🇦🇬 ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
Antigua
A beach for every day of the year, calm turquoise bays and Sunday sunsets at Shirley Heights.
Beach✈️ 9h10 to 14 nights£££
BEST TIMEDEC–APR
🎄 HOLIDAY IDEAS
Christmas holidays
Christmas markets and snow, Santa in Lapland or a beach in the sunshine. Here's where to go on holiday over Christmas, near and far.
Christmas holidays: 44 guides
🇧🇧 BARBADOS
Barbados
Calm Caribbean beaches, swimming with turtles and fish fries on a Friday night.
Beach✈️ 9h10 to 14 nights£££
BEST TIMEDEC–APR
🇧🇪 BELGIUM
Bruges
Canals, chocolate shops and a medieval square with an ice rink at Christmas, a short hop from the UK.
City break✈️ 1h2 to 3 nights££
BEST TIMEMAY–JUN, SEP, DEC
🇭🇺 HUNGARY
Budapest
Steaming outdoor thermal baths, chimney cakes at the Christmas markets and great value for a city break.
City break✈️ 3h3 to 4 nights£
BEST TIMEMAY–JUN, SEP, DEC
🇲🇽 MEXICO
Cancún
Caribbean beaches, Maya pyramids and swimming in underground caves.
Beach✈️ 11h10 to 14 nights££
BEST TIMEDEC–APR
🇿🇦 SOUTH AFRICA
Cape Town
Penguins on the beach, a mountain with a cable car and a jet-lag-free flight.
City break✈️ 13h10 to 14 nights££
BEST TIMENOV–MAR
🇫🇷 FRANCE
Colmar
A fairytale Alsace town of painted houses and canals that looks like a Christmas card in December.
City break✈️ 2h3 to 4 nights££
BEST TIMEMAY–JUN, SEP, DEC
🇩🇪 GERMANY
Cologne
Seven Christmas markets, a chocolate museum and a vast cathedral, all easy to reach by train from the UK.
City break✈️ 2h2 to 3 nights££
BEST TIMEMAY–JUN, SEP, DEC
🇩🇰 DENMARK
Copenhagen
Old-fashioned fairground rides, harbour swims and the home of Lego next door.
City break✈️ 2h3 to 4 nights£££
BEST TIMEMAY–AUG
🇩🇪 GERMANY
Dresden
Germany's oldest Christmas market, the home of Stollen cake, in a baroque city rebuilt along the River Elbe.
City break✈️ 2h3 nights£
BEST TIMEMAY–JUN, SEP, DEC
🇦🇪 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Dubai
Winter sun, water parks and the tallest building in the world.
City break✈️ 8h5 to 7 nights£££
BEST TIMENOV–MAR
🇮🇳 INDIA
Goa
Palm-fringed beaches, Portuguese churches and one of India's biggest Christmas celebrations.
Beach✈️ 11h10 to 14 nights£
BEST TIMENOV–MAR
🇪🇸 SPAIN
Gran Canaria
Golden dunes, year-round sunshine and a Christmas nativity made of sand, about four hours from the UK.
Beach✈️ 5h7 nights££
BEST TIMEOCT–MAR
🇦🇹 AUSTRIA
Hallstatt
A painted lakeside village under the Alps, with salt-mine slides and ice caves.
Nature & hiking✈️ 2h3 to 5 nights££
BEST TIMEJUN, SEP
🇦🇹 AUSTRIA
Innsbruck
An Alpine city where cable cars from the centre take you up into the snow, with Christmas markets below.
City break✈️ 2h4 to 7 nights££
BEST TIMEJUN–AUG, DEC–FEB
🇵🇱 POLAND
Kraków
A castle with a fire-breathing dragon, an underground salt mine and great value.
City break✈️ 3h3 to 4 nights£
BEST TIMEMAY–SEP
🇸🇮 SLOVENIA
Lake Bled
A church on an island, a castle on a cliff and a lakeside Christmas market under the Julian Alps.
Nature & hiking✈️ 3h3 to 5 nights££
BEST TIMEMAY–JUN, SEP, DEC
🇪🇸 SPAIN
Lanzarote
Volcanoes, black lava fields and calm golden beaches, with warm sunshine right through Christmas.
Beach✈️ 4h7 nights££
BEST TIMEOCT–MAR
🇫🇮 FINLAND
Levi
Finnish Lapland's biggest ski resort, with husky rides, reindeer farms and Santa in the forest at Christmas.
Skiing✈️ 4h4 to 7 nights£££
BEST TIMEDEC–MAR
🇸🇮 SLOVENIA
Ljubljana
A green, car-free old town, a castle on the hill and Lake Bled less than an hour away.
City break✈️ 3h4 to 7 nights££
BEST TIMEMAY–SEP
🇲🇻 MALDIVES
Maldives
Overwater villas, white sand and reefs full of turtles right off the beach.
Beach✈️ 12h7 to 10 nights£££
BEST TIMEDEC–APR
🇲🇺 MAURITIUS
Mauritius
Lagoon beaches, giant tortoises and rainbow-coloured sand in the Indian Ocean.
Beach✈️ 13h10 to 14 nights£££
BEST TIMEAPR–MAY, SEP–DEC
🇺🇸 UNITED STATES
New York
Huge parks, rooftop views and a pretzel on every corner.
City break✈️ 8h4 to 6 nights£££
BEST TIMEAPR–JUN, SEP–OCT
🇩🇪 GERMANY
Nuremberg
Gingerbread, sausages and one of Germany's most famous Christmas markets, under a medieval castle.
City break✈️ 2h3 nights££
BEST TIMEMAY–JUN, SEP, DEC
Showing 24 of 44 guides
Christmas holidays: common questions
Where are the best Christmas markets in Europe?
Strasbourg, Colmar, Nuremberg, Dresden and Cologne have some of the oldest and biggest. Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, Budapest and Bruges are lovely too. Most run from late November until just before Christmas, though some stay open until New Year.
Where can we meet Santa at Christmas?
Finnish Lapland is the classic choice. Rovaniemi has Santa Claus Village on the Arctic Circle, while Levi and Saariselkä are smaller and quieter, with Santa visits, huskies and reindeer in the forest.
Where can we have a white Christmas?
Lapland and Tromsø are almost certain to have snow. In the Alps, high resorts like Zermatt are the safest bet, and Innsbruck and Salzburg often have snow in the mountains nearby.
Where is warm at Christmas?
Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife are about four hours away and usually around 20 to 24°C. Further afield, the Caribbean, Thailand, Goa, Sri Lanka and the Maldives are in their dry season, and Cape Town and Sydney are in summer.
When should we book a Christmas holiday?
As early as you can. Christmas and New Year are the busiest and dearest weeks of the year to travel. Going in early December, to see the markets before the school holidays, is often much cheaper.
Browse by holiday type
Browse by month
Browse by country
🎟️ IDEAS ON STANDBY
Found somewhere you like?
Put it on standby with the rest of your family's ideas. Everyone spreads their points in secret, gets one veto, and the draw picks where you go.