The Peak District town named best place for a ‘hidden escape’ this Christmas

Christmas is a magical time of year, but sometimes it can all get a bit too much. Christmas shopping, all the parties and preparing for the big day itself can end up being stressful rather than enjoyable.

With that in mind, many people will be looking to get away from it all during the festive period. Luckily a town nestled in the Peak District, and less than a two hour drive from Greater Manchester, has been named the best destination in the UK for a winter escape where you can beat the crowds.

Bakewell, the national park’s biggest town, took the top spot in a list of ‘secret’ winter staycation destinations, compiled by Sally’s Cottages. The research looked at seven factors to find the best locations which fly under the radar on social media.

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Locations were given a score between 0 and 1 for each factor, which were then summed up to give a total score out of seven. Locations received higher scores if they ranked well for the following factors: average snowfall, ‘festive sentiment’ factor, the number of walking routes and number of five star restaurants.

But the analysis also looked at the number of Instagram hashtags and TikTok views, as well as population numbers of every destination. The lower the number for these factors, the higher the score for the destination.

It means that Bakewell, with a score of 4.12, is the place to go if you want to avoid crowds of influencers this festive season. But with cottages strewn with twinkling lights and gorgeous views of the surrounding countryside, it’s hard to believe that Bakewell doesn’t