dutyfree

Would love some imput as to where you have gone in the past on family vacations overseas-thanks!

KayF

We lived for a few years in the UK and one year went to Nice for Christmas and another year to Strasbourg. Both in France but very different trips. The weather was a big factor, in Nice it was sunny and around 13 celsius most days so not too bad at all. In Strasbourg it was pretty miserable, around 2 celsius if we were lucky. We did a couple of days trips to nearby villages and it was really too cold for us to enjoy. Even the fountains were frozen solid.

Plus, something I hadn't really thought about, we loved the apartment in Nice, I could have happily moved in for good. The one in Strasbourg had that industrial-chic feel which I hated. It was owned by architects so things looked good but were impractical.

Kay

travelgourmet

Recently, I've done Cancun, Southern Spain, Paris, SE Asia, and simply stayed at home in Copenhagen.

Frankly, I do not like Europe at Christmas time. Too many closures and the weather sucks. SE Asia would be my first choice for the future.

jamikins

We have spent xmas in Bruges, Strasbourg, Paris, Lisbon and now we are going to Rome this year.

We loved them all! We found the northern countries more xmasy, but Lisbon weather was warmer - but we did get more rain there than anywhere else.

Oh and of course we live in London so we have been there as well

telechick

We went to Sicily one year and that was great - I almost got to go skiing on Mt. Etna, but the winds were too strong the day we were there. I loved all the creches they have in Sicily, each village seemed to try to outdo the others. Also all the marzipan figures were cool.

I've also been to Greece several times over Christmas and did go skiing once on Mt. Parnassus.

crefloors

My neice was spending the year in Copenhagen in 2006 and my brother, SIL, and I went to visit her two days after Christmas and we stayed for a little over two weeks, spending part of the time in Stockholm.

They had way more snow than normal that year and it was very cold, but I have to tell you it was one of my best vacations ever. All the Christmas stuff was up, they were still celebrating, stores were having sales, there were no crowds, Tivoli was open for a special Christmas market that was still happening, and it was lovely.

I was dressed right and was never cold while we walked around. I loved it.

dutyfree

Hubs and I live in the states and both of my kids live in the UK so was hoping to find a "warmer" place to meet up with them during the holidays.I was hoping to find a place where everything is not shut up during the week of Christmas? I know that alot of the truly "Catholic" countries are usually shut from the 24th December through New Years.
Telechick-my daughter studied in Ortigia in Sicily and we love it there but thought that everything would be shut up tight during the holidays. Did you run into anything like that with the exception of actual Christmas Day? Thanks!

MelJ

We went to Paris a few years ago ON Christmas day and stayed through new year and it was wonderful.

We took the whole family to Italy ON Christmas--started in Venice and ended with New Year in Rome and, while it was a little more crowded than I expected in Rome, it was wonderful, as well.

We like traveling on Christmas day because the planes aren't full and have lots of room to spread out.

Underhill

We went to London. There was snow on Christmas Eve and it was magical.

JulieVikmanis

We've been traveling with our grown kids over Christmas/New Years for several years and really enjoy it.
Did Paris the year they had the storm of the century that ripped trees up all over Versailles.
Enjoyed Garmisch Partenkirchen where I think they invented Christmas.
Year following went to Salzburg and couldn't decide whether we liked Garmisch or Salzburg better--son skied in both and preferred Salzburg, better runs. Salzburg also had best NYEve fireworks.
Went to Istanbul one year. Interesting and no Christmas crowds.
Divided our time between Florence and Rome one year. Crisp but very good weather.
Barcelona another year--expecting better weather than in Rome but interestingly not so. Fun city but not especially Christmassy and NYEve on Ramblas was positively scary. Would save BCN for a different occasion than Christmas.
Chamonix and Geneva--again for skiing. Very nice.
Considering Dolomites this year though transport logistics are somewhat more difficult than other venues.

Kathie

Well, this is the "wrong" board for this answer, but I've been in Tahiti, Thailand, Indonesia (Java and Bali), Nepal, Singapore, Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan for Christmas (obviously, all on different trips). For meeting up with your UK kids, consider Morocco or Tunisia or Jordan or Egypt.

dutyfree

Kathie-ironically since the death of my mom(and then other loved ones) two years ago we have done Christmas overseas. We did Egypt and Jordan the first year and did Morocco last year. Our family really enjoyed the experience of not having the"last minute sales at midnight pitches" that bombard us here in the states and having things open during our Western holiday season.I always bring a little tree and the kids get something really stupid under the tree on Christmas Day-last year it was Pez dispensers which is perfect when you are over 25?
We have miles with AA and had thought about Australia but am wondering if it would be crazy with everyone being on vacation.I have been trying to find someplace that they could get great deals out of the UK to meet us so keep those suggestions coming everyone!

sassy_cat

While living in the UK we've vacationed in France, Tenerife and Turkey at Christmas.
Our week in France (Normandy) was rather wet and the pool at the hotel we stayed at was cold as the heater was broken and couldn't be repaired until after the holiday.
Tenerife and Turkey we had much better weather and enjoyed both.

Since we moved to Massachusetts we try to escape the winter but we usually travel at Thanksgiving and during Feb vacation. This year we'll be away at Christmas (Riviera Maya).

FoFoBT

While living in Belgium and the UK, we celebrated Christmas in Baden-Baden and Paris. Both were lovely. We also had my mother over for one Christmas in the UK - Mom and I went in to London a few times to window shop and have tea (great fun), see the Nutcracker (disappointing in comparison to NYC), and have Christmas dinner at the Marlow Donkey gastropub in Marlow (sociable and cheery). I also flew once from the UK to Florida to celebrate with her (the year after my father died). We went up The Villages to shop and listen to the live music (a lot of fun), went to a Christmas Eve service at her church (very nice) and had Christmas Day dinner with several of her friends in the retirement community where she lived.

While living in Brussels, I spent one Christmas alone (with the cocker spaniel) while my husband went to visit his parents for the holidays - the first time he'd seen them over Christmas for years. I had a pleasant if quiet time alone - it snowed, so I took the dog for a long walk in the park.

At the moment, we have no overnight holiday plans - our cocker is blind so she's nervous in strange places; she also has stage IV lymphoma but is currently in remission and we're hoping she's still in remission at Christmas - that would be our favourite gift. I am taking three weeks off over the holidays and we'll enjoy various day trips.

macanimals

We had an opportunity one Christmas to spend it in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area. Without a lot of planning, we stayed in Grainau and ventured up to the Zugspitze-- a great experience. Our hotel hosts were very concerned for us regarding Christmas Eve and Christmas day dinners and arranged for two local restaurants to make room for our family of four. It was magical with walks on snow covered paths with cemeteries lit up with candles, hot gluhwine being served along the trails and costumed locals and visitors in the restaurant--Gemutlich! We'll never forget the experience. As someone said, "I think they invented Christmas" and it is pleasant without all the commercialism.

kingster

Two years ago my wife and I agreed to get out of Dodge for Christmas, so, we planned the following trip. 3 other couples joined us.

12/22 NY to Munich
12/23 Arrive Munich, City Tour, Christmas Markets, Dinner
12/24 Train to Vienna, Christmas Eve Dinner - http://www.weisser-rauchfangkehrer.at/
12/25 Christmas Day Brunch, Visit Belveder Palace and Christmas Market, pick up pvt. tour of Vienna and Vienna Woods. Christmas Dinner in hotel.
12/26 Vienna Shopping and site seeing
12/27 Train to Salzburg
12/28 Touring Salzburg and area
12/29 Salzburg *one day too many*
12/30 Train to Luzern
12/31 City tour and New Years Eve dinner event at our hotel, The National = AMAZING fireworks on the lake, clear view in front of our hotel! +++
01/01 Boat ride across the lake to Mt. Rigi Cog Railway for a ride to the top of the mountain and one of the best views of the Alps and various lakes.
01/02 Train takes us from Luzern directly to the airport in Zurich for departure to the US.

We had a blast! We bought goodies, wine and cards that made our train rides as much fun as anything else. You should count on many shops and businesses being closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve Day, and New Years Day throughout Europe and many international cities and work to make plans ahead of time based on what is open and available. Most hotels can arrange private tours and email help you confirm that what you want to see is open. We did not have any children with us on this trip, but it could have easily been made into a kid friendly or family vacation.

All good suggestions on this thread. Making notes.
Tell us what you decide!
Kingster

JulieVikmanis

Kingster your Christmas in snow sounds terrific. Lots of different venues but doable.

steviegene

My family went to London for Christmas one year when I was 15. We had a wonderful time and went to St. Bart's for a memorable Christmas service. Then we drove out to Stonehenge the next day and found out it was closed for Boxing Day - a UK holiday! But we had a great trip!

kingster

Dear Julie: Oddly enough, we had a very dry Christmas when we were there, but it was fabulous non the less. Only snow that stuck was up on the top of the Rigi. We had our ski boots on board with the intention of changing course and renting skis if the opportunity presented itself. Conditions were not favorable enough to alter plans, so, we stuck to the original schedule and no regrets. Following year was much different, I understand, but I am glad we did what we did. Best, K

maitaitom

Paris in 2001 and 2006 and Rome in 2009. Here are my 2006 and 2009 trip reports with photos and also a video of our Paris trip. Of the two spots, we enjoyed Paris at Christmas the best.

http://www.travelswithmaitaitom.com/...eims_2006.html

http://www.travelswithmaitaitom.com/...ideo_2006.html


http://www.travelswithmaitaitom.com/...Rome_2009.html