The Best Places to Go for Christmas Around the World

From Paris to Hong Kong, the best places to go for Christmas around the world offer their own delightful twists on the holiday spirit—with plenty of familiar seasonal traditions like Christmas markets, ice skating, and glimmering trees to satisfy every nostalgic yuletide yearning.

With that in mind, it’s hard to think of anything more appealing than spending the holidays abroad. This year, many U.S. travelers will skip nearby favorites and head to far-flung global destinations. “Overall, holiday travel bookings are up 40 percent over 2023 and sales are up by 35 percent,” explains Misty Belles of the travel advisory company Virtuoso. “Given the nightly rates are only averaging a four percent increase, that tells us people are spending more per trip and likely staying longer in the destination.”

Among the most popular places to go for Christmas abroad? Cities in Northern Europe—like London, Madrid, and Rome. “There’s something truly special about traveling to Europe for the winter holidays, from experiencing the holiday markets to indulging in local culture and traditions,” explains travel expert Daniel Durazo of Allianz Partners. Belles has seen the same trend: “For the past two years, though, we’ve started to see a rise in European travel over the holiday break and even a tendency toward more exotic locations like Japan, which is up 267 percent from last year, and Morocco, up almost 300% year-over-year.”

With that in mind, it seems that many of the best places to go for Christmas offer a little something for everyone, making them perfect for the grinches among us who don’t swoon over Santa and eggnog. Think: world-class shopping, stunning natural landscapes, culinary adventures, and thriving cultural scenes. And, for those who prefer to drink your holiday cocktails on a sunny beach, that’s always an option, too.

Read on for some of the best places to go for Christmas abroad this year, from the tried-and-true to the unexpected.

Cologne, Germany