Milton Keynes ranks in 10 best Christmas staycation cities in UK

With Christmas just around the corner, many Brits are preparing for the holiday season. Rather than venturing abroad or staying at home, a growing number are opting for festive staycations that offer Christmas markets, winter attractions, and seasonal charm without the hassle of international travel.

A new study by Sweepstakes Table, reveals which UK destinations are rated as the ultimate Christmas staycations this year. The research ranked 40 UK cities using a Festive Staycation Score from 0-100.

It evaluated seven key factors: average hotel prices in December, Christmas market ratings, the amount of attractions compared to its size, annual snowfall days, dining costs, search interest, and safety ratings. Data was taken from trusted sources including Kayak, TripAdvisor, Numbeo, Weather Atlas, and Google Ads, then normalised and weighted to create comparable scores across all cities.

Milton Keynes secured sixth place with an overall festive staycation score of 59.2. It rated impressively high for Christmas markets/events at 87.1, with its primary event being Westbury's Winter Art Market.

Its average nightly hotel price was reasonable at just under £66 and its average cost for dining out was £65. The city’s search volume is just over 1.4%, which is the second highest city amongst the top 10.

Its attraction density was the second lowest out of the 10 destinations at 22.2 per 10km squared, which is no surprise due to the city's wide open spaces. Its annual number of snowfall days was the second lowest at 1.3, bringing down the city’s winter appeal. Milton Keynes was also let down by its safety score with the second lowest of the destinations at just under 45.4.

Portsmouth won the top spot with an overall score of just over 71 out of 100. The coastal city’s hotel prices averaged around £86 per night in December, with a dining out price of £60. Its Christmas Village and Victorian Christmas Festival earned an impressive 87.1 rating on TripAdvisor, matching the highest-rated festive events in the country.

Stoke-on-Trent came runner up with an overall score of just over 64.3. It stood out as the most affordable place on the list, with hotels averaging just under £47 a night and dining out at £65. Chester came in third, capturing 1.74% of all UK Christmas-related searches, the highest percentage of the study.

Nottingham came fourth, standing out for the most affordable dining on the list at just £50 for two people. Kingston-upon-Hull came fifth, with 44.6 attractions per 10km squared. Though, its low average of 0 snowfall days a year, reduced its winter atmosphere appeal slightly.

Lincoln came in at 7th, with the second highest safety index at just over 74.4. Sheffield came 8th with the second most affordable dining for two at £56.

The historic city of Canterbury boasted the highest attraction density at 75.1. But it was let down with the highest average hotel price of £99.50, landing it in 9th place. Plymouth rounded up the top ten with its Christmas Market scoring a respectable 87.1. The full list of data by Sweepstakes Table can be found here.