MONEY & ENTERTAINMENT

Christmas is a time to celebrate life and spend some quality time with your loved ones. You get a long break from the routine existence and can spend the festive season by going for vacations to places of your choice. There is a large variety of Christmas vacation destinations you can chose from depending on your interests.

If you are thinking about visiting your family for the Christmas holidays, think again. More American families spend Christmas away from home each year than ever. Spending time with your family is important, and Christmas vacations away from home are becoming more popular all the time. If you have your heart set on giving your family a great holiday Christmas vacation, read on to learn the best places to go, and what you will find when you get there.

1. The North Pole
The North Pole (in New York that is). The Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, North Pole is one of the most magical places to visit during your Christmas vacation. Perfect for kids and kids at heart, North Pole is open for five weekends prior to Christmas during November and December. Visitors are offered Christmas vacation packages that include meals, lodging, and admission to Santa's workshop. Santa's Village features shops where you can find the perfect souvenir from your Christmas vacation. There is often live music to keep the crowds entertained and you and your family can enjoy lots of live shows and performances.

2. Alaska
If the real North Pole seems a bit far, but you're itching for the real thing; why not try a vacation in Alaska? There are specialty Alaska cruises available that will make your family giddy, pampered, and happy beyond measure. The Alaskan cruise North Pole Christmas vacation includes hotel accommodations in nearby Fairbanks and at the Chena Hot Springs Resort. There is also lodging available at the Santaland RV Park if you want to pay less for you lodging.

3. Pennsylvania
A word to the wise about Pennsylvania - as beautiful as it may be there is a smog warning in effect so bringing those with severe asthma along would seem to be an unwise choice. Pennsylvania is the home of chocolate company Hershey's. Over one million Christmas lights are put on display and the staff constructs elaborate animated displays for children. There is something special about Christmas lights that bring out the Christmas cheer in all of us.

4. Disney
Although some say it is overdone, a Disney vacation might be just the thing for the kids, and the holidays are the perfect time. Keep in mind that vacation packages get booked well in advance, so you will want to make plans far ahead of the intended date. Disney puts on special Christmas shows in the parks and along their rides. Giant Christmas trees are put up and the general motif is a mid-70's era.

If you want to spend your Christmas vacation elsewhere, here are a few ideas.

For most North Americans, the charm of a visit to Europe is that chance to experience a country's rich culture-- and what better time of year for Europe than Christmas, a time full of special traditions, celebrations, decorations, and seasonal warmth?

You might sip hot chocolate at a Christmas market, listen to a choir in a midnight service at a medieval cathedral... even the storefronts, all decorated for the season, can be an experience.

And a bonus, for those traveling to Christmas in Europe: you can get there with lower airfares and stay in hotels with off-season rates.

London Christmas
From carolers under lamplights to figgy pudding: much of the way we picture Christmas comes from Victorian England. So go enjoy that Victorian architecture (all decked out for the holidays), imagine you're on Bob Cratchet's street, and have extra fun at London Christmas events.

What events can you see there? Well, one of the biggest events of the season is the New Year’s Day Parade. Biggest event of its kind in the world, audience of over a million, hundreds of dancers and musicians; now part of the larger London Parade Festival with concerts and other performances in and around London between Christmas and New Year's.

---

---

---

There are also many venues to hear caroling, but perhaps tops for tourists are the nightly performances by the giant Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square. You can also hear carols in the Royal Albert Hall, and in many historic houses, such as Sutton House.

German Christmas
Christmas Markets are a German tradition: the market in Dresden dates back to 1434. Nearly four centuries ago, a Nuremberg priest complained that no one came to his afternoon church service on Christmas Eve: instead, everyone was shopping at the market nearby.

Nowadays almost every town in Germany has a Christmas market and many vie to be unique. Dortmund has the world's biggest Christmas tree; another town boasts the world's biggest candle. Some markets last only a few days, but many begin in late November and continue to Christmas Eve.

The markets in Berlin, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Dresden, Frankfurt and Munich draw millions of visitors each year.

Most markets are open from mid-morning to 8 or 9 p.m. While you're visiting, you might enjoy some great Christmas market foods, such as hot fruit punch, "Glühwein" (Hot Spiced Wine), hot chocolate, "Lebkuchen" (Gingerbread), sauteed mushrooms with sauces, baked potatoes (loaded), and more. Special items to look for include: glass ornaments, wooden ornaments, wooden toys, and German Christmas Pyramids.

Christmas in France
Christmas in France or Paris is memorable and magical. Hit the enticing Christmas markets, sing at midnight mass in a stunning gothic cathedral or dive into a Reveillon feast. Christmas is downright amazing when you spend the holidays in charming France. There are many Christmas markets throughout France, such as the ones in Colmar, Strasbourg, Brissac-Quince, Nancy and Montlouis-sur-Loire. The Alsatian towns (like Strasbourg, Colmar and Nancy) are especially charming at Christmas time, with the influence of Germany and their fairy-tale timbered buildings and Christmas shops selling ornaments and cuckoo clocks.

France's glorious cathedrals pack them in for midnight mass on Christmas Eve, a longtime and sacred tradition in this country. The cathedrals are lit with dozens of candles and filled with the sounds of Christmas carols and hymns.

Christmas in Italy
Christmas season in Italy is mainly celebrated December 24-January 6, or Christmas Eve through Epiphany. This follows the pagan season of celebrations that started with Saturnalia, a winter solstice festival, and ended with the Roman New Year, the Calends. However there are lots of Christmas things to see during December prior to Christmas, many starting on December 8, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception.

Although Babo Natale (Father Christmas) and giving presents on Christmas are becoming more common, the main day for gift giving is Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas when the three Wise Men gave Baby Jesus their gifts. In Italy, presents are brought by La Befana, who arrives in the night to fill children's stockings.

Christmas in Sweden
Surely the most unique vacation spot on the planet has got to be an ethereally beautiful ice hotel that melts in the springtime every year.

Sweden's Ice Hotel is built on a river shore in a village called Jukkasjarvi in Swedish Lapland. Creating the Ice Hotel each winter takes 10,000 tons of river ice, plus 30,000 tons of snow. The Ice Hotel has an ice sauna, ice chapel, and a famous Absolut Ice bar that's different every year.

Guests sleep in special sleeping bags on beds made of snow and ice and covered with reindeer skins; a hot drink is brought to the bedside at morning-time.

Warm outdoor clothing is provided. Several cabins with bunk beds are available.

Wherever you choose to go in this winter vacation, may you have a lot of fun and a Merry Christmas!

go to archives