The 10 best destinations to travel at Christmas

Christmas is undoubtedly the most magical time of the year, the streets are dressed in decorations and lights, Christmas carols are sung, hot drinks are drunk to help us pass the cold and the beginning of the new year is celebrated.

There are many cities that are preparing to experience this holiday, so we have made a selection of some of the most beautiful destinations and recommended to visit this Christmas, keeping in mind different tastes such as the climate of the place or if the trip is made in family. If you want to spend a different Christmas and that you will never forget, keep reading.

• We recommend you read: "15 Little-Known (But Spectacular) Travel Destinations"

The best places to visit at Christmas time

If you do not want to stay this Christmas at home and prefer to go to see the world, learn about the different Christmas traditions that exist in the different cities, we propose 10 very different destinations between them, with different traditions and temperatures but just as beautiful and spectacular in Christmas.

1. Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland

We can't start the list with any other place than Rovaniemi, Santa Claus town. If you want to live a 100% Christmas experience, visiting the Santa Claus cabin, the Post Office central Santa Claus, as well as meeting the elves and Santa Claus himself, you cannot miss visiting this place.

This is a perfect destination to go as a family, where children and adults will enjoy and feel the magic of the place, being able to do many and diverse activities such as taking a ride on a husky sled, a reindeer ride or going on a hike in motorcycle .

2. Disneyland Paris, France

If Disneyland Paris is already a place full of magic and fantasy throughout the year, at Christmas this place becomes a fairy tale. A Christmas tree full of lights will welcome you at the entrance, anticipating all the Christmas decorations that you will find both in the park and in your home. hotel rooms, the characters will be no less and they will dress in their best clothes, being able to also enjoy shows and special parades for this time of the year.

This place does not leave anyone indifferent, no matter how old you are, it will be an experience that you will never forget, having the possibility to celebrate New Year's Eve with all the Disney characters and enjoying the scenery snowy. You can also consider visiting Paris for a few days since this city also gets very beautiful at Christmas and since you are nearby it is better not to miss the opportunity.

3. New York, USA

New York is impressive all year round, reminding us of many of its corners of well-known movies, but at Christmas this one becomes especially beautiful, offering visitors multiple activities such as: ice skating, visiting Christmas markets where you can try the apple cider, an apple cider that is typically taken at Christmas, see the lighting of Christmas trees, both the Rockefeller center and the from Bryant park, always accompanied by a musical show and spectacular decorations in the windows of the shops located in the center from Manhattan.

If you want to go to a show we recommend the "Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular", it is without place doubts the Christmas show in New York where you can enjoy wonderful choreography in sets New Yorkers. Lastly, we can't not mention the possibility of celebrating the end of the year in Times Square, a scene that we have seen in many movies and where we can see how the ball falls and the fireworks that celebrate the beginning of the new year.

4. Cologne, Germany

Cologne is known as the capital of Christmas markets, made up of little wooden huts where you can find all kinds of Christmas products and decorations, you will be impregnated with the Christmas spirit and you can recover the temperature by taking for example a chocolate or a wine hot.

Some of the best-known Christmas markets in the city are: the cathedral market, which is the largest and most important, the market of the Old city where you can do activities such as ice skating, the village of Santa Claus where you can give the letter to Santa Claus, the market of Stadtgarten is perfect if you don't want to be in the center of the city surrounded by many people and the port market where Christmas merges with the maritime environment.

5. Sydney, Australia

If you want to spend Christmas without cold one of the destinations to choose could be Sydney in Australia. This city will give you the possibility to spend a very different Christmas than the one you are used to, but you will also have the possibility to go to concerts. Christmas carols, visiting Christmas markets, such as "The Rocks", and Christmas fairs such as the Sydney Christmas Fair, which is the most typical. You also can't miss the New Year's Eve fireworks that you can see from Sydney Harbor.

6. Copenhagen, denmark

In Denmark and especially Copenhagen, the Christmas markets are also typical where you can buy Christmas decorations and warm yourself with a mulled wine. Another recommended place to visit in this city is the Tivoli Gardens, these gardens close during the winter season but will return to open exclusively during Christmas, in them you will find restaurants, shops and attractions where you can enjoy the families

If you want to see one of the most beautiful Christmas decorations in the city, you cannot not go to the D'Angleterre hotel, with its facade dressed in large decorations and lights. We also recommend that if you want to live a different experience you can go see the Santa Lucía canoe show where the inhabitants of the city circulate with their canoes decorated with lights, concluding in the port where they will sing Christmas songs.

7. Prague, czech republic

Prague is another city that dresses up at Christmas, decorating all its streets and shop windows. We recommend you visit the Old Town Square where you will find the nativity scene, the large Christmas tree decorated with thousands of little lights and one of the most beautiful Christmas markets in Prague. Traveling to Prague at Christmas will give you the opportunity to see its most beautiful places such as the Charles Bridge or the Golden Alley in the castle district, illuminated and covered with snow, thus giving them a special magic and the feeling of being in a story or movie romantic

8. London England

London is also a beautiful city to visit at Christmas decorated with spectacular lights and decorations that you cannot miss, in especially those of Oxford Street, Regent Street and Carnaby Street which are some of the best known shopping streets in the town.

You will find the famous Trafalgar Square full of decorations and references to this holiday, as the largest Christmas tree in London, which as a curiosity to point out that this tree is a gift that Londoners receive each year from Norway, the nativity scene, as well as a Christmas market and culminating the Christmas spirit with the singing of Christmas carols.

Nor can you not visit the Winter Wonderland, which is a Christmas fair that is located in Hyde Park, here you will find many and diverse attractions for all types of ages. In this fair you will also find the Santa Land an area dedicated to Santa Claus where even the little ones will be able to meet him and give their letters.

Musicals and shows in London are renowned and famous throughout the year, but at the time of Christmas we can attend plays, musicals and special skating shows for this period festive. One of the most typical and beautiful shows to attend at this time is the ballet of The Nutcracker at the Colosseum in Covent Garden..

9. Reykjavik, Iceland

If you want to spend a Christmas in a cold climate, Reykjavik may be one of your options. The cold paradoxically helps to achieve a warmer environment, to seek more human contact, so you can socialize and warm up in some of the innumerable bars in the city. A curious Christmas tradition in Iceland is that they have 13 Santa Claus who are called Yule Lads which means the Men of Yule. These Santa Claus arrive by sleigh from the North Pole in a staggered manner, that is, Every night one arrives to leave gifts in the houses of the inhabitants of the country.

10. Brussels, Belgium

Brussels is another charming capital at Christmas the wonderful sound and light show on the Grand Place does not leave anyone indifferent, leaving you speechless and not knowing where to look. In this same square you will also find the large Christmas tree and a life-size nativity scene, as well as you can enjoy the great magical parade that takes place every Saturday in December.

If you can go to the neighboring villages such as Bruges and Ghent, you will have the opportunity to enjoy a very special Christmas atmosphere. You can also try the typical gastronomy of the area such as mussels with potatoes and hot wine. If you want to be more sheltered from the cold and see shops while still enjoying the Christmas decorations, we recommend you go to the Galeries Saint-Hubert.