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Beaches or Mountains This Christmas

By: Mark Bartley

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Many people like to jet off over Christmas and the New Year, preferring to spend the holiday period relaxing in a holiday resort rather than enjoying the usual festive routine at home. There are people who just don't like the cold weather and like to go to warmer regions where there's a reasonable chance of sunshine. Others prefer to go to places that are lucky enough to have some real winter weather and where snowy conditions makes the Christmas celebrations extra special.

In 2009 there seemed to be plenty of places around the world looking forward to a white Christmas and not just the usual mountain resorts in places like the French Alps, Southern Germany or Italy. Places like New York and Chicago are reporting with almost certainty that they will have a white Christmas this year and in the UK and Ireland almost everywhere is reporting a better than 50 per cent chance of snow this Christmas. Even Madrid in Spain predicts a 25 per cent chance, which is very unusual in this city.

Of course some of the best winter Christmas resorts are the picture postcard villages in the European Alps. Places like Klosters and Zermatt in Switzerland are classed as exclusive, which does not mean that some people are prevented from going there, but presumably refers to the price of taking a break there, and does not make them a choice for all but the very wealthy. Both are small villages with permanent populations of around 5000 and 3000 people respectively, but those numbers can increase four-fold over the festive period as the hotels and chalets fill up with skiers seeking that extra special Christmas holiday.

Alternative destinations that offer cold winter weather and magical Christmas atmospheres are some of the European cities like Prague or Geneva. Both offer a fairly good chance of a white Christmas but also provide a range of affordable accommodation and a thriving activity schedule that includes Christmas markets, concerts and sporting fixtures. Some of the most exclusive tickets in town are for the Vienna Philharmonic's New Years Day concert at the famous Musikverein concert hall. Tickets are assigned by drawing lots during January a year in advance. If you are fortunate enough to be allocated a ticket then you are faced with the choice of which ticket to purchase. These can vary in price from a reasonable 30 Euros right up to a staggering 940 Euros. However such is the demand for the tickets that many people regard it as a once in a lifetime experience and dismiss any worries about the price.

If a white landscape is not your idea of a perfect Christmas then travelling to a destination that offers the opposite in weather conditions is likely to be your choice. For people living in Europe the attraction of a trip to the other side of the world, where they are currently enjoying their summer is possibly the safest way of getting some hot Christmas conditions. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and perhaps even South American countries like Argentina are all in the middle of their summer season which promises average daytime temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius and no possibility of snow. In cities like Buenos Aries, Argentina and Johannesburg, South Africa, the last two months of the year are also two of the wettest months of the year, so anyone holidaying there should be equipped for odd downpour too.

A closer and drier alternative for Europeans would be the Canary Islands and thousands of Brits choose to spend their Christmas and New Year in these sunny islands off the West African coast. Their location makes them simple to get to from the UK, and there is a huge choice flights taking passengers to the main resort islands of Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura from various UK departure airports. Being part of Spain there are no difficulties with complicated travel visas and traditions are familiar to those in the rest of Europe. Daytime temperatures during December and January are normally at least 25 degrees Celsius.

Holiday hotspots in southern Turkey may be much drier than Northern European places at this time of year, although they may not be as warm as the Canaries or the popular resorts of the Red Sea. In Sharm El Sheikh Christmas visitors can expect warm sunny days, sea temperatures of over 22 degrees Celsius and minimal chance of rain.

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If you prefer a warm winter holiday then flights to Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria or Lanzarote are available from a variety of UK airports over the winter period.

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