05 December 2025
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The wind carries an icy chill, snowflakes tentatively sway through the air and the long nights beckon you inside. You shelter from the cold inside a century-old pub, warmed by a roaring fire and genuine hospitality. In front of you sits a loved one, perhaps, but more importantly sits a comforting plate of hearty food and a pint of the finest local ale. Welcome to winter in Britain.
Even if hygge takes the headlines, the UK is one of Europe’s best destinations in winter. Its classic inns and country houses offer just the kind of heartwarming quality the season demands, while the countryside peppered with top-quality restaurants and hotels is the perfect place for foodies to recharge their batteries and swap stimulation for relaxation. After all, if you’re going to hibernate, do it in style.
Here are five ways to make your winter warmers a little more special.
1. Rest and Refresh at Traditional Pubs and Inns
Number one on most Brits winter to-do list? Go down the pub. A phenomenon rarely found anywhere else across the globe, a proper pub is made for winter in so many ways. Good pubs often have a working fireplace, perfect for warming body and soul; the decor has a comforting traditionalism; and, above all, classic pub food is rich, hearty and packed with flavour.We’re talking about pies, puddings, steak and chips, sausage and mash – all timelessly comforting dishes that MICHELIN Guide pubs execute with that extra bit of skill and superb ingredients. Take The Cat Inn in West Sussex, for instance, whose steak, mushroom and ale pie particularly impressed our Inspector. What’s more, many country pubs have bedrooms or have turned into fully-fledged boutique hotels, ideal for sheltering from the cold.
Want more pub recommendations? Explore our lists of both the UK’s Prettiest Village Pubs and its Quaint & Quirky Inns.
2. Hole Up in the Finest Hotel-Restaurant Combos
When the temperature is dropping below zero and the pavements are icy, the last thing you want is a long journey between your hotel and dinner plans. Instead, winter is the time to decamp to a complete-package location and embrace the restorative power of doing absolutely nothing except eating, reading and taking a bracing stroll in immaculately kept gardens.The UK is full of such destinations, including grand country houses like Gleneagles, Lucknam Park and Grantley Hall, all of which are home to MICHELIN-Star restaurants. Alternatively, if you’d prefer something more intimate, keep things cosy at a restaurant with rooms like Meadowsweet in Norfolk or Lincolnshire’s Winteringham Fields. And, if you want to taste the very best of British, then there’s always Moor Hall – a Three-MICHELIN-Star restaurant and Two-Key hotel.
Check out our comprehensive guide to MICHELIN-Star hotel restaurants, ideal for winter weekends.
3. Lose Yourself in the Scottish Countryside
Scotland should be right near the top of your winter to-do list. For one, it’s mighty cold, upping the chances of magical snowfall and making roaring fires all the more welcoming. Secondly, its countryside hotel scene is packed with the kind of traditional decor synonymous with cosy British winters – think dark woods, deep colours and possibly some candlelight.You’ll find all of this at the likes of classic country house Glenapp Castle, the exuberantly colourful Glenmorangie House and Cromlix, owned by tennis great Sir Andy Murray. What’s more, most of these hotels hold lavish Hogmanay parties on New Year's Eve, while Burn’s Night (25th January) is an ideal time to experience their charms. After all, what could scream ‘cosy’ more than curling up by the fire with a book of Robert Burns poems in one hand and a wee dram in the other?
Discover all the best hotels in Scotland with our list of MICHELIN Keys.
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4. Unwind in the Lake District’s Lap of Luxury
There are plenty of areas in the English countryside where you can find windswept rural landscapes, the kind of places where the bleaker the weather, the more comforting the hospitality. The North York Moors, in all their Brontë-inspiring wildness, are always a great choice. But for the most enthusiastic foodies among you, the Lake District is surely number one.It famously has more MICHELIN Stars than you can manage in one trip and between them, they offer a range of experiences for different kinds of wintering. The Dog and Gun Inn is perfect for traditional charm, with Star-level cooking still in touch with its pubby roots. Lake Road Kitchen offers snugness too, with its sheepskin-covered chairs, and L’Enclume takes a back-to-nature approach ideal for those trying to disconnect. Finally, The Samling, Forest Side and SOURCE at Gilpin Hotel are all located within MICHELIN-Key hotels for maximum winter comfort.
Learn more about all the MICHELIN-Star restaurants in the Lake District and wider Cumbria.
5. Think Small for Big Rewards
A country house hotel undoubtedly offers plenty of wintery appeal, with grandeur reminiscent of a Downton Abbey Christmas special – yet there’s something about a smaller property that feels infinitely cosier. Plus, Britain’s more minute masterpieces usually come with greater peace and quiet, providing an ideal backdrop for your winter relaxation and digital detoxing.In Kent, Boys Hall comprises just nine individually designed bedrooms, plus an Inspector-approved restaurant and that British winter staple, a pub. Similar charm lies in Artist Residence Oxfordshire, a former farmhouse decorated with the group’s usual quirkiness. And The Collective at Woolsery is less a hotel and more a tiny collection of rooms and cottages spread across one Devon village. No time to escape the city? Beaverbrook Town House hides countryside chic behind a classic London facade.
For more pint-sized stays, check out our list of tiny Key hotels around the world.
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Hero Image: The Victoria pub in Oxshott offers an archetypal UK winter getaway. © Studio Rogue
