Shopping for Christmas presents always manages to burn a lovely roasted chestnut sized hole in our pockets, leaving many of us penniless and in debt.  All this giving can be hard work, so why not make a little time to treat yourself? These budget-based activities will help get you in the festive mood without making your piggy bank jingle like sledge bells as you desperately shake out the copper pennies.

German Market in Kingston  

Fill your bellies with hot mulled wine, mince pies and roasted chestnuts as you wander through the many stalls set up in Kingston’s Market Square. It’s the perfect place to start your Christmas shopping as the square will be transformed into a Christmas Village. Stalls will have every thing from wooden decorations, handmade metal figures, amber jewellery and traditional ceramics. Not to mention the Christmas bakery with waffles, cakes and crepes. The Market is running from the 13^th November to the 29th December.

Ice Skating – National History Museum London

Get 2 – for – 1 tickets here for some ice skating fun outside London’s beautiful National History Museum. So what if you’re not the next Torvill and Dean? Or that you spend more time clinging onto the rails than actually skating. It’s the jingle tunes in the background, co-ordinated mittens, hats and scarves and frosty noses that counts.

Unveiling of the Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square.

This year, London’s largest Christmas tree, donated by the generous people of Oslo, Norway, will be unveiled on the 3^rd of December. It could be the perfect end to your ice-skating night out. And a chance to nurse your tender knees and numb fingers.

Godiva Chocolate Tasting – John Lewis – Kingston

No Christmas is complete without copious amounts of chocolate and what better way to start off the festive season than with the chance to taste the finest with Godiva – for free! It’s all research of course, so you can pick out the yummiest for friends and family. A decision will have to be made however – Christmas Tree or Chocolate? Tasting starts at 1pm until 4pm in John Lewis’ gift department on December 3^rd. The choice is yours, but who could turn down free chocolate?

Cologne Christmas Market at the South Bank Centre, London

Based along the Queen’s Walk stretching from the South Bank Centre to the London Eye with the city lights glittering across the Thames, the Cologne Market is the ultimate Christmas experience, with a hint of German style. Enjoy wandering through wooden stalls offering everything Christmas / Weihnachten related including hand- made decorations and German delicacies. Warm your hands with a glass of Glϋhwein (mulled wine) and your heart with some yuletide carols sung throughout the evening. The Market runs right up to Christmas Eve, open Sunday to Thursday 11am – 8pm, Friday and Saturday 10am – 10pm.