1. Copenhagen
Scandinavia’s most vibrant and affordable capital, it’s small but welcoming, and people-friendly. Don’t miss the city’s Tivoli Gardens, a magnificent centrepiece to your festive meandering.
2. Dublin
It might be a cliché but the craic really does flow in Dublin during December. The city’s streets are imbued with an irrepressible sense of festive cheer, and from the lights to the ice rinks and the carols at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Christmas is celebrated with gusto and glee.
3. Salzburg
For many, Salzburg is the quintessential Austria, offering the best of the country’s Baroque architecture, subalpine scenery and a musical heritage derived from the city’s most famous son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Its festive market is compact and intimate and a frequent dusting of snow adds to its appeal.
4. Nuremberg
Nuremburg is renowned for its Christmas market, which sees 180 stalls stand jammed side by side on the Hauptmarkt, offering toys, trinkets and gingerbread treats. It looks especially enchanting after dark.
5. Berlin
Berlin offers at least fifty Christmas markets every year, set amid its varied districts. If the candles and consumerism get a bit much there are plenty of museums and cultural events to experience too.
6. Rome
With over two thousand years of inhabitation, Rome could ensnare you for a month and you’d still only scratch the surface. Yet it’s so much more than that: its culture, food and people make up a modern, vibrant city. Faith and tradition play a key role in Christmas here, and there aren’t many more suitable places on the planet to attend Midnight Mass.
7. Lapland, Finland
A real-life fantasy for kids and adults alike, Father Christmas’ hometown is a must for anyone that still believes in the magic of Christmas. Of course the Santa Claus Village and Santa Park see most of the visitors, but nearby Rovaniemi also offers numerous delights.
8. Edinburgh
The showcase capital of Scotland historic, cosmopolitan and cultured. Strikingly perched on a series of extinct volcanoes and rocky crags which rise from the generally flat landscape of the Lothians, it does Christmas in style. Why not stay on for Hogmanay a week later?
9. Montréal
Canada’s second-largest city is geographically as close to the European coast as to Vancouver, and in look and feel it combines some of the finest aspects of the two continents. It’s a magical place at this time of year and a spin round (or tumble on to) the ice at the Patinoire du Bassin Bonsecours is a must.
10. Hong Kong
East Asia’s most extraordinary city doesn’t let Christmas pass without a fanfare. Lights dangle from skyscrapers, shop fronts are bedecked in wrapping paper and Christmas music blasts from speakers everywhere.
Title Image Credit: Jazmin Million (Image Cropped)