101 reasons to love winter

Are you a winter lover or do you spend every moment of winter counting down the days until spring arrives?

I'm going to be honest with you here. I do not love winter!

I've written this blog post to remind myself that winter is a gorgeous season and not just four months of the year to 'get through'. I love the start of winter. I love the cosiness of it and the build up to Christmas, but once the novelty of the new year has worn off I’m done with winter. January to March are the three longest months ever. How can July, August and September fly by so quickly but then January, February and March seem to last twice as long!?

But this winter I’m determined to enjoy it and not resent every cold day or wish the season away while I count down to summer. I’m going to make the most of the cosy evenings and make more of an effort to get out and about, no matter what the weather is! I’ve also booked a few winter trips this year to sunnier climates and I have a lot of trips in the UK to look forward to in the spring.

You'll notice I haven't added many Christmas related reasons to love winter to the list. Christmas is the very best thing about winter and I could have written 101 reasons to love Christmas alone, but the hardest part of winter is the post-Christmas slump, so these are mostly lovely winter things that have nothing to do with Christmas.

So here we go...101 reasons to love winter! If you have any more to add to the list, please do add them in the comments below! And if you love a geeky fact, be sure to check out these 16 fun facts about December for even more reasons to love this time of year!

101 reasons to love winter

1. Scented candles
2. Bubble baths
3. Stew and hearty pies
4. Lighting the fire or log burner
5. Movie nights under a blanket
6. Blustery walks along the beach
7. Cosy knits
8. Steamy mugs of hot chocolate
9. Snow
10. Skiing
11. Flannel PJs
12. Pub lunches
13. Roast dinners
14. Christmas (obvs!)
15. Kids going to bed when it gets dark
16. The sound of rain on the windows when you’re cosy and warm inside
17. Splashing in puddles
18. Gingerbread lattes
19. The cosiness of traditional pubs
20. Mulled wine
21. Bobble hats
22. Frosty mornings
23. Seeing your breath in the cold air
24. Bright blue skies when it’s really cold outside
25. Babies in snowsuits
26. Christmas lights
27. Ice skating
28. New Year’s Eve
29. A fresh start in the new year
30. Cosy blankets
31. An extra thick winter duvet
32. Comfort food
33. No need to fake tan/get a pedicure
34. Cosy boots
35. Winter coats
36. Fleece lined tights
37. Rosy cheeks
38. January sales
39. Netflix marathons
40. It’s not too hot to go to the gym
41. But you can also make the excuse that it’s too dark to go to the gym
42. Sledging
43. Cosy cuddles
44. Cooking batches of soup
45. Red wine
46. Knitting
47. Slow cooker dinners
48. Winter city breaks
49. Escaping for a week or two with a winter sun holiday
50. Cosy socks
51. Layering up
52. The red Starbucks cups
53. The smell from log burners
54. Walking into a warm house when it’s cold outside
55. Heated seats in your car
56. Dogs wearing jumpers
57. Ear muffs
58. Talking about the weather…endlessly
59. Long winter walks
60. Not needing to wear sunscreen
61. Reading books in bed
62. Mittens
63. Hot desserts like crumble and custard
64. Pancake Day
65. Valentine’s Day
66. The first week of the year where everyone tries to be healthy
67. The second week where everyone gives up
68. Trying to have fun with no money in January
69. Snowdrops and the first signs of spring
70. Steamy windows
71. When you notice the mornings getting lighter
72. Putting your PJs on at 4pm and not feeling bad about it
73. Planning your holidays for the year in January
74. When you need to wear a woolly hat and sunglasses
75. Winter sun streaming through the bare branches of trees
76. Warming your hands on the radiator
77. Hot water bottles
78. Getting fresh laundry out of the tumble drier
79. Slippers
80. Dressing gowns
81. Porridge
82. PJ days
83. Making New Year’s Resolutions
84. Enjoying a slower pace of life
85. Dogs running in the snow
86. When everything comes to a standstill because of 1cm of snow
87. The excitement of school/work being cancelled because of the snow
88. There’s no risk of going out and get sweaty
89. Wearing hats and hoods to cover a bad hair day
90. Sunrise is later, so you can actually get up to see it
91. Mince pies
92. Winter TV and watching Christmas specials
93. Staying in and working on crafty projects
94. Booking cheap weekend breaks because no one else wants to go away
95. The introduction of hygge making everyone want everything to be cosy
96. Twinkly lights
97. Warming your feet by the fire
98. Hot tubs
99. Taking a flask of coffee on a cold walk
100. Using the winter evenings to learn a new skill
101. Winter makes you appreciate the other seasons so much more!

Hopefully you're feeling a bit more excited about winter after reading 101 reasons to love winter!

If you need a winter holiday to get you through the season, here are some of my favourites...

Budapest for a winter city break

Finnish Lapland for a bucket list, once-in-a-lifetime kinda trip

Dubai for luxury winter sun

Tenerife for budget winter sun

Warsaw for a budget festive weekend break

Valencia for a warm weekend not far from home