Best Holiday Destinations for Christmas 2018

It’s getting cold every day. The Atlantic is at it again, blowing moisture filled clouds over the country. It is time to jump out of beach shots and into nerdy jumpers because ‘tis the season to be jolly ( Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la) or just about. If you have not yet booked flights for your vacations, October is surely the best time to try your luck and sift for the cheapest flights to destinations around the world for a new Christmas experience. Travelhouseuk offers you best call only deals to the popular destinations of the year.

It’s so exciting, as the leaves begin to turn yellow and fall to the ground and you know it is time to get packing. WHERE TO SPEND CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR?

You do not need to put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and tower above a map with a magnifying glass or try to remember what you overheard about an exciting holiday destination at an office meeting some time ago. Give these destinations listed below a chance. When you know there is nothing exciting happening in your hometown, except the falling of tons and tons of snow then it is time to plan and to go somewhere warm and sunny. Fortunately for us, the world works in a duality, yin, and yang. So, when Europe freezes for the winter, the southern hemisphere decides it’s time to warm things up! Just like the birds, we head south!

Phuket, Thailand

Leave it to the Thai to decorate just the Phuket city centre for Christmas and they would not stop until the entire city is glittering in fairy lights of all colours. The holiday spirit in Phuket is so jubilant that had Santa Clause taken a break this year, he would come here. The malls are full of buyers and the hotels are booked to the brim, which means that the time to plan to go to Phuket is RIGHT NOW before the cheap hotel rooms are all but gone.

The Soi Bangla Road is known to be covered in Christmas lights and leads up to a great Christmas tree. And the temperature is fine! At 26°C, the beaches are comfortable and the sand is warm. There might be a few showers, here and there, as Thailand is a tropical country after all, but the rain allows the dust to settle making the skies bluer and the air even more refreshing. Ever had a champagne cocktail with strawberries in a hammock by the beach? It is Divine. Phuket is the perfect combination between the all things Christmassy without overdoing it and enjoying a December in shorts, in the warmth of the Thai sun.

The Canary Islands, Spain

The Canary Islands are a great pick for vacationers from the United Kingdom. The flight is less than 4 hours long and even though it feels like a Caribbean escape, the law and the rules followed there are European. The Spanish archipelago is only a few hundred kilometers off the coast of Spain and has over 500 white sandy beaches. There is sunshine throughout December and the temperature only dips to 20°C in January. There is something about the Spanish sun in the Canary Islands: it is warm and cool at the same time, perfect to get that slight tan you wanted. And the food is to die for. It feels like heaven when the sun drowns into the Atlantic, setting the wine glasses on your dinner table into a shimmering frenzy and the golden shrimps and sauce become one with your taste buds. Exquisito! The Spaniards have perfected the Shrimp Creole.

Sydney, Australia

The new Qantas’ direct flight from London to Australia makes it a treat to fly to the land down under. Learn how to spend that flight, according to experts to maximize your Australian experience.

Christmas begins early in Sydney. The Christmas trees in Hyde Park, which is at the centre of the city and the one standing in Martin Place, welcomes the vacationers and the holidaymakers on the 25th of November. This sets off the big Christmas celebrations the city is known for. A Sydney Christmas means spending Christmas Eve on the Sydney harbour bridge, staying up all night and partying with the Aussies.

The glittering streets of Sydney welcome the British tourists and surround them with familiar tunes of Christmas carols and the warmth of the Australia summer. Free concerts on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday make the star-struck fans roar and introduce different genres to new listeners. Visiting Sydney without paying homage to the city’s natural heritage would make your Sydney retreat incomplete. The national parks that surround Sydney are chirping with rainbow lorikeets, magpies, rosellas and spinebills. The aquariums and marine exhibit in Sydney are some of the most vibrant and elaborate showcases of nature in the entire world.

Cape Town, South Africa

Christmas in Cape Town means celebrating the holiday cheer in the delight of summer. The Table Mountain of Cape Town is where South Africans begin to converge. Christmas means taking a stroll into the mountains with family and friends and having an awesome barbeque. Just before the 25th, the markets are open too, especially the one at Sea Point City Hall. The holidays bring about a great shopping spree that takes the entire city by a storm – and that is part of the joy of Christmas.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden is a must visit. All of Cape Town comes out and has a picnic in the vast gardens and as the sun sets, glow sticks are handed out to the visitors who sing Christmas carols in the dimming light. Cape Town is lit-up like a Christmas tree and each part of the city is illuminated after a free street festival party. This African magic of Christmas is familiar because its roots are in the cultures exported from the UK, but they have evolved into a new dynamic under the South African sun.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

If you are looking for a Christmas that does not remind you of anything celebrated in the UK during the holiday season, head to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Here Christmas dinners do not have beef or turkey. Instead, the Brazilians relish sweet and sour salads and dishes with spiced rice and roasted chicken. Rio is also an amazing place to visit during the Christmas holidays because of the amazing shopping breaks and discounted deals. Hunt for gifts and souvenirs at the Hippie Market in Ipanema for a unique experience. Christmas day is relatively sober than the New Year’s celebration when the Brazilians, all clad in white, converge on to the famous Copacabana beach. The two million Carioca, dancing and partying, bid the sun of yesteryear goodbye as concerts of international pop stars electrify the air. There is going to be a lot of drinking tonight!

In conclusion, snow is not a necessity to enjoy Christmas. Sometimes the most enjoyable and memorable events of Christmas are by the beach, in the warmth of a few friends and the sun. The destinations listed above are known to provide a new perspective on the word “Christmassy”. Let go of those frigid memories of Christmas past and make new ones by making new friends at new and exciting locations. By the time you’d be celebrating the New Year, you would also feel renewed, ready for 2019.