Christmas holiday destinations

The Christmas fortnight is the most expensive stretch of the travel year, and it is really three different trips that get discussed as one.

The Christmas-itself trip, where the day is the point. The between-the-dates trip, from the 26th to New Year, which has its own problem. And the escape, to somewhere it is summer.

Picking which one you are taking is most of the decision.

The date that decides everything

Rates and fares rise steeply from about 18 December and stay high until the first week of January.

So the cheapest good week is 8 to 17 December. The markets are open, the lights are up, the atmosphere is complete, and it costs a fraction of the week that follows. Our ranked markets guide has the opening dates.

And one counter-intuitive saving: travel on 25 December itself. Airports and roads are among the quietest of the entire period and fares on the day are often well below the 23rd and 24th.

Trip one: Christmas itself

Finnish Lapland

The version with children in it. Rovaniemi, Levi and Saariselkä: reindeer, huskies, the aurora, snow that is guaranteed rather than hoped for, and the Santa Claus Village, which is either the whole point or the thing you route around.

The catch is the cost and the daylight. Lapland at Christmas is expensive and books out a year ahead, and there are roughly four hours of usable light, with the polar night above the Arctic Circle.

The Alps

Christmas in the mountains, and the honest note is that Christmas week is the single most expensive ski week of the season and the snow is more reliable in January.

Austria, Slovenia, the Dolomites and Bulgaria are all materially cheaper than Switzerland and France for the same week.

The German-speaking markets, up to the 24th

Dresden, Nuremberg, Vienna, Salzburg. Our ranked guide has the dates, and the critical one is that most German markets close on 24 December, which Nuremberg's own site confirms and which almost no round-up mentions.

Trip two: the week between, and its problem

This is the week most people actually have off, and it is the week the German markets are shut.

Three cities carry it:

Vienna, whose Rathausplatz market runs to 26 December, and whose smaller markets at Spittelberg and Karlsplatz are better anyway. Our two-day Vienna route has the city.

Budapest, running to about 1 January, with the best market food in Europe and the thermal baths, which in the snow are one of the best hours in European travel.

Zagreb, running to 7 January and the longest of them all, across twenty-five locations and at roughly half the price of Vienna.

Beyond the markets, this week is genuinely good for:

Rome, Florence and Naples, which are mild, and where the presepe nativity tradition is a real thing rather than a decoration.

Prague and Krakow, both beautiful in snow and both much cheaper than the western capitals. Our Krakow route covers the second.

And the ski season, which is properly under way by the 27th.

Trip three: the escape

December is high summer south of the equator, which is the cleanest solution to Christmas if you want no part of it.

Australia and New Zealand. Beach Christmas, and the peak of their school holidays. Our Sydney and Australian calendar guides have the detail.

Brazil and Argentina. High summer, and Rio's Réveillon at the end of it, which our New Year guide covers.

Cape Town and the Western Cape, at their best and their busiest.

And the tropical dry seasons all line up here: Thailand's Andaman coast, southern Vietnam, the Gulf, Egypt's Red Sea, the Caribbean and Mexico are all in their good months, which our winter sun guide sets out properly.

The traps

The compulsory gala dinner. Hotels and resorts across southern Europe, the Caribbean, Egypt, the Gulf and Southeast Asia add a mandatory Christmas or New Year dinner charge per person, frequently not shown in the headline rate. Ask in writing before booking.

Everything being shut on 25 December in Christian-majority countries. In much of Europe that includes public transport running a Sunday or reduced service, supermarkets closed, and most restaurants closed. Book Christmas lunch weeks ahead or plan to self-cater.

Boxing Day is not universal. It is a public holiday in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and much of northern Europe, and it is an ordinary working day in much of southern Europe and the US.

And the markets closing. Covered above, and it is the most common single disappointment of the season.

What we would actually do

If the trip is about Christmas: go 8 to 17 December to a German or Austrian market city, and come home for the day itself. Best atmosphere, half the price.

If the dates are fixed by school terms: Vienna, Budapest or Zagreb for the between-week, because they are the ones still running.

If you would rather it were summer: south, and book early, because the southern hemisphere school holidays run from mid-December and those routes fill.

Before you book

The ranked Christmas markets have the dates and the prices, and New Year's Eve destinations covers the other end of the fortnight.

December and January have the months, and Europe in winter explains why the first week of January is the cheapest good travel of the year.

The when to go hub collects the seasonal guides and the December month page rates the catalogue. Prices are in each destination's own currency and the converter does the rest.

Market dates and public holiday arrangements checked September 2026 against Nuremberg's official market site and Vienna's city tourist board. Closing dates are set per market and per year, and public holiday observance differs by country. Here is how we research and re-check guides.