Posted on: November 27th in Travel, Travel Tips by Becky.
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Do you love Christmas but can’t stand another year of arguing with the relatives and watching the Great Escape on television for the hundredth time? Do you long for a stress-free non-traditional break with not a dry bit of turkey or cold brussel sprout in sight? If so here are some great alternatives to spending your Christmas at home.
Hanging out with Santa in Lapland, Finland
Photo credit
Keep the kids (and the young at heart) happy and spend Christmas in Lapland, Finland. Forget sitting at home and fighting the boredom, Lapland is where Christmas can truly be fairytale experience. Ride husky or reindeer driven sleighs (or just bomb around on a snowmobile), make gingerbread men cookies, snowshoe walk to your cosy log cabin and of course meet Santa in a personal one-to-one. Lapland is now cheaper and easier to get to than ever before.
Spend vast amounts of money in New York
New Yorkers really know how to celebrate Christmas and as expected everything is on a very large scale. The Christmas trees, the lights, the shows on Broadway and the world-famous shopping are just a few examples. Ride a horse-drawn carriage through Central Park, make a fool of yourself ice-skating in the Rockefeller centre, spend a fortune in Macys and stop for an eggnog latte in Bloomingdales.
A country cottage in Ireland
Book a cottage in the Irish countryside and you could be relaxing by a log fire and sipping whiskey on Christmas day. Christmas is a very important time of year in Ireland and if you like your seasonal break to be traditional and spiritual Ireland is the place to be. Join the congregation at midnight mass, sing your heart out at the local carol concert and walk off the Christmas dinner in the beautiful Irish countryside.
A grand hotel in Edinburgh
Edinburgh is another place where Christmas is taken very seriously. Pick a grand hotel like the Caledonian Hilton or The Balmoral and enjoy heather-fed lamb or rabbit & pheasant terrine for Christmas dinner instead of turkey. The city hosts many events on the run-up to Christmas, try scaring the kids on Scotland’s largest ferris wheel or wandering the traditional German Christmas market and overfilling on the obligatory mince pies and mulled wine. Of course you’ll have to stay for the legendary Hogmanay, one of the best new years eve celebrations in the world.
Working on a tan in Sydney, Australia
If you can’t stand the cold and would rather spend your Christmas with bronzed hunks/bikini babes then book a flight to Sydney. December is the first month of summer in Australia and the city regularly attracts 40,000 international visitors a year. For a true Aussie Christmas head down to Bondi or Manly beach and have shrimps on the barbie as well as a wide range of seafood and salads washed down with plenty of chilled beer.
With the beautiful people in Aspen, Colorado
This mountain resort playground of the rich and famous would make a fantastic hip and very cool Christmas break. Check out the enormous star placed on the Rocky Mountains to mark the beginning of the festive season, spend Christmas Eve in a trendy nightclub, hang out on the slopes with Kate Hudson and Cameron Diaz (well maybe) and stay in a luxurious hotel or romantic ski lodge for Christmas day. Not really a place to bring the kids but if you’re young and hot this might be your ideal Christmas break location.
With the American Danes in Solvang, California
Where else would be better to spend your Christmas than a Danish town in eh.. California? It may sound a bit bizarre but Solvang isn’t a place that does things by halves. People and families travel for miles to visit the annual Winterfest here. Christmas Carol singers emerge from every corner, festive music fills the streets and hundreds of twinkling lights illuminate this charming and kitsch old-world style town. Also visit the family run Jule Hus (Danish for Christmas House) to buy all your traditional European Christmas ornaments.
With furry friends in Anchorage, Alaska
If you’re an animal lover and have a fondness for reindeer then consider visiting Anchorage, Alaska. At the reindeer farm (located off the Old Glen Highway just north of Anchorage) you can enjoy a tour where you can feed and pet the reindeer as well as other animals such as elk, moose and blacktail deer. Although if you’re a sensitive individual be warned you might end up being served poor Rudolph in the restaurant at the end of your tour.
A country music Christmas in Nashville, Tennessee
This might not be an obvious choice but you like your Christmas experience to be pretty extreme try Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It was voted “The most Christmassy hotel in the nation” and named in the top ten places to spend Christmas in the world (by Travel & Leisure magazine). If you sign up for the hotel’s country Christmas package you’ll see more than a dozen music shows and about 2 million lights. In fact all the people of Nashville know how to properly celebrate Christmas and there are plenty of Christmas events happening here ranging from a Christmas tree auction to a display of interactive ice sculptures of Charles Schulze’s Peanuts gang!
With cocktails and cigars in Cuba
If family Christmas celebrations really bring out the worst in you then Cuba might be the perfect antidote. Leave the cold behind and smoke cigars, sip mojitos and salsa dance the night away on a white sandy beach. Spend Christmas day touring the main sites of Havana, Varadero and Jardines del Rey (a cluster of coral reef islands located off Cuba’s north coast) in a 1950’s Cadillac.
Tags: Australia, Europe, Travel
19 February, 2010
I enjoy reading your blog, I usually learn random interesting facts.
Emily RandallHusky Training
1 December, 2009
There is just so many magical places to visit but I would have to begin at Anchorage, Alaska, loving the articles superb.
28 November, 2009
Thanks for sharing the Ten great alternative Christmas destinations. Wish If I could visit Cuba. Seems to be a wonderful place.