Winter Wonderland

The approach to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland is unquestionably special: an avenue of magnificent trees dripping with scarlet lights leads past ‘London’s biggest temporary ice-rink’ to the blinding white of the 50m observation wheel. Clustered around the periphery, the quaint German market is equally alluring from sixty paces but on closer inspection, the selection of Christmas decorations appears less than authentic and I remain unconvinced that Haribo stalls are staples of traditional Deutsche fayres. It’s rare that I leave a shopping opportunity sans purchase but the only tempting item was a reindeer hide that I rejected on both moral and transportation grounds.

We didn’t escape without spending any of our hard-earned coinage, however: a £7 foray onto the self-proclaimed Wheel of Excellence had its highs and lows – we loved the high-tech cabin complete with air-con and lighting controls but seeing the Millennium Eye in the distance reminded us what we were missing – and our £3 red sausages were tasty but the meat:bun ratio was disappointing. Somehow we managed to resist the terrifying Haunted House. As an inexpensive festive outing, the Winter Wonderland is worth a meander – but if it’s the feature event of your Christmas, you might require some sympathy.