue if you are travelling with a larger group. Here at Grassfield Hall, we offer both B&B weekday stays, as well as full venue hire over weekends for up to 16 people, so you can select what suits you best.

Eat, drink and be merry

Winter food is all about comfort and warmth, and when you visit Harrogate, you can be sure that your tastebuds are in for a real treat!

In town, you will find a host of restaurants, offering a variety of cuisines, and the most wonderful thing is that the majority of them are independent. FISK is great for sustainably sourced seafood with Asian inspiration, while William & Victoria is Harrogate’s longest-running wine bar and perfect for a cosy meal with friends. There are lots of quaint little pubs to pop into including The Montpellier, The Old Bell Tavern, and The Fat Badger, and no visit to Harrogate would be complete without a Fat Rascal from Betty’s Tea Rooms!

Further out into the Dales, our favourite local country eats are Olleys Italian in Pateley Bridge, The Sportsman’s Arms at Wath and Grassington House in Grassington.

Walking and cycling

When you’ve indulged in the best food and drink, you might fancy a little hike or a cycle to burn some of it off!

Luckily, you are spoilt with great walks and cycle routes in Harrogate and its surrounding areas. In fact, Harrogate is a melting pot for keen cyclists, who flock here to spend the day cycling around Pateley Bridge, Nidderdale, and Brimham Rocks, before popping into one of the cycling cafés in town when they are finished.

The Nidderdale Way is also a very popular hike for many of our guests here at Grassfield Hall, and a great achievement to complete. The 53-mile roundtrip is usually spread over four days and offers incredible scenery and a great chance to explore the delightful villages of Middlesmoor and Ripley too.

Check out the festive events

This year, Harrogate is putting on a real festive show. Already, kids (and big kids) are enjoying the carousel, helter-skelter, and Ferris wheel that are dotted around the town. And, this Friday, the Christmas Fayre arrives in town with over 50 festive traders and independent foodie stalls.

There will also be a festive market in the gorgeous Valley Garden from 4th-5th December, and a free festive train will be travelling around the town until the 12th December to ensure you don’t miss a thing!

Out of town, you can see a stunning display of Christmas illuminations at the Enchanted Forest at Stockeld Park or visit Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal for a winter walk followed by a big mug of hot chocolate!

 

We hope we’ve tempted you enough to book a last-minute winter break to Harrogate or the surrounding areas! And, if you want to find out our availability for B&Bs or venue private hire over the next few weeks or months, then please get in touch via info@grassfield-hall.co.uk and we will get back to you asap.

 

 

 

How to create a stylish Christmas dinner table décor

With just over six weeks to go until the big day, chances are you will have already decided how you are going to spend it this year.

For those of you who are hosting friends and family at your home, we know it can be a pretty stressful time – deciding who to invite, what to cook, where to seat everyone and how you are going to decorate your space!

Here at Grassfield Hall, we are great lovers of beautiful table décor, and the festive season gives us the chance to be really fun and creative with our displays. Therefore, in order to make things a little easier for you, we have put together a little list of tips and ideas to help you make this year’s Christmas dinner table sparkle like never before…

Choose your colour palette

Deciding on your colour scheme is a good starting point. There are many ideas available to consider – whether you want to stick to a traditional colourway or choose something a little more contemporary.

You could give your dining table some Nordic charm using crisp shades of white and silver. In this theme, you can add homely highlights with ceramics and candles and bring it all together with the gleam of clear glass, silver cutlery and natural wood serving utensils.

If you are a fan of the traditional red and white, then you could use striped ribbon to tie decorations to guests’ chairs and dress the table with a red and white striped cloth. Red placemats with gingham check napkins give a nod to the festive trend, and team with white tableware with green and red decoration and cranberry-coloured glassware.

For something a little more modern, you could opt for a blue-base colour scheme this year. Mix in some rose gold metallics and soft velvet in midnight jewel tones for an effortless yet luxurious Christmas table setting to impress your guests. Inky indigo tableware also contrasts perfectly with warm copper, so you could choose this metal type for your cutlery set, candle bases and coasters to complete the look.

Welcome the outside in

Wintertime offers us a selection of beautiful, natural foliage that can help you to connect with nature as well as create a cosy and welcoming atmosphere at your dinner table.

Bring gathered greenery to your table made into simple arrangements such as string-clustered bundles of holly, mistletoe or sweetly scented winter herbs and foliage tied with garden twine. Alternatively, you could use small potted plants or succulents around the table, or thoughtfully placed sprigs on place settings to tie in further elements of nature at the table.

To further embrace the beauty of nature, you could opt for seasonal fruits to help add a touch of colour to place settings. Try pairing the soft green tones of your foliage with dark berries, burnt orange clementines or deep red cranberries arranged at the side of plates or glasses.

Create a centrepiece

If you want your Christmas table to have a real impact, then a centrepiece is always a good idea.

Begin with a table runner as a base, and then layer up your look by adding various levels to your table setting. For a more traditional centrepiece add holly, baubles, ribbons, pine cones and tea lights to your central garland. Or, for a more modern look, use fresh flowers, teamed with battery-powered tea lights inside clear glass baubles, and perhaps some sprinkles of metallic confetti.

Take your centrepiece to new festive heights with candles of varying sizes and lengths, and also perhaps glass jars of various sizes filled with tempting sweet treats such as candy canes, homemade gingerbread and macaroons.

Add personal touches

A little goes a long way when it comes to personalising your Christmas table.

So, this year why not make your own crackers? Not only will you save on budget and waste, but you can personalise your crackers to each individual guest – selecting them a gift that you know they will love or that will make them laugh! Simply place a treat inside a cardboard roll, wrap crepe paper or even fabric scraps around, then tie the ends with pretty ribbon. You could even write your own jokes inside, neatly jotted in a metallic pen.

Other personal touches could include hand-written name place cards, individual wine glass stem markers or balloons hung on the back of everyone’s chair with their initials on.

We hope you found this guide helpful and now feel more confident about creating your Christmas dining table decor. Remember, here at Grassfield Hall, we have a stunning dining room – The Hanley Room – which is available to hire for private dinners and events. We can also provide chefs, locally-sourced food and staff to look after you and your guests – ensuring you achieve the perfect dinner party atmosphere. Give us a call to check availability for your next dinner party date.