“ There’s no place like home for the holidays” as Perry Como said, but when you have these many places around the world to go for Christmas, any place with a festive spirit can feel like home. The festive week of December makes for one of the best times to travel to new destinations to witness the charming towns that are lit up nicely in a joyous manner, lights hang from every storefront and visitors feel extra merry and bright. Hotel lobbies get all decked up with perfectly trimmed trees and parks that in these times turn into skating rinks, they are all set up together to create a mesmerising backdrop of snowy mountains and iconic skylines.
It's the most wonderful time of the year- to go on a festive holiday trip! Whether you’re visiting your family’s annual Christmas celebrations or looking for a chance to soak in all the festive feels after a year full of work and there are a ton of unique options to celebrate a fun and magical and safe Christmas. It's true that there’s no place like home for the holidays, but what could be better than spending Christmas at a chocolate-themed park, a ski resort or even a place that itself screams Christmas vibes, Santa Claus.
To help you get the most out of the merry holiday season, we’ve circled up some of the magical places where you can celebrate this year's Christmas.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Vienna gives you a chance to witness the most delightful Christmas by offering a great aroma of Gluhwein in the air, twinkling holiday decorations of the imperial architecture, and three outdoor Christkindlmarkts. Visitors here can have a full spirited Christmas, they can also witness local artist works and ornaments, tasty finger foods and wonderful spiced mulled food. Of course, Vienna boys choir concerts are a must during the holidays too and a delightful time to explore the city’s festive vibes.
WOODSTOCK, VERMONT
Vermont is one of the best places in the US to celebrate Christmas and one of the most picturesque towns, with a ground fully covered with at least a light dust of snow and the air gets filled with the aroma of pine needles. Being the historic town, Woodstock, the city really knows how to celebrate the holiday in a correct way, with its Wassail Weekend, which is a pre-Christmas festival that has been in running since the 19th century that follows Norse Culture Traditions.
It includes a parade, which consists of 50 horses where riders are donned in the festive and period dresses, along with the waggons and sleigh rides, which is followed by the 19th century Christmas celebration at the Billings Farm & Museum. Visitors here enjoy a wassail feast and all the local shops get decked up in the festive spirits, with a beautiful window that is decked up nicely and stays open till at late night.
STRASBOURG, FRANCE
One of the best places in Europe to celebrate Christmas, Strasbourg offers theme-based Christmas villages that transmute themselves into some of the best wonderlands that are worthy of holiday sights and some mesmerising culinary delights. At the Alsace Farmhouse, you can taste the local delights like pruning tasting, apricot and other holiday-inspired variations of farm-fresh foie gras. While in other villages of Bredle, you will find different ways of Christmas celebration along with the endless flow of mulled Alsatian wine. The Christmas’s program list is quite big in this city with endless concerts and events.
BRUGES, BELGIUM
Throughout the year, this place sustains its stunning sights, but it comes alive during winter with a very breathtaking glow. The city alters itself into a winter wonderland with the cosy little Christmas villages, that take over the city’s three squares, light trails and an ice-skating rink and all of this stays from the end of November to early January, so for like 16 days, this place lives up to the Christmas spirit. Along with this, the city keeps the decoration alive, with less traffic on the main street and even offers free public transportation.
NORTH POLE, ALASKA
Although North pole is a very fun and exciting town, during Christmas, it turns out pretty great. With a community of around 2,200 residents, the city keeps up the decoration throughout the year. You have numerous streets to choose from Kris Kringle Drive, Mistletoe Lane or Santa Claus Lane and even stay the night at Santaland RV Park, everything here is about Santa. The North Pole in December really comes alive with its annual North Pole Christmas in Ice Contest attracting Ice sculptures from across the globe. One of the most exciting things about Christmas in the North Pole is that National Newscast directly telecasts the celebration and you can also send postcards to friends and families with a zip code of North Pole, Alaska.
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
Prague is famous for its magnificent architecture that has a touch of gothic and unique folklore traditions and during Christmas, it gets a new sense of wintery glow. From its themed Christmas markets that are beautifully decorated wooden huts that are filled with festive treats that include everything from craft gift items, to ornaments to the fabric. And to go along well with this, you will also get some mouthwatering delicacies like spit-roasted hams and Czech hot sugar-coated traditional pastry - Trdelnik. And in the Old Town Square, you’ll spot a stable where goats, donkeys and sheep are decked up traditionally and the whole atmosphere is filled with holiday lights and music.
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam does it right by strongly celebrating the legend of Sinterklaas, which includes lighting up the houses that were built in the 16 and 17th century. The dutch doesn't have just one, but 25 different markets and these markets feature different attractions, like Leidseplein which has an Ice skating Rink. Other than this, you can try out some local cuisines such as Ollibollen or Dutch Doughnuts, they aren't just tasty but they also have some evil warding off powers.
HERSHEY, PENNSYLVANIA
As the name goes, this place is filled with chocolates, and what's the best way to celebrate Christmas with your family at Hersheypark’s Christmas Candlylane, where you can enjoy along with this you can meet Santa Claus and his reindeer. You can enjoy the place that is decked up with 5 million lights and is themed in chocolate and Christmas spirit while you’re on festive rides.
CLIFTON, OHIO
This place offers the best top-notched up a light display of Christmas, decked up in 4 million red and white light, the waterfall that is 100 foot-tall along with a miniature village, a vintage toy collection, and Santa working at his workshop.
STOCKBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
Made entirely famous by the famous painting of Norman Rockwell’s “Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas( Home for Christmas)”, this village will not disappoint any visitors. This place IRL recreates the same painting year after year, with vintage cars lining up the roads, while trees and buildings are covered in lights.
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
The Biltmore, the iconic Vanderbilt Mansion in The Blue Ridge Mountains goes all out during Christmas. From decorations to food, to the festivities that are on-property are worth visiting. In Fact, the artsy mountain top town is filled with festive and holiday spirits as the streets are filled with million street lights.
BRANSON, MISSOURI
There are light displays galore, as well as the massive event, An old-time Christmas at Silver Dollar City. But our favourite Branson holiday activity is hopping on Polar Express where illustrations of Chris Van Allsburg classic come to life.
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
From the massive tree at Rockefeller centre to various Christmas markets, to ice-skating rinks shops and more, you for sure cannot miss out the Big Apple’s Holidays spirits. This for sure is in the bucket list item to celebrate Christmas. After walking along the fifth avenue, and seeing all the jaw-dropping gorgeous store windows, do not forget to attend the annual tree-lightning ceremony.
SANTA CLAUS, INDIANA
With a name like Santa Claus, this place throws the whole vibe of celebrating Christmas. Named after Saint Nick, this town has a year-round Christmas spirit, it ramps up during Christmas. Meet Santa, drive through a light adventure show with the name of “Santa Claus land of light”, stay at a lakeside cottage and shop at the town’s Christmas themed boutiques.
CONTACT US:-
This year, book a ticket to one of these destinations to witness the mixture of tradition, fun and lights in a very unique way, these places carry a story along with the fun part in them. Since a week is left for Christmas, it’s still not too late to book a ticket and take a trip around these destinations. Our travel executives are here to help you out with all the queries and concerns so that you have a great ending to this year. To know more, reach out to us on our official website www.firstflytravel.com.