Olde World Canterbury Village

If you love Christmas you will love this place. They decorate so pretty for the holiday. They have cider and donuts on premiss as well. The variety in stores is amazing you can get any Christmas décor you want. Great place to take photos.

I got married here and did most of the planning for the wedding. Brittany, who was our main contact, was very helpful and easy to get a hold of within a business day. The venue was the one of the most inexpensive in the area for an «All Inclusive» buffet and drinks package, but it did not seem inexpensive! The food was great, the venue and grounds are beautiful. Many people have said it was an awesome wedding and I know the venue was an important part. Thank you Canterbury!

whoa! what happened to this place? we went back last week and the Always Christmas store is less than half the size it used to be. Smelled very musty. When we tried to leave we saw that one exit was blocked by a crane and the other exit was blocked by a man on a ladder. We were trapped among the weird ornaments!
we did manage to escape and will not be returning

reviewing different aspects of the village
I worked by that area for a long time and never noticed that place, until my friend pointed it out to me, you park and everything is within a walking distance, the Christmas stores were magical, room after room after room, the staff was very friendly and helpful. I noticed they had a yates cider mill there I grabbed a coffee it was really good and the jams were to die for, then me and my buddy walked around discovered many small antique shops, then we found a bar that had some of the best pizza and one of the best beer collections in Michigan. we got destroyed,
I have no idea why this place is not very popular it seemed like a great time to me and my friend I will for sure be back there soon.

Potential.
Beyond Olde World, Lake Orion has a quaint downtown with Cobblestone Streets and a gorgeous Lake (Lake Orion) to add to the tourist attraction.
Olde World is a unique place to visit, old buildings, shops, and an old town vibe. As I saw in other reviews it was not as busy as I thought it should be, I feel they can upgrade a few shops and add stores as wee as market this place to drive more people here.
The obvious anchor is «Always Christmas» which is a great place to go, in august it did put us in the Christmas spirit as we made some purchases. The Bronner’s Christmas is better as well as Frankenmuth but we enjoy Old World as it is closer to Metro Detroit and so much more to do in the Metro area then all the way up north in Saginaw.
When going to Olde World check out the entire grounds, stop in all the shops and just enjoy what it has to offer.

Great place to bring your family and friends. My girlfriend and I come here all the time and cannot get enough of Canterbury. It will always have a special place in our hearts. It’s cute, quaint, and modest. Sure, it may seem a bit run down, but there just isn’t a huge market for the types of stores that Canterbury provides (Traditional, heritage-​related Irish and Scottish shops). Which is a real shame. It is everyone’s duty who visits to help keep these amazing shops open, and keep the fantastic employees employed! The architecture of the village is very reminiscent of English or Scottish architecture, and the King’s Court castle looks amazing!
The Always Christmas store has an amazing selection of ornaments, and is built in what appears to be either a mansion or a castle. They have an amazing Department 56 Collection and the store itself is just worth checking out whether or not you’re into that stuff! The clock shop is also very unique.
it’s amazing that such a place like Canterbury Village exists in an area where all you can find is chain stores and restaurants.

Second biggest Christmas store in Michigan. First most depressing place in Michigan. It was all kind of gloomy, deserted and run down. This was on a Sunday in December. The Christmas store had that «going out of business» smell, although I don’t think it was. Dusty, torn and stained carpeting, not enough merchandise to fill the space. Really weird and creepy ornaments like the one that was a fish with a small turkey dangling from its butt. There was a neat pavilion in the center of the complex that had an old fashioned little merry go round. My 2 year old loved it. We had dinner at the King’s Court. VERY neat building. Soaring staircase and suits of armor everywhere. OK food with dirty wine glasses.
Also, everything but the restaurants closed at 6 pm on a Sunday in December.
In summary, I would recommend visiting if you are very bored, have very low expectations, and don’t have to drive too far.

This place was built to rival Frankenmuth, with it’s «Ye Olde England» flavor. The economy has caused some hardships but they are rebuilding the business as a entertainment/​conference/​wedding center. There is a wedding chapel and restaurants and conference areas.
The shopping is hit or miss. The Enchanted Cottage is lovely, with many sweet fairy themed items, plus a tea shoppe in back. Highland Fling has all your kilt and Gaelic needs. Some of the other stores are uninspired and I swear the stock in a few hasn’t moved since 2007. Always Christmas is very uneven-​there are lots of weird Xmas stuff and yet also a great Dept.56 area that is well-​laid out and delightful to look at and enjoy, They have a great selection of Clothique Santas if you collect them.
I would go for the few places that are good and hope things get better as Michigan gets better.

Now you all know that I try hard to go out and do as much as I am able to do with the painful nerve disease that I have! We had friends visiting us from Scotland, and wanted to take them someplace «different» yet that would make them feel «closer to home! Sooo we took them to visit «Canterbury Village»!
I must say that I still enjoyed Gordon Heslop’s Scottish shop & his Irish shop also! I even picked up a few Scottish gifts! Though we were sad that he wasn’t there that day at all! We did speak with a very nice shop lady who helped us with both shops and she was so kind!
A bit later we headed towards a tea shop! It was new and we hadn’t been there before! Oh my! There were so many beautiful and wonderful things in that store! I wanted to buy all of it! I got a few very wonderful xmas gifts for family members! I even got some cute items for myself!
One thing that i need to add is that there wasn’t anyplace open to get just a cup of coffee or a small snack! We visited their «big» Christmas shop and it was a lot of nothing and more of just «junk» to buy! Everything looked very cheaply made and «cheap looking»!
I didn’t buy anything at their «Christmas store», which used to be, or so I thought… was their «main attraction». It wasn’t nice inside or even clean & as I already mentioned, their merchandise was very «dollar store-​ish!
One thing that turned out well, was that our friends who were visiting from Scotland, found a nice lady who was also from Scotland… and she worked there! They truly enjoyed their long blether with her! (A long talk). And then we headed home again. We won’t be making the one hour plus trip drive there any longer, as its gone downhill quite a bit!

Having done the Bavarian Christmas of Frankenmuth and finding mouth blown glass ornaments little to my liking, I looked forward to sampling the familiar English delights of Canterbury Village. Given I’m mostly English in heritage, the Tudor roofs and familiar rounded turrets of the village strike a happy chord in my soul. It’s a good sign when I can name the plants in the landscaping because I grew up with all of them, and I’ll need to visit in nicer weather to appreciate them all.
Showing up right before Hallowe’en may not be the ideal time to see Canterbury at its finest. The remnants of their weekend Hallowe’en celebration the day before were in evidence, notably lots of pumpkins, straw bales, and a flapping tent over lonely picnic tables. We sorely would’ve liked the bonfire given the northerly wind really bit. There were still a fair number of people drawn into the main attraction, «Always Christmas.» I had no idea there were also quiltmakers, clocksellers, and an outlet store on the site.
Always Christmas was our main stop aside from lunch at the Clansman and it definitely felt pretty sparse. I wondered whether I missed a stock delivery or they waited to ramp up with the ornaments on November 1. We did like the prospects of a super sale but that might account for the barren, open space. The first room was taken up by unrelated knick-​knacks, like a grandmother clock and a bar with a carved Lions logo on the front, lots of cheap jewelry and watches, and not much Christmassy. We carried on past display cases of Precious Moments figurines, a flashback to my childhood when those were popular gifts from Grandma or a great-​aunt who thought the little images were so twee. They’re vaguely disturbing to me now.
Per its name, the real highlight of the tour are the Christmas trees. Several decorated pines and firs stand at eye level displaying an assortment of ornaments, decorated in varied styles. The Scottish and Irish trees were amusing; Santa wearing a leprachaun suit or in full kilted regalia is definitely something to see once. Plaid balls nearly came home with me until we realized they wouldn’t match our scheme. You could have a very festive Christmas with obligatory sheep jokes either way.
Other ornaments included various glass figurines shaped into instruments or objects, like a baby carriage, and an amusing selection of Victorian decorations that I gleefully pointed out. Our tree absolutely needs pink umbrellas festooned with roses, and ornate ladies’ shoes worthy of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. What Christmas tree in your fantasy doesn’t need some lovely lacy gloves? Just one, I’m afraid, they’re sold singly; $ 10 for the pair. The beau snickered over some particularly rococo tassles that managed to combine lace, glitter, beads, glass, rainbows, and flowers together. He couldn’t quite fathom their use; I think they would make a splendid bell-​pull for a batty steampunk heroine. But we didn’t find too much here that begged purchase other than some lovely gold filigree balls that open so you can stuff them with whatever your heart fancies — souls, crumpled glitter paper, tinsel, lights.
Downstairs is given over to an eclectic section of sports-​oriented ornaments, which I cannot understand the appeal of. I don’t need the Tigers on the tree, thanks, and most are hideous to my eye. Another room contained plastic, wood, and dough ornaments resistant to toddlers, though not very attractive. The back section belongs to miniature houses. A central elaborate display of all the Dickensian houses and businesses is really darned impressive, and a punch to the bottom line if you decide you need to own them all. I want the teahouse for the mini scones alone.
Canterbury is an experience, but I felt like we showed up at completely the wrong time and caught the Village half dressed. Maybe it was a lack of carollers or the totally barren shelves, but the place was empty of merchandise and Christmas spirit.
The outdoor appearance gets 3 stars, easy. Very pretty.

Kind of cute place but TERRIBLE customer service. I bought over $ 100 worth of ornaments yet the cashier, who rudely did not acknowledge me, put her finger in my face when I asked if I should check out at another register. I’ve never worked in retail, but I’m pretty sure a simple, «I’ll be right with you» would’ve been appropriate. Her name was Bev by the way. I will definitely choose English Gardens over this place any day. So much for olde world charm.

This is the last place I would want to shop, but I’m sure others might like it-​if they are gaga over Christmas. Not for me.

Canterbury was a fun and festive place to go to during the holidays. I went last week, and the village was open until 9:00p.m. After the holidays the normal hours are usually 10 – 5:30p.m.
I only went to four specialty shops because it was way too cold to keep walking around the village! The first store I ducked into turned out to be the Village Quilt Shoppe, and I scored a nice lil’ organizer for $ 2.99. Next, I went inside the two story Canterbury gift store. I mostly found typical gift store items like candles, costume jewelry, housewares and coffee mugs. I found a small Celtic store where I bought some vanilla incense. I saved the best store for last which was the Aldridge’s Always Christmas store. I loved Aldridge it was also two levels like the gift store, and full of Christmas heaven!
After shopping my boyfriend and I decided it was only right to eat dinner at the Kings Court Castle. The castle is also a banquet hall. The dining area is cozy and open with a huge flat screen in the center. I was surprised to see a reasonably priced double sided one page menu! The menu choices ranged from a classic hamburger to Filet Mignon.
My boyfriend ordered a reuben sandwich and I ordered a stuffed tomato salad. My dinner consisted of two tomatoes stuffed with tuna salad, and baked mozzarella cheese on top. It was served with fresh fruit and I pretty much devoured it! My boyfriend ordered the fried mushroom appetizer, and it was delicious. Also, the mushrooms are literally the size of tangerines! Our bill was around $ 20.00… incredibly decent for what we had!
If you really enjoy going to Frankenmuth and Bronners Christmas Wonderland, then Canterbury is a closer alternative. I am not saying that it’s the same experience as going to Frankenmuth, but there are similarities like the year round Christmas theme and the 18 specialty shops surrounding the village.