![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/admin-00e0.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe village had a starring role in the iconic Christmas film (Picture: SWNS\/GETTY\/SHUTTERSTOCK\/AFP)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tThe village had a starring role in the iconic Christmas film (Picture: SWNS\/GETTY\/SHUTTERSTOCK\/AFP)<\/p>\n
We all wish life could be a little bit like the movies, especially when the movie in question is The Holiday.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n With its cosy cottages, snowy countryside and Jude Law<\/a> sitting in the local pub, the iconic Nancy Meyers flick<\/a> makes life in Shere, Surrey<\/a>, look like an absolute dream.<\/p>\n But what is it really like to live in the village that had a starring role in one of the most famous Christmas<\/a> films of all time?<\/p>\n Well, according to those who live and work there, it actually is just as idyllic as it seems on screen. And with a caf\u00e9 called The Dabbling Duck and a church that looks straight out of a fairytale, it\u2019s not hard to see why people are so enchanted by the place\u2026<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018You can\u2019t go into Shere and not fall in love with it,\u2019 Howard Wagstaff tells Metro. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\tSign up to The Getaway newsletter\t\t\t<\/p>\n Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s such a quintessential little English village, with a stream running through the middle. It\u2019s got a greengrocer\u2019s and a little bakery \u2013 it\u2019s very cute.\u2019<\/p>\n The 41-year-old sales executive has lived in the village for nine years. Having grown up in Surrey, he moved to Shere after falling for its charm, and then experienced his own real-life rom-com while living there. <\/p>\n He fell in love, got married, and they\u2019ve since welcomed three beautiful children.<\/p>\n \t\t Outside of work, Howard raises sheep, which are kept in a very special spot in the village \u2013 the field in which Kate Winslet\u2019s cottage was built for the film.<\/p>\n Yes, I\u2019m sorry to break it to you, Holiday fans, but that beautiful house doesn\u2019t actually exist; the crew merely built a facade in a field behind the church.\u00a0<\/p>\n But this doesn\u2019t stop tourists from flocking to the village in search of it, as well as other popular locations visited by Cameron Diaz<\/a> and Jude Law.<\/p>\n \t\t While some in Shere aren\u2019t so keen on their village being constantly swarmed by film lovers, Howard enjoys the \u2018hustle and bustle\u2019, and acknowledges a lot of the local businesses probably still wouldn\u2019t be going if it weren\u2019t for tourism<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018The Holiday is one of my favourite films, my wife always takes the p*ss out of me for wanting to watch it as many times as I can at Christmas,\u2019 he admits.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Myself and a couple of local families raise sheep in the same field that was used in the film, so I often find myself talking to tourists, showing them where they built the cottage.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018One time, I met a lady who was in her 80s, and she was struggling down a nearby country lane with her suitcase. <\/p>\n \u2018I pulled over to ask if I could help, and she told me she\u2019d flown over from Canada<\/a> and wanted to see the village.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018I threw her luggage into the back of my Defender and gave her a tour of the place. She loved it.\u2019<\/p>\n As well as the field, people also love to go for a drink or roast dinner at the White Horse pub, in the centre of Shere.<\/p>\n Covered in wooden beams, with a roaring fire, the White Horse is everything you\u2019d want a country pub to be, but it\u2019s not its appearance that has people desperate to get in.<\/p>\n \u2018They have the section where Cameron Diaz and Jude Law sat and had a drink, and people literally queue up to take a quick photo at that table. It\u2019s very popular,\u2019 Howard explains.<\/p>\n His favourite thing about living in Shere isn\u2019t its Hollywood links, though, it\u2019s the community spirit.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018Everyone\u2019s got your back, it\u2019s incredible. Whenever I nip to the shop, I always end up getting a message from my wife asking if I\u2019m lost, and it\u2019s because I\u2019ll have bumped into someone, and people here really want to know how you are, it\u2019s very wholesome.\u2019<\/p>\n Hannah Connell, the co-founder of Split Figs, an interior design and concept store in the village, agrees that the local community is phenomenal.<\/p>\n \u2018There\u2019s an amazing community, and you might be surprised to know it\u2019s actually a really young community. The village is really great for people of all ages,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n The 43-year-old, who founded Split Figs in 2022 with her mum Moya, has become an integral part of the village, and the shop itself has carved out its own cult following online. Shoppers come from all over to visit the store, travelling from the Cayman Islands, New Zealand and all across the UK.<\/p>\n The store recently went viral for its Christmas decorations thanks to the giant red and white striped bow over the front door, which even earned them Nancy Meyers\u2019 seal of approval. <\/p>\n The director commented that she \u2018loves it\u2019 on the \u2018gram.<\/p>\n Hannah lives in nearby East Molesey, but spent a lot of time visiting a family friend in Shere growing up, and knew instantly it was the perfect place to set up shop.<\/p>\n \u2018My mum always used to say, going to Shere was like going to Narnia, it feels like you\u2019ve gone through the wardrobe and into another world.<\/p>\n \u2018You really feel it when you\u2019re coming from the A3, you drive over Newlands Corner, and suddenly the scenery is just so beautiful, with all the rolling hills.\u2019<\/p>\n But her favourite part is when you reach the village itself, as no matter how many times she drives in, she\u2019s always struck by what a \u2018remarkably special\u2019 place it is.<\/p>\n \u2018Shere has this magical quality to it, it opens up in the daytime, and it\u2019s so full and busy. But the real beauty of it is actually in the evenings, when everyone has gone home, and the village goes to sleep, and kind of goes in on itself.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t Both Howard and Hannah agree that during the week is when Shere is at its quietest, and when it comes to places you have to visit in the area, the pair couldn\u2019t praise Hilly\u2019s Tea Shop enough.<\/p>\n \u2018Definitely grab a coffee or a scone from Hilly\u2019s,\u2019 said Hannah, who also recommends taking your kids to Shere Delights for ice cream or sweets ahead of a walk around the area.<\/p>\n Howard agreed Hilly\u2019s was a must, and revealed a local secret, sharing that it\u2019s the best place to go in the village on a Friday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Dean, one of the owners at Hilly\u2019s, turns it into a cocktail bar, and he does the most awesome cocktails.\u2019<\/p>\n He adds: \u2018On a summer\u2019s night, the square outside is rammed, as people stand out there sipping drinks, and ordering pizzas to go with them.\u2019<\/p>\n This story was first published on December 24, 2024.<\/p>\n Do you have a story to share?<\/p>\n Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Autumn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_180133652-9721.jpg\")
\n\t\tIt looks like something out of a fairytale (Picture: Slawek Staszczuk\/Loop Images\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Howard](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/thumbnail_EC9B01E6-AB27-428E-A196-37234925F338-1-056b-e1734972039621.jpg\")
\n\t\tHoward raises sheep in the field where The Holiday cottage was built for the movie (Picture: Howard Wagstaff)<\/p>\n![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_233867953-5b78.jpg\")
\n\t\tHoward often gets tourists trying to find this exact spot (Picture: AFP)<\/p>\n![\"Editorial](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_231101216-dc01.jpg\")
\n\t\tBut the cottage in the film doesn\u2019t actually exist (Picture: Columbia\/Everett\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_233867137-bc00.jpg\")
\n\t\tPeople queue to sit in this exact seat in The White Horse pub (Provider: youtube)<\/p>\n![\"Historic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-476959153.jpg\")
\n\t\tHannah says Shere has a \u2018magical quality\u2019 to it (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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