On the market: six-bedroom Grade II-listed manor house, three miles from Diss:
£685,000 with Strutt Parker (struttandparker.com).

Chipping Camden, Gloucestershire

Christmas finds the Cotswolds at their inimitable best, nowhere more so than
in Chipping Camden, where festivities kick off with an Enchanted Christmas.
The arrival of Father Christmas is preceded by a traditional brass band, and
local traders turn the picture-postcard high street into a scene straight
out of a Charles Dickens novel.

On the market: the Old Grammar School, a Grade II-listed building on the high
street, combining retail and living accommodation: £895,000 with
Jackson-Stops and Staff (jackson-stops.co.uk).

_{Church of St James and Campden House Lodge in Chipping Campden in the
Cotswolds, Gloucestershire}

Grassington, North Yorkshire

If you have found yourself in the pretty market town of Grassington recently,
and thought the locals looked as if they were stuck in a time warp, it is
because they are. The town’s annual Dickensian Christmas, complete with
traders in period costume, is a shamelessly over-the-top homage to the man
who, more than any other, put flesh on the spirit of Christmas.

On the market: five-bedroom stone-built residence with fabulous views of
Wharfedale: £795,000 with Andrew Hill (andrewhill.co).

Swansea

“Nadolig LLawen!”, as they say in South Wales. Few communities in the
principality enter in the Christmas spirit as wholeheartedly as Swansea. The
Waterfront Winterland, with its ice rinks, Ferris wheel and other family
attractions, is popular. There is also a buzzing Christmas market in the
city centre.

On the market: five-bedroom character cottage in a secluded valley setting,
four miles from the city centre: £599,950 with Savills (savills.co.uk).

Nottingham

Not many of Britain’s provincial cities put on as good a Christmas show as
Nottingham. For more than six weeks, the market square becomes a Winter
Wonderland, with an ice rink, dozens of market stalls selling Christmas food
and gifts and a bar for shoppers to recuperate over a glass or two of
something warm and strong.

On the market: four-bedroom detached period house with large landscaped garden
in the suburb of Keyworth: £875,000 with Savills (savills.co.uk).

_{Ice skaters at the Christmas outdoor ice skating rink in the Old Market
Square Nottingham city centre}

Oxford

The students may have gone home for the vacation, but the rest of the city
flares into life at Christmas, particularly the old covered market. The
smell of freshly baked pies and cookies is ubiquitous, and whether your idea
of the perfect Christmas day lunch is turkey or goose, lobster or venison,
you will find it here.

On the market: five-bedroom Victorian terrace on Banbury Road: £995,000 with
Penny Sinclair (pennyandsinclair.co.uk).

Tatton, Cheshire

If George Osborne’s Tatton constituents are planning a frugal Christmas to
underscore the Chancellor’s message on austerity, they have an odd way of
showing it. Special festive events at Tatton Park include not just
traditional concerts, visits by Santa Claus and a Nutcracker Christmas
Mansion, but some no-holds-barred balls themed on American speakeasies
during the Prohibition era.

On the market: four-bedroom Victorian town house in Knutsford, close to Tatton
Park: £695,000 with Irlams (irlamsestateagents.co.uk).

Falmouth, Cornwall

No cheap polystyrene nativity scenes for the good folk of Falmouth. They go
the whole hog, with a live nativity procession, in which Mary, Joseph and
assorted animals wend their way up to the town square from the moor,
followed by a crowd.

On the market: four-bedroom Grade II-listed farm on the outskirts of Falmouth,
with two acres of land and an Aga fit for the plumpest turkey: £965,000 with
Jackson-Stops and Staff (jackson-stops.co.uk).

_{A Christmas Nativity procession through the town centre in Falmouth,
Cornwall}

Carhampton, Somerset

They enter into the Christmas spirit with such gusto in the village of
Carhampton that they are still partying well into January. Nothing evokes an
old-fashioned Christmas as strongly as wassailing, and Carhampton’s
wassailing festival, started in the Thirties and held annually on January
17, is the highlight of the village year.

On the market: four-bedroom family home in Holford, near Carhampton, with
views of the Quantocks: £550,000 with Jackson-Stops and Staff (jackson-stops.co.uk).

Blackburn, Lancashire

Carols, real reindeer, balloon-modelling elves, a Victorian photo booth… There
is fun for all the family in the run-up to Christmas in Blackburn, as the
town pulls out all the stops to make everyone, young and old, feel involved.
The highlight of the festive season is the annual lantern parade culminating
in carols at the cathedral.

On the market: four-bedroom detached house in the Ribble Valley: £335,000 with
Proctors (proctorsestateagents.co.uk).

Edinburgh

There used to be a feeling that Scots played down Christmas and kept their
powder dry for Hogmanay. But nobody could accuse Edinburgh of not entering
into the festive spirit. The sense of community and camaraderie that infuses
the Festival in August is well to the fore at Christmas, with everything
from ice rinks and market stalls to a wacky circus show called Scotch and
Soda – mainly the former, by the sound of it.

On the market: five-bedroom Georgian town house in the heart of the New Town:
£1.5 million with Strutt Parker (struttandparker.com).

_{A winter scene of Edinburgh Castle at night}

Leeds

What could be more un-British than a German Christmas market? Yet how clever
of Leeds to recognise that, as nobody does Christmas markets better than the
Germans, why not take a leaf out of their book? The Christkindelmarkt in the
city centre is now a well-established Leeds tradition, attracting huge
numbers of visitors and giving them a thoroughly Continental experience.
Wunderbar!

On the market: five-bedroom detached house in Rawdon, with stunning views of
the Aire valley: £995,000 with WW Estate Agents (wwestateagents.com).

Rochester, Kent

The town that elected Britain’s second Ukip MP in November has been attending
to more important matters in December. There was “guaranteed snowfall” at
the annual Dickensian Christmas, and the fact that the author lived in the
area gives added lustre to a festive knees-up, at which every face seems to
be smiling and every mince pie seems to be of Mary Berry standard.

On the market: four-bedroom Victorian semi, near the historic high street:
£588,000 with Machin Lane (machinlane.com).

Salisbury, Wiltshire

The cathedral city of Salisbury plays host to one of the best Christmas
markets in the country, a real labour of love in which the community is seen
at its best. Children are encouraged to make their own lanterns for the
pre-Christmas parade, and the rich array of market stalls offers a wonderful
showcase for local food producers and artisan jewellers.

On the market: seven-bedroom Grade II-listed town house in the heart of the
city, with views of the cathedral: £1.1 million with Winkworth (winkworth.co.uk).

_{Customers enjoy the Christmas market in the city of Salisbury, Wiltshire}