With the Halloween decorations packed away for another year, the countdown to Christmas has officially begun, but which city is destined to have the most festive season yet?
Whether you’re travelling to see loved ones or driving home for Christmas, some regions across the UK are set to be the ultimate winter wonderlands.
Analysing key festive factors such as where the Coca-Cola and Lidl trucks are visiting, which locations are going to have the most snow days, the amount of people that attended the Christmas markets last year, the amount of people that bought Christmas cards and more, greetings card marketplace thortful has identified the top 15 most festive UK cities to visit this Christmas.
Scored out of 100, each of the UK’s biggest cities by population were put under the spotlight, revealing a top 15 to explore this November and December:
| Rank | City | Score /100 |
| 1 | Edinburgh | 54 |
| 2 | Nottingham | 52 |
| 3 | Manchester | 47 |
| 4 | Sheffield | 43 |
| 5 | Bristol | 41 |
| 6 | Leeds | 41 |
| 7 | Cardiff | 37 |
| 8 | Glasgow | 37 |
| 9 | Hull | 35 |
| 10 | Coventry | 34 |
| 11 | Norwich | 33 |
| 12 | Newcastle | 28 |
| 13 | Stoke-on-Trent | 25 |
| 14 | Brighton | 22 |
| 15 | Leicester | 21 |
Edinburgh officially tops the list, its stunning scenery makes for the perfect Christmas aesthetic. Followed closely by Nottingham and Manchester, the full analysis can be found below:
| Rank | City | Coca-Cola / Lidl Truck Visit | Average Monthly Searches For “Christmas” | Forecast for Snow Days in December | Joy Sentiment | Christmas Market Attendees | People Who Bought A Christmas Card | Score /100 |
| 1 | Edinburgh | Yes | 2,900 | 3 | 29% | 3,000,000 | 0.28% | 54 |
| 2 | Nottingham | Yes | 480 | 4 | 35% | 500,000 | 0.06% | 52 |
| 3 | Manchester | Yes | 4,400 | 2 | 27% | 9,000,000 | 0.04% | 47 |
| 4 | Sheffield | Yes | 1,900 | 2 | 29% | 35,000 | 0.25% | 43 |
| 5 | Bristol | Yes | 2,900 | 1 | 30% | 2,500,000 | 0.17% | 41 |
| 6 | Leeds | No | 3,600 | 4 | 29% | 5,650,000 | 0.15% | 41 |
| 7 | Cardiff | Yes | 880 | 2 | 24% | 2,500,000 | 0.21% | 37 |
| 8 | Glasgow | Yes | 3,600 | 3 | 26% | 650,000 | 0.09% | 37 |
| 9 | Hull | Yes | 720 | 1 | 28% | 50,000 | 0.21% | 35 |
| 10 | Coventry | No | 1,900 | 3 | 34% | NA | 0.18% | 34 |
| 11 | Norwich | No | 1,000 | 2 | 33% | 3,000 | 0.29% | 33 |
| 12 | Newcastle | No | 2,400 | 1 | 27% | 1,375,000 | 0.41% | 28 |
| 13 | Stoke-on-Trent | No | 720 | 1 | 35% | 100,000 | 0.13% | 25 |
| 14 | Brighton | No | 720 | 0 | 31% | 131,000 | 0.29% | 22 |
| 15 | Leicester | No | 1,300 | 4 | 26% | 20,000 | 0.06% | 21 |
The top five cities are all scheduled for a visit from either the Coca-Cola or Lidl truck this year, as well as Cardiff, Glasgow and Hull.
In terms of Christmas preparation, Glasgow and Leeds have had the most average monthly searches for “Christmas” in 2024, whilst the biggest overall positive sentiment for online Christmas mentions is from people in Nottingham and Stoke-On-Trent. 35% of any Christmas-related online posts in those regions are of a “joyous” sentiment. In the top 15 cities, people in Cardiff have showed the least amount of online excitement at 24%.
The odds of a white Christmas this year are slim, however Nottingham, Leicester and Leeds are all forecast to have four snow days each, whilst Edinburgh, Glasgow and Coventry are set to have three.
When it comes to Christmas demand, a whopping nine million people attended the infamous Manchester Christmas markets last year, and it’s set to be similar in 2024. In second place, three million people head to Edinburgh’s festive markets each year.
Finally, in terms of spreading the festive joy, Newcastle had the highest percentage of people buying Christmas cards last Christmas, closely followed by Norwich, Brighton and Edinburgh.
Head to thortful’s site to start getting your Christmas cards
