Nothing embodies the festive season more perfectly than that colourful wooden nutcracker figure - or better yet, a trip to see the Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky’s score, stunning sets, evil mice royalty, magic animals, dolls coming to life ... just suspend that cynical disbelief and wallow in pure Christmas joy as Clara is whisked off by her favourite Christmas toy (a girl of taste, clearly) to a magical kingdom. It’s a Christmas institution for a very good reason.
So if you are still looking for a very special present, or to treat someone lucky, then a trip to the English National Ballet at the London Coliseum, followed by a stay in a luxury hotel will go down as successfully as an expertly-landed pirouette.
Luckily, the ENB and the St Martins Lane Hotel have partnered up for just such a pas de deux package. Check in your tutus at the hotel, get ready for an evening of festive fun, revel in the ballet then only a few minutes later you are back at the hotel, ready for a good night’s sleep and breakfast at Asia de Cuba the next morning. Or eat beforehand and stay up late drinking cocktails before an epic lie-in. It’s Christmas, we don’t judge. Just book soon - the offer only runs from 14 December to 6 January.
Details at morganshotelgroup.com
More nutcracker treats
Go traditional with a wooden nutcracker made in Germany, or update with Marks and Spencer’s cute Santa version. Put nutcrackers on the Christmas table, or encourage little ones to celebrate their own version of the ballet, as performed by Sylvanian rabbits ...
Santa wooden nutcracker, £17.50, marksandspencer.com
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