10 Best Destinations To Celebrate Christmas!

We have a Santa Claus because the Dutch brought us Sinterklaas, their version of St. Nick as a bearded gift-giver who rewards good children. But Sint, as he’s called, visits on December 5, Saint Nicholas’ Eve, so the Dutch celebrate a two-part Christmas: toys and presents on the fifth, and family and food on the 25th. Between both celebrations, Amsterdam comes alive with white lights everywhere, shopping avenues fill up, and everyone hopes the weather will get cold enough for the canals to freeze over so they can have a big ice skating party. Stroll the mesmerizing streets within the central canal ring where the 16th- and 17th-century canal houses contain welcoming bars, cafes in which to linger, and well-appointed homes whose windows invite a peek or two, all dressed up for the holidays.

It’s not just Rockefeller Center and its world-famous Christmas tree that is decked out in its holiday finest every year. Christmas in New York is timeless and beautiful. A carriage ride through Central Park is like living in Currier and Ives print in the middle of Manhattan. The Rockettes don their Santa outfits at Radio City Music Hall and the windows at Macy’s are an ever-changing wonderland of animatronics and set design. For a more high-wattage New York City holiday experience, head to Dyker Heights in Southern Brooklyn, where neighbors battle it out every year for the most impressive Christmas displays.

There are many towns in Germany where the buildings, decorations, and town center holiday markets create an irresistible Christmas vibe. Few can beat the appeal of Cologne, which boasts eight different Christmas markets on both sides of the Rhine, with the largest one located on the plaza in front of the city’s iconic cathedral, the Kölner Dam. “I think it’s a great city for families, and it’s also really quite romantic,” says Hall. Grab a cup of hot glühwein, a spiced, mulled wine that warms the most stubborn Christmas chills, and stroll the stalls at the markets, each of which is slightly different and offer a wide array of gifts, foods and holiday items.

There will be a white Christmas at Colorado’s most famous mountain town and ski resort area, where the slopes open in late November, and get packed during the holiday season. But there’s more to Aspen at Christmastime than sliding down mountains toward lodges with fires and warm drinks – although for many visitors, that’s enough. The town hosts a series of popular holiday music events, the shopping streets are well-attired for the season with tasteful displays of holiday cheer that encourage wintery strolls, and there’s a rustic Colorado-country vibe to Aspen’s Christmas celebrations that makes for memorable holiday vacations – especially if you like spending them going downhill at 20-25 miles an hour or more.

Dubbed “America’s Christmas Hometown,” Santa Claus, Indiana, enthusiastically embraces its role, with a wide array of Santa-themed shops and attractions, including Santa’s Candy Castle, the Santa Claus Museum, and Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari, for those who want it to be Christmastime all year ‘round, except with tube slides. The U.S. Post Office has been sending letters addressed to Santa to the town for more than a century, and since 1914, a group of “Santa’s Elves” from the town has made it their mission to answer each child’s letter.

When your city is known as The City of Light, there is a certain reputation to maintain. At no time is this more important or more evident than during Christmas, when strings of white lights in all shapes line the boulevards and shopping streets and when high-end stores put on elaborate Christmas displays that attract crowds from all over the world. At night, Parisians lace on their ice skates on a temporary rink beneath the glow of the Eiffel Tower. “There’s an atmosphere here during Christmas, a tone, that is distinctly Parisian,” says Hall. Somehow, that tone adds to the city’s romance--if such a thing is possible.

Boston wears its Old New England coat proudly, and at no time during the year is this more evident than during the holidays. Stroll around the historic part of the city, and an 18th-century New England Christmas lurks around every cobblestone street corner. There are more than 2,800 working gas lamps around town, white lights wrap trees along shopping streets creating glittering canopies, and the impressive Christmas tree in front of Faneuil Hall is the centerpiece of a bustling scene below. And on those years when you’re lucky enough to get a dusting of snow, a Boston Christmas is unforgettable – it’s a holiday postcard from another century.

Capitalizing on its extreme northern location at the foot of the Arctic Circle, Napapiiri considers itself Europe’s Christmas capital due to the fact that it is Santa’s "true base of operations." And every year, the town draws thousands of visitors from all over Europe to tour the two different Santa-themed attractions, Santa Claus Village and Santa Park, which offer tours of Santa’s workshops, opportunities to buy some of Santa’s merchandise, encounters with genuine reindeer, and visits with the big man himself. There’s also a Santa-dedicated post office which functions as the European hub for its Indiana counterpart. And when parents begin to feel like they’ve overstayed their welcome with Santa, the nearby city of Rovaniemi provides a wider array of holiday delights.

Rome’s Christmas is more solemn than most, and can seem subdued when compared to the high-wattage frenzy of the holiday in the U.S. And that makes sense, considering the Vatican’s place as the leader of Catholicism, making Rome a place where faith and tradition take a more central role than in other cities. “Even if you care little for organized religion, midnight Mass in Rome’s Parthenon is moving and much more intimate that Christmas day services in Vatican City,” says Clampet. Plus, he says, the tourist crowds have thinned out and the weather can be pleasant. “I don’t understand why anyone would visit Rome in the summer when the holidays are really the perfect time to visit.”

Who says you need scarves and snow to have a truly authentic Christmas? Multi-colored lights look fantastic strung through palm trees, the coquito tastes a little like eggnog that’s mostly coconut, and a roasted, seasoned pork shoulder often muscles out turkey for center stage at a Puerto Rican Christmas table. The holiday season may get started earlier, and the buildup to the big day is similar to ours, but once the 25th rolls around, there are two weeks of family get togethers, parties, food, more parties, drinking, and one final family celebration on January 6, Three Kings Day. Old San Juan makes a good base, but a relative’s or friend’s house is even better.