Fairytale Christmas Town?
 

Hi Everyone,

I want to surprise my wife and kids (3 & 4 girls) by taking them someplace special at Christma time. I need snow, festive atmosphere,shopping and restaurants in an old time towm setting, preferably not a city and not more than a couple of hours flying time from Orlando, Florida. Any suggestions would be gratly appreciated.

Tony - no offense, but if you want guaranteed snow at Christmas a 2 hour flight from Orlando, you're not going to find much of anything. You might want to rethink this.
((S))((*))

The Hawaiian is right -- for (almost) guaranteed snow in late Dec., you'll need to go to western New York state or northern VT or NH.

Guaranteed snow would be in CO Rockies, but that's too far away. I'll pile on with the others and say that you're not going to find anywhere within a 2 hour flight that is guaranteed to have snow.

Ok guys you will have to pardon my ignorance. But we are from Ireland and spend two months every two months on vacation in Florida. Which explains my ignorance of snowfall in the US. Any suggestions for anywhere in the US would be appreciated.

Tony

I'm not very familiar with New England, but Southwest has non-stop flights to Manchester, NH that are under 3 hours in length. There certainly must be a picturesque town within a short driving distance of the airport.

I have always wanted to go to VT and NH and have had this link saved to my computer for a few years now! Perhaps it will have some ideas for you...

http://travelandleisure.com/Invoke.c...A40002B3309983

Can't guarantee you the snow, but if you want a wonderful weekend complete with Santa, a sleigh ride, roaring fires, just everything festive...check out The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.

a sleigh ride at the Grove Park??? Where? on their golf course? Chances are slim that there will be snow but there will be Santa and a big roaring fire in the lobby...

How about Kennebunkport, Maine? Easy drive from Portland, Maine, airport.

The places that come to my mind aren't that easy to get to. Adirondacks - no good airports, no good shopping really. Escept, maybe, Lake Placid - still, not exactly a regional airport. I would think Vermont, but I don't know where...Woodtock Vermont is pretty. Burlington Vermont?

How about Quebec City - can be quite charming.

Western NY is iffy - we're just as likely to have a TON of snow as none at all.

You can do sleigh rides outside Boone, NC. And, if there is no snow, they run the sleigh on wheels. A little strange, but sometimes the best the SE can manage. :-)

1) Aspen, Colorado
2) Telluride, Colorado
3) Breckenridge, Colorado

in that order. There will be snow. And there will be shopping, especially in Aspen.

Does it have to be in the US? If there are no problems with visas, what about Quebec City. It's very charming with plenty of shops and restaurants in a quaint European setting and there would likely be snow. I'm not sure about flying time from Florida but it's only a three-hour flight between Florida and Toronto and I can't imagine that Quebec City would be much longer.

as a lifelong new england skier, i can tell you no one can promise you snow in new england by Christmas. The ski mountains in new england will have snow, but most of it might be man made and once you leave the mountain base there could be little to nothing on the ground anywhere else - or, we could have 3 feet. but that would be unusual.
If you want guaranteed snow I agree with poster who told you to head to Colorado/out west - although flights might already be hard to come by. Or try Canada. Decorations and activities will be fun in many places in New England, but the now can not be guaranteed. And it sounds like you want a destination near the airport, and some in new england that might have snow, would be a drive from most major airport.

You could fly into Manchester, NH and drive up to the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods.
http://www.mtwashington.com/hotelinformation/index.cfm

Or fly into Burlington, VT and stay at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe.
http://www.trappfamily.com/index.html

Further info on both can be found on-line. Unfortunately, snow not guaranteed... Best Wishes!

Dreamer2 has given you good ideas. Another one is to fly to Manchester, NH and drive north to Jackson, NH. There are several lovely Inns there that I would think would be all decked out for Christmas. And you could shop to your hearts delight in nearby North Conway, NH (where there are lots of lodging options as well). Another lovely spot is Woodstock, VT (accessible from Manchester as well) but the shopping is more boutiques not the great deals you might want before going back to Ireland.

I would like to live in the town that looks storybook at Christmas. The kind you see on TV (Home Alone) where he runs to the store and back to his big beautiful house...aahhh....
I wish you luck in finding your town. Let me know if you do!! I may go next year!

There are lots of very charming small towns in VT & NH. Naturally. the further north and into the mountains you go, the greater chance of snow. I've lived up here for 25 years, and about 20 Christmas' have been white. As others have mentioned, fly into Manchester NH or Burlington Vt. If you want someplace with shopping and restaurants, that narrows down your choices considerably. In Vt, look into Montpelier, Woodstock, Stowe, Chester, & Manchester(don't confuse Manchester NH which is a big city, with Manchester VT). In NH there are Jackson, Littleton, Sunapee, New London. Hanover, Conway.

girl, I think that was in New Jersey

Nope, I was wrong -

Home Alone
The family's house is located on Lincoln Ave. in the city of Winnetka, IL. It has maintained the same exact look as it was in the movie. The house is located a few streets from its creator, John Hughes. His home and offices are both there.

If you do the upstate New Hampshire trip, your girls would love Santa's Village. It's geared toward their ages, with rides all Christmas themed, cooking making with the elves, a visit with Santa, and so on. There's even real reindeer. It's about half an hour north of North Conway. They have a website. I believe it's santasvillage.com.

Also in the area is the Polar Express train ride. We've never done it, but I believe it's run by the Mt. Washington Cogg Railroad. As I recall, tickets are hard to come by, but it might be worth a try.

It's alot longer than 2 hours away but Tahoe is very Chritmasy. Incline Village, Tahoe City and Truckee all have a nice holiday feeling. Northstar ski resort has sleigh rides and of corse great skiing.

starrsville, I grew up in NJ. I thought when I read NJ, where??? I thought I heard that it was in Illinois. What a pretty town it looks like.

If I remember correctly, they used fake snow in that movie. (Might have been filmed some other time of year for all I know.) But it's more common for us NOT to have a White Christmas than to have one. And if our present drought conditions continue, it's unlikely we'll have one this year!

It was predicted that this Winter would be a harsh one..so we all could have a "White Christmas".;)

Christie ((T))

Tony,
I have been through NH during Christmas..and I passed alot of little quaint towns that were decorated very cute and traditionally.Try looking around Concord..maybe Keene or Hillsboro.

Christie

Lot of good ideas for you! I'll add Santa Fe. It's a dream at Christmas time. Luminaria, the smell of Pinon burning all over town, great food, a very festive atmosphere - skiing not that far away.

If you are restricted to the two hours from Orlando, Asheville or its environs would be great, although probably not white. Quebec City would be my choice.

And may I add: what a great dad/husband you are, to plan this lovely treat for your family. Have a wonderful time wherever you end up! ((G))

Thanks everyone for taking the time to give me such excellent suggestions. You have genuinely given me some great choices. 'girlonthego' reminded me of Home Alone in her reply. When my 17 year old daughter Lauren was six years old she just loved that movie. She would watch it over and over. So I took her to New York that Christmas and we drove around in a limo while she ate pizza. We went to the Rockefeller Center and stood under the christmas tree where Kevins mom finds him eventually. We went to FAO Schwarz where we got toys and then back to The Plaza where we stayed The staff told Lauren about the making of the movie. I can still see her face. Even today she thinks it is an incredible memory. I'm sure everyone will agree whatever pleasure our partners and kids get from those experiences it does not come close to how good we feel just looking at them experiencing it.

Meredith, NH would be a perfect fit for you vacation. It is a picturesque little town, right on a lake and all the trimmings of Christmas. You could stay at one of the hotels, or B&Bs in the area, and I am sure find a nice fireplace with Christmas Tree.

There is skating on a local pond and Santa's Village is not far away.

You can fly into Boston and drive north from there, (2 hour drive) or fly into Manchester.

Your girls would love the Annalee Doll Factory (www.annalee.com) and dinner at Hartz Turkey Farm is a must.

Have a wonderful time.

You have some great suggestions, but you might also look west. Orlando to Denver, then 2 hours to Vail, Colorado.

Is Santa's Village even open in the winter? I thought it was seasonal. Maybe it stays open weekends for the holiday season from Thanksgiving to Xmas, but I would check before coming!

http://www.santasvillage.com/calendar.html

Of course Santa's Village is only open on weekends at Christmas - It's his busiest time of year :-)

Tony

You're guaranteed snow in Estes Park, CO. It's right on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park and with an elevation of 9000 ft+, it will definitely have snow around Christmas. Unlike some of the other CO towns that have been mentioned, you won't have to drive over the mountains to get to it - which could be a factor if there's any bad weather and the mountain passes are temporarily closed. It's about 1.5 hours from Denver.

Tony
I don't know about guaranteed snow as our weather in the States has been unusually warm so far but I was looking around the net and found this:
http://www.mcadenville-christmastown.com/
I am from Illinois so I don't know anything about this state but thought it might be what you are looking for.
Good luck!

Tony, that was such a lovely story about you and your daughter. What a nice man and good father you must be.

My vote is for Quebec City. Really compact, small historical center with loads of shops and restaurants, and I bet the Hotel Frontenac (I don't know the exact name)would be really dressed up for the holidays.

Chateau Frontenac

Thanks, hdm. It's been awhile since I've been to Quebec.

Me too but all this talk about it has given me a yen to go.

TonyL, I believe there are a lot of nice small hotels and B&Bs too.

Any suggestions as far as ski resorts? There is a catch, I have to drive from florida :-(, I have a 15 year old pet, that goes everywhere with me...and he can't fly at this age. Last spring break we went to Tennessee, and the year before we drove to VA. But there's no snow left around march 26th! Help!!! My 14 year daughter is driving me crazy that she wants to ski!!! But I don't want to drive forever...Thanks...