The festive season is fast approaching, and if you’re keen to book a last-minute White Christmas holiday, you’ll need to proceed quickly—but without choosing a trip or paying for a break that turns out to be less magical than you’d hoped.
Much might depend on whether you’re spending Christmas with smaller children, a partner, or other friends and relatives. This might impact the destinations you select, the time you allocate to child-friendly activities, and the suitability of a romantic, snowy, adults-only lodge or hotel!
We recognise that high demand, limited dates and the complexities of booking Christmas trips around school or work holidays can make you feel under pressure to rush, so we have compiled this guide to share some advice to ensure you make an informed choice about the perfect festive holiday for you and your family or travelling companions.
Top Christmas Holiday Destinations for Last-Minute Bookings
For many people, the dream holiday over Christmas is all about the festive spirit, with deep, white snow, traditional activities and customs, fine food and dining, and outdoor winter adventures.
All this makes Lapland, a region covering northern parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland, one of the most popular destinations.
Finding a winter wonderland package closer to Christmas may mean choices are more limited since many book months in advance, but it remains possible to choose a superb holiday to visit one of these amazing holiday destinations with support from our travel specialists.
As a tiny snapshot into the huge array of trips and itineraries we offer, you might select:
- Arctic Christmas, a six-day trip to the Arctic wilderness in Finnish Lapland, where you’ll enjoy a snowmobile, reindeer or husky safari, visit Santa Claus, help pick a Christmas tree, and try outdoor adventures like ice fishing and snowshoeing.
- The Prague Christmas Market four-day short break, heading to the twinkling lights and festive fun of this stunning city, with time to explore, sight-see, and enjoy some of the best Christmas markets, selling everything from mulled wine and local crafts to decorations and delicacies.
- An exciting Christmas in Swedish Lapland trip, spending five days in a rustic chalet in Camp Ripan, with delicious festive dining, sled tours, snowmobiling and the opportunity to see the Northern Lights by snowshoe.
There is a lot of choice, so our advice would be to consider your top priorities, whether there is a country of location you’ve always wanted to visit, you have specific dates you can travel on, you would prefer a Christmas holiday of a certain duration, or you want to try activities and winter sports.
Putting together your must-haves makes it easier to filter between last-minute Christmas holidays without making compromises that will mean your experience isn’t quite what you hoped for.
Checking for Financial Protection on Christmas Holiday Packages
Even if you are booking with very little time between now and your travel dates, it is hugely important that you verify that your Christmas holiday is protected.
While unlikely, if some or all of your holiday were to be cancelled, finding yourself without any financial assurances could be disastrous, especially over Christmas.
All our holidays are ATOL or ABTOT protected as standard, but we’d advise that this should be non-negotiable, regardless of which tour operator or travel specialist you book with.
Organising Accommodation Over Christmas Day
Deciding what to do on Christmas Day itself can be tricky, with two choices: celebrating together in much the same way as you might at home or embracing the culture in your chosen holiday destination, where many countries have their celebratory meal on Christmas Eve.
Pre-planning and sharing your schedule with your family or friends makes sense since you can agree on when to exchange gifts, whether to pack stockings and presents for children, and decide how to make the most of a unique Christmas in a snowy setting.
Most Christmas holidays have optional additions or Christmas Day tours, where you might:
- Collect a Christmas tree with a group and join in with decorating.
- Visit Santa’s grotto or enjoy a private meeting with presents for little ones.
- Enjoy a traditional Christmas banquet featuring varied meats, smoked fish and tasty desserts.
- Head into the countryside to try dog sledding, horseback riding, snowmobiling, or even spend Christmas Day in one of the region’s famous ice hotels.
Others prefer to use their festive holiday to spend quality time together. They could, for example, book a private dining experience in their hotel or lodge, decide to relax and unwind with a typical Lapland spa experience, or put on their finest clothes and celebrate in style.
If you wish to do something special on Christmas Day, we recommend reviewing the detailed itineraries provided for all our festive breaks, which showcase the exact timetables, optional excursions, activities, and events held on the 25th of December.
Alternatively, please get in touch with the Baltic Travel Company, and we’ll happily provide tailored recommendations for the packages that sound like the perfect holiday for you.
Sharing the Joy of Christmas in an Overseas Location With Children
We’ve mentioned the different cultures, traditions and celebrations, and while most adults will be happy to be flexible and practical about packing gifts to exchange or leaving their own family customs till their next Christmas at home, a little extra planning may be necessary if you are travelling with younger children.
Kids often find themselves immersed in the magic and joy of spending Christmas in a beautiful festive destination, but letting them know what to expect and talking about your plans and how the big day may look a little different this year is time well spent.
While nearly every child will be overjoyed at the prospect of husky sledding or tobogganing on Christmas Day, with all the excitement of adventuring to somewhere new, they’ll also benefit from knowing how people in different countries celebrate—from festive foods to customs to ensuring there is no confusion if Father Christmas arrives on a different evening than they are used to.
If you need help booking your 2024 Christmas break, finding packages with availability for your preferred travel dates, or selecting a family-friendly holiday with flights from your closest airport, please get in touch with the Baltic Travel Company as soon as possible.
This entry was posted on Friday, November 22nd, 2024 at 9:37 am; on the subject of Holiday Tips.