Taking off Travel blog

The holiday season is in full swing, especially in those towns that look like they were built for Christmas (some of them were!).  Here are the top five picks for the best Christmas towns in America based on their look, feel, and, most of all, festive holiday spirit.

1. Solvang, CA
Located less than an hour away from Santa Barbara, the city of Solvang is not your typical California coastal town.  The architecture is modeled after traditional Danish buildings, giving tourists the feeling of Old World charm and quaintness.  During December, Solvang hosts a number of holiday traditions including the Olsen’s Gingerbread House, Danish Silver Gift-Giving, and caroling in Solvang Park.

All the winter festivities come after Julfest, the beginning of the holiday season.  Visitors from across the nation travel to Solvang to celebrate the holidays surrounded by Dutch-inspired architecture like half-timber buildings and windmills.

2. Leavenworth, WA
Modeled after a Bavarian village, Leavenworth’s city center is composed of Germanic half-timbers that house everything from quaint shops to modern Starbucks.  As snow starts to fall in central Washington State east of the Cascades, Leavenworth becomes a winter wonderland.  The city looks like something out of an Old World snow globe: horse-drawn carriages, sleigh rides, carolers, and lighting festivals are just some of the local highlights that visitors can enjoy.  Every part of Leavenworth is infused with holiday spirit: from the hotel accommodations to the restaurants in the town, guests can enjoy a thoroughly festive Christmas town.

3. North Pole, AK
Ever heard of Davis, Alaska?  Unless you lived in the Last Frontier State before 1953, your answer is probably no.  That’s because, nearly 60 years ago, Davis changed its name to North Pole, becoming a national sensation and holiday pilgrimage site.  The most iconic landmark in town is the 42-foot tall Santa statue that stands outside the town’s gift shop, Santa Claus House.  The store lies just minutes away from the Post Office; out of towners send their Christmas cards there to receive the local postmark so that their letters come from The North Pole.

4. Woodstock, VT
Modeled after the Oxfordshire, UK village of the same name, Woodstock has been lauded numerous times for its quaintness and picturesque design.  The village loves to kick off the holiday season in style with the Wassail Weekend, a festival steeped in the winter traditions of old England and the Norse countries.  Today’s festivities are somewhat more up to date, with a parade that features 19th Century period costume as well as Victorian holiday decor on display at local museums.  Plays, musicals, and poetry recitals round out the evening entertainment between late night shopping and enjoying the general splendor of the whole holiday affair.

5. Branson, MO
In a cozy corner of southern Missouri, the town of Branson stands ready to entertain and delight all comers.  From country music spectaculars to family-style jubilees, the city offers so much in the way of Midwest charm and spirit.  The highlight of Branson’s holiday season is their theme park, Silver Dollar City, all decked out for winter.  Lights and snow (sometimes real) edge every building; after picking up a roll filled with molasses, visitors can enjoy a staged shootout between the Hatfields and the McCoys.  Included with the cost of admission is a ticket to view the Marvel Cave, a cavernous subterranean expanse that digs 300 feet down into the limestone beneath the park.  (Image: Kathy McGraw)

Analise Marcus loves seeing how cities and towns across the country celebrate Christmas, whether the festivities last just the season or all year around. She enjoys using a promo code for Travelocity to save on all her holiday travels.

This year, why not try something different for the Christmas season? Whether you have kids or you’re just a big kid yourself a visit to Disney World can add something special to the holiday season. It’s no secret that I’m a big Disney fan – not so much the company itself but the vacation experience they provide ‑ so for me it wouldn’t be a hard sell to spend part of the holidays there.

Okay, so it won’t be warm but on the other hand it may be far less crowded. Although you can’t completely count on that now that many people have woken up to the magic of the Magic Kingdom at Christmas you can still experience much of the joy by going just before or just after the peak Christmas Eve the New Year’s Eve period when you will still get to experience much the festivities. There’s definitely something special about Disney at this time of year.

An extra ticket will get you entrance to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party with the Once Upon a Christmastime Parade where Santa himself appears.  Everywhere you look there are fabulous Christmas decorations. Being Disney, this is done on a large scale. There are thousands of lights on the huge Christmas tree on Main Street and  Cinderella’s Castle has 200,000 white lights. The Small World ride has special decorations for Christmas as well as a seasonal version of the well-known song. There’s also a Haunted Mansion with seasonal replacements for the usual attractions. The parade which takes place several times daily is transformed into a Christmas Fantasy Parade and there’s a huge firework show just for this holiday season.

Check out this Christmas lights at Disney World video to see what it’s like.

With snow, hot chocolate cookies as well as the standard Disney magic there’s no better place to be for the holiday season.

Here are some of the items that made the travel news recently.

Thanksgiving and Holiday Travel

In the travel news this week, it seems that travelers making plans for Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season can expect full planes despite the expected drop in holiday passenger numbers. The Air Transport Association is predicting a 2% (approximately 400,000 people) reduction in the number of air travelers during the period. Don’t think that means more capacity, though. It means less. Airlines have cut seats to ensure full planes, a revenue boosting move to address tight margins. Best tip: book now or miss out altogether. FareCompare CEO Rick Seaney also warns that instead of looking for a good deal, holiday travelers will simply get a ‘better bad deal’.  See also: Four Ways to Travel Lighter for the Holidays.

Medical Travel

The Economist has released a report on the world’s top destinations with potential for medical travel. Although it doesn’t promote this kind of tourism,, France tops the list, followed by Mexico, which is actively developing this area and the US which, like others lower in the rankings, has a good level of specialist care and the right business environment for expansion.  Many developing nations have also made it into the top 20 because of low costs and good medical expertise. The figures are part of a report titled Traveling for Health: The Potential for Medical Tourism which assesses healthcare costs, economic factors and healthcare system strength.

Travel to Cuba

Following the easing of Cuba travel restrictions, CNN reports that Marazul Travel, working with Delta Airlines, is providing direct charter flights to Havana from some US airports. Flights from Miami started last month, flights from JFK will start next week and there will be flights from Atlanta in December.

According to a recent study vacation planning makes us happier than taking a vacation. I found this little titbit through a post on by Christine Garvin on the Matador network, titled The Truth About Happiness and Travel. In it, the author examines this study and finds that there might be some truth in those results but I began to think about how this applies to my own situation, and concluded that I didn’t entirely agree.

Planning A Trip

For me, while there is some anticipation in the planning stage  of a trip (mainly because I’ll be thinking about a really great place) this part of the process can also be stressful. That could be because I’m a control freak — or to be a little kinder to myself, like to get every detail right. When making decisions about how to travel and where to stay, I have no idea how it will turn out. Depending on how good my research is, that might be a cause of stress.

Where’s The Fun?

I agree with Christine Garvin that some parts of travel aren’t as much fun as they could be. As I said before, when ranting about the things that annoyed me about travel, spending hours in queues even when you are using the fast bag drop, the interminable security process, cramped seats and poor airplane food (when you get any) make the journey to your destination not that much fun. Some people relax the minute they decide to go on holiday; I only relax when I’ve reached to where I’m staying. (I’m not saying that’s the way to do it; that’s just the way I am.)

Vacation Travel — Still A Thrill

Where I disagree, however, is in finding that the actual vacation experience is less thrilling than I anticipated. Generally speaking I really enjoy vacations. They represent a good chance to see, do and eat something different. They are a change of scene. It doesn’t much matter whether I am traveling for a short while longer period — I still enjoy the experience of being in a new place. Keeping some perspective also helps make vacation travel an enjoyable experience. If you don’t expect everything to be the same as it is at home then you will find difference exciting rather than exasperating.

For me, this was the best point Christine made in her post:

The point of travel is not only to achieve a high return on happiness – it’s also to learn about ourselves, other cultures, and even to be challenged to grow via those pesky annoyances.

I definitely agree with that.

Flexibility can help cut vacation costs

We’re all feeling the pinch of the current economic climate. Everything costs more, while many of us have less ready cash, so how do you have a good holiday anyway? Here are some tips for reducing the cost of your vacation – not just at this time of year, but all year round.

Grab That Fare Now!

If you see an unbelievably low fare on the dates you want to travel, book it immediately. You can almost guarantee that it won’t be there when you return. The word from travel agents (just in case you hadn’t already noticed) is that fares have gone up and seat numbers have gone down. That means it’s a seller’s market for air fares and there’s no incentive to discount.

Sacrifice Some Of Your Holiday

It’s great to be there on the key holiday dates, but you could save a fortune if you sacrifice some of that family time and travel on the holiday itself. The cost of your ticket will fall, and if you’re not going too far, you could still be there in time to enjoy the holiday festivities. Whether you’re traveling for Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving or Labor Day, this will make your trip more economical. Read more »