Well dagnabbit I completely missed out posting on my Top 3 Favorite End of Summer Destinations AND my Top 3 Spookiest Halloween Celebrations. Guess you'll have to subscribe and hope I remember to do those next year.
Anyway, Onward! If you're like me you already have your Holiday plans sorted, but if you are one of the many many people that only start thinking about Holidays once there's a bite in the air and Pumpkin Spice something at every turn, now friends is the time! With Black Friday coming (and - oh, what's that? the TravelOctopus will have a Black Friday Surprise of our own?) its triple-action look for deals, look for gifts, and dream about get-ways time!
So that said, while you wait anxiously to find out what our Holiday Promotion will entail, here are the Top 3 Favorite places I've ever spent the holidays:
Number 3 : Munich, Germany
I think the Germans invented Christmas. Ok, they didn't, but they DID invent Saint Nikolaus and Krampus, and giving bad children coal. They also do a Christmas Market like nobody's business, resplendent with lights, roasted nuts, hot gluhwein, and a powered donut thing that I'm forgetting the name of but that will keep you going up the long path to Neuschwanstein Castle even when its 8 degrees Fahrenheit. Nearby towns like Fussen actually LOOK like they belong in a snow globe, and if you find yourself there over Silvester (or New Years) its a party that gives Oktoberfest a run for its money. Fireworks, street parties, all night dance clubs, or exclusive ticketed private classical concerts inside of Hapsburg Palaces are all options for ringing in the new year.
Number 2: London, England
I mean, its literally a Dickens novel. In fact its literally THAT Dicken's novel. Or if your two favorite things about Christmas happen to be Love Actually and The Holiday you can't NOT celebrate in London at least once. We're going to forget about the time I got so sick there I don't actually remember 3 or 4 of the days , and focus instead on those old Victorian chimneys covered in twinkly lights, or the enormous Christmas Trees with glass baubles all over Convent Garden. And if you're in town for New Years (and not shut in with Kleenex and a Pointless marathon) then a glass-topped barge on the Thames watching the fireworks and listening to Big Ben chime in midnight is an epic celebration.
Number 1: Honolulu, Hawaii
Wait, what?
You heard me. Mele Kalikimaka is real, people. True, this might not be the place to find your Rockwellian white Christmas. You're not going to find chimney smoke or hot cocoa, either but you will feel all the stress of the holiday season melt away as you step into the warm South Pacific breeze. Honolulu's main shopping drag puts on a crazy after Christmas Sale, twinkling lights decorate palm and Banyon trees and sometimes you might even find the King Kamehameha statue wearing a Santa hat. If you have spent the last several weeks cold, tired and longing to get away from it all, everyone else here had the same idea and you can absolutely guarantee your flight won't be delayed for snow. New Years is more of a laid back beach party, but since Hawaii is one of the very last places on Earth to welcome the New Year, you can watch all the parties around the globe from your chosen BBQ pit or Luau tv as you Mai Tai into January.
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