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Best Christmas breaks
Xmas cheer ... visiting Europe's Christmas markets are a great way to soak at the festive spirit / AP
New York, New York ... the Big Apple offers the quintessential Christmas experience / AP
Joyeuse fêtes! ... Paris' famous Champs Elysées twinkles during the festive season / Reuters
Further afield ... St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square. Orthodox Russia celebrates Christmas January 7, two weeks later than Western Christianity / Reuters
Visual feast ... Germany is especially renowned for its outdoor Christmas markets / Reuters
OK, so the weather outside can be frightful – I'll give you that much. But, really, winter in the northern hemisphere can be quite delightful.
Suddenly, you're inhabiting those Christmas carols of your childhood, right down to sleigh bells in the snow and chestnuts roasting on open fires. And if you're dreaming of a white Christmas, snow decorates rooftops and muffles streets in a dream-like hush.
Anyone brave enough to endure the cold is in for a treat. Kids build snowmen in city parks and Santas ho-ho-ho in hotel lobbies. Across America and Europe, cities come wrapped in ribbons and tinsel like giant holiday presents.
Add plenty of cosy cafes and restaurants, fascinating and well-heated museums, and a thousand shops decked in Christmas finery, and you may find the northern hemisphere a very engaging place to spend a white Christmas.
Explore Travel
Here are some of my favourite places and things to do during the northern winter:
Bright lights of New York
New York in winter is cold: there are miniature ice floes on the Hudson River and snow drifts in Central Park. Still, the city has some of the best Christmas decorations anywhere – a superb display of lights giving the city a truly magical atmosphere.
Perhaps the most beautiful are those strung up on the Christmas trees lining Park Avenue. Fifth Avenue also puts on a fine show, capping it with a huge illuminated snowflake above the intersection of West 57th Street.
Even Bronx Zoo breaks out in illuminated animal sculptures and 12km of tree lighting.
A giant Christmas tree with 30,000 lights stands at the heart of the Rockefeller Center. It's the lighting of this tree that kicks off the festive season in the Big Apple.
You can skate on the famous sunken ice rink right in the heart of the Rockefeller Center, overlooked by the golden statue of Prometheus. Lights twinkle and angels blow trumpets: the quintessential Christmas experience.
Shopping in central Europe
If you're tired of shopping malls and want a more traditional Christmas shopping experience, the winter markets of eastern Europe have changed little since medieval times.
Some last only a few days, others run the entire month of December, but you'll find them just about everywhere.
In Prague, puppets, candles and traditional Czech tree ornaments are the best buys, while mulled wine nicely warms your insides. In Budapest, Christmas cake and spicy sausages keep you going as carol singers and folk dancers entertain.
Germany is especially renowned for its Christmas markets. The largest are in Berlin, Nuremberg, Munich, Dresden and Frankfurt, attracting millions of visitors.
Perhaps the most beautiful is the Stuttgart market, which opens with a concert in the courtyard of its medieval castle. It features Advent singers and a wonderful open-air skating rink.
There are 200 stands. The antiques section of the fair is a great place to browse for old-fashioned Christmas decorations, such as hand-blown glass ornaments and nativity figures.
Snowscape in Switzerland
The Swiss Alps are beautiful in any season, but nothing surpasses winter for wonder and romance. Even if you aren't a skier, there's plenty of walking, snowshoeing and tobogganing to enjoy – or simply a sunny restaurant terrace with sweeping alpine views.
In mountain towns such as Zermatt and St Moritz, old wooden chalets hunker under caps of snow.
Tree branches are encrusted with ice-like decorations by Swarovski.
Ancient festivals that hark back to the Middle Ages enliven dark evenings. In Lucerne, costumed musicians parade during Carnival, when masked balls last long into the night.
For one of the most splendid winter views in all Switzerland, take the little red train from Vitznau, near Lucerne, to the summit of the Rigi. Frozen waves of snow-capped peaks jostle against the horizon, and lakes glint with ice below.
There is good winter hiking on the Rigi – a terrific way to enjoy the scenery and work up an appetite for a fondue dinner.
Festive fun in Edinburgh
In 1999, Scotland's capital instituted a Christmas festival throughout December; it has since become firmly fixed on the calendar, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
It makes Edinburgh one of the best places in Britain for Christmas jollity. Festivities should start on November 23 this year, and run until Christmas Eve.
The festival takes place mostly in downtown Princes Street Gardens, with the floodlit drama of Edinburgh Castle as a backdrop.
It includes the country's largest outdoor skating rink in a Winter Wonderland, a German-style market and a giant Ferris wheel.
Nearby George St, known for its designer boutiques, has pavements and road centre lined with a brilliant display of Christmas trees. Princes St is another fine place for Christmas shopping.
The city also offers performances such as ballet and pantomimes, that peculiarly British form of Christmas entertainment. The Usher Hall hosts classical concerts and carols by candlelight, providing plenty of good cheer.
Musical moments in Salzburg
The Christmas season in Salzburg means one thing: music. Wonderful holiday concerts throughout December showcase home town composer Mozart, as well as folk and Christmas music.
Some of the best concerts are performed by candlelight in the Hohensalzburg Fortress which dominates the medieval town. Gaze from the ramparts down over snow-covered roofs and sparkling lights to the snowy mountains in the background.
Recitals are also held in churches, where you can admire impressive traditional Nativity scenes assembled from carved wooden figures.
In town squares such as Domplatz and Mirabellplatz, Christmas markets bustle. You can buy delicate glass balls, tree decorations made of straw, and gingerbread biscuits layered with jam.
Even here music is heard: carol singers entertain the public, and buskers play Christmas jingles.
On Christmas Eve, a torchlit procession heads through the village of Obendorf to the Memorial Chapel, where in 1818 the organist Franz Gruber composed Silent Night to lyrics by local priest Josef Mohr.
People gather to sing perhaps the most famous of all carols in its original setting – a perfect way to welcome in Christmas. |
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