MAGICAL DAYS OUT FOR ALL THE FAMILY

There's a whole host of festive fun to be enjoyed out there - from story time in a castle with Santa and Harry Potter's studio tour to a festival of lights show and some European-style Christmas markets

- NATALIE BOWEN

WARWICK CASTLE

Warwick Castle has transformed its grounds into a winter wonderland for its annual Christmas at the Castle event. Visitors during the day can admire the opulent traditional decorations festooning the Great Hall and State Rooms, as well as tuck into bratwurst, noodles or fish and chips from the Festive Food and Drink Village.

However, the fun really starts after it gets dark as the castle reopens in the evenings with a jam-packed itinerary.

We started off by toasting marshmallows over an open fire as Christmas tunes pumped and skaters glided around the large open-air ice rink in the shadow of Guy's Tower. Younger guests can hire a penguin skate aid so they can join in the fun older, less-confident skaters have to take their chances or stay rinkside with a hot chocolate or mulled wine.

Next we set off to follow an enchanting Light Trail that makes a 1.6-mile loop around the extensive gardens, which is tied into a charming tale about the importance of sharing, written by local author Sam Langley-Swain.

Children can spot the main character, a greedy prince who steals all the gifts for himself, along the trail then enjoy reading about him in an accompanying book. A mesmerising laser and projection display lights up the castle wall and we gasped with delight at the "dancing" globes that illuminate in time to music.

In the main courtyard, a 25-metre-tall light tree shimmered into the darkness. Stepping inside the castle itself, a special adventure was waiting, with children loving the chance to join together to help Santa's elves fix his sleigh. They then listened to a story from Father and Mrs Christmas and were thrilled with a present to thank them for their help. Reluctant to end the magic, we made a weekend of it by staying over in the Knight's Village - Warwick Castle's on-site cabins - where the next morning elves appeared again to wake us up for breakfast.