It’s nearly impossible to stay a Grinch in any of this year’s top 20 holiday destinations — and one of them is right here in Canada.
If you plan to head to someplace more festive, Travel + Leisure magazine has created a roundup of international destinations that will make you feel like you walked into a Hallmark Christmas movie.
Looking for a charming, snowy town? The list has you covered. Alternatively, if you’d like to trade snow for sandy beaches, you won’t be short of options.
“For some people, the perfect Christmas vacation involves fully leaning into winter on a snowy mountain somewhere, curled up next to a crackling fire,” reads the article. “Others prefer to lounge on a beach as far away from cold weather as possible. Wherever you choose to spend ‘the most wonderful time of year,’ you’re likely to find some version of holiday cheer.”
Perhaps not surprising to those who live there, Quebec City made the list, with Travel + Leisure describing it as “European as it gets outside of Europe itself.”
And given that it’s within North America, it’s certainly a more affordable option than jetting off across the Atlantic.
Quebec’s capital city made the list because it would be impossible not to feel the Yuletide spirit here and there’s plenty to do.
This year, the Québec City German Christmas Market, which is located in Old Quebec, will open from November 21 to December 23. You’ll feel like you’re in a holiday movie set as you browse traditional wooden kiosks with a warm drink in hand.
Then, from November 15 onwards, you can go ice skating for free at Place D’Youville Ice Rink, also located in Old Quebec. Admission is free.
The city offers other family-friendly winter activities, such as tobogganing on the Dufferin Terrace, with the castle-like Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in the background.
“Built in 1884, this slide is possibly the oldest attraction in the city — racing down a slope at crazy speeds did not go out of fashion in the 19th century!” reads the website.
Other destinations on the list include:
- Jackson Hole, Wyoming
- New York City
- Bruges, Belgium
- Beaver Creek, Colorado
- Saint Lucia
- Highlands, North Carolina
- Salzburg, Austria
- Solvang, California
- Stowe, Vermont
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Washington, DC
- Florida Keys
- Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Buenos Aires
- London
- Rovaniemi, Finland
- The Maldives
- Bavaria, Germany
- The Bahamas
Read more about it here.