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.

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.

Our first choice is an obvious one:  Paris. With its elegant Christmas lights and decorations, the already beautiful city of Paris is a real sight to behold during the festive season. Alongside the city’s already world-famous boutiques, their Christmas markets hark back to a tradition from the Northern Alsace region, where they create an outdoor village of wooden booths, offering gourmet treats, decorations, crafts and other beautiful samples of French culture. In Europe’s premier city of love, you can also view the city’s lights from the Eiffel Tower or ice-skate under the stars in one of the several free-entry, open-air ice-skating rinks that are set up around the town.

Amsterdam holds its Winterparade in the last week of December each year:  perfect timing for those looking for a last-minute weekend package. With a mix of theatre, music, film, dance and comedy, the Winterparade provides a modern, imaginative way to spend a festive day. If you want a more traditional cultural treat, Amsterdam’s museums and theatres are full of Christmas themed exhibitions, while taking a canal boat trip is the perfect way to sight-see a city renowned for its beautiful architecture.

Speaking of canals, Venice is the perfect Christmas spot for romantics both young and old. The prime location of a loved-up weekend trip, happy couples can travel by gondola on the city’s expansive and extensive system of canals. As with any European city worth it’s salt, Venice is home to a beautiful Christmas market; the Campiello dei Golosi (or Gourmands Square) offers a platform for Italy’s best fresh produce farmers to sell their wares, while streets leading off the square house stalls selling traditional wooden toys, cards, scarves, lace and soaps.

A popular destination of late, the city of Prague is a fast favourite among those looking for a weekend city break. With festive lights, fresh white snow and beautiful window displays, the people of Prague really take Christmas to heart. Wander through the tree-lined streets or drink in the beautiful architecture as you make your way through the meandering roads of the central city area. The main square houses the city’s grand Christmas tree, while the animal stable at the Old Town Square is decorated nativity-style with a petting zoo and figures of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and the Three Wise Kings.

The home of the original Christmas market, the German city of Cologne offers visitors an impressive backdrop to festive activities. Beneath the city’s Cathedral lie well over 160 wooden pavilions, stocked with everything from traditional toys to foods and wines. Watch the city’s artisans at work as they make traditional mulled wine, or head to the Alter Markt for nostalgic roundabouts, puppet theatres and a Santa’s Grotto.

Rachel is a freelance blogger currently on the lookout for hotels for sale.

(Images: dhaun, paulafunnell)

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.

Gas prices remain a significant headwind for not only the overall economy, but also for the travel and tourism industry. While almost 25 cents less than the nearly $4 a gallon peak of early May, the national average price for regular gasoline is still more than a dollar higher than at this time last year. The 37 percent year-over-year increase in prices far outweighs any short-term benefit that the recent five percent decline in prices over the last several weeks might provide.

However, there is some good news. For those who are traveling, holiday spending is forecast to increase. Party on!

The full report is available for download here. And if you’re one of the people on the road to the airport for the Independence Day holiday, don’t forget to check out our coupon for off airport parking savings.

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.

Safety At Home

First of all, give yourself less to think about taking care of safety and security at home. Get someone you trust to look after your house keys and emergency information and to swing by your home every so often to make sure that everything is okay. Put delivery of mail and publications on hold and use timers to program your lights, TV and radio to give the illusion that your home is occupied. Let your neighbors know that you will be gone so that if they see someone in your home who shouldn’t be there they will alert the police.

En Route

Security is also paramount when on your way to your destination. Make sure that you don’t have identifying information showing on your luggage and avoid telling strangers exactly where you’re coming from and where you’re going and for how long. If you happen to reveal these details to the wrong person, you give them a window of opportunity to burgle your home and be long gone before anyone notices.

At Your Destination

One of the key things when you arrive is to avoid looking like a stranger. That means avoiding asking for directions and making it obvious that you’re out of your depth. Unscrupulous people can take advantage of this. Do your own research to find out where you should go and where you should avoid. Keep maps and guidebooks out of sight and only consult them in public areas.

If you are travelling with other members of your family, divide up cash and credit cards among you, so if something happens to one person you don’t lose everything. When staying in a hotel, get a safe so that you can take with you only what you need.

General Travel Safety Tips

When on vacation people are generally more relaxed and let their guard down. It’s great to have a good time but this is a time to be more aware of who and what is around you. Avoid flashing costly electronic items, jewelry and cash as these attract attention from thieves. Keep wallets out of sight and purses close to the body.

One of my most useful items when travelling in many countries was a coat with several interior pockets. I was able to keep my passport and cash with me without drawing attention to them while keeping a small float in an outside pocket.

Following these tips doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time when on vacation. In fact, if you make these part of your travel routine you will have an even better time as it will reduce any worry.

(Photo: Jarosław Pocztarski)

• double check our reservation
• try to con us into upgrading to a bigger vehicle (for more money)
• try to sell us insurance coverage which we already had
• get a GPS system

Finally, we had to be bussed to the Miami offsite airport parking lot to collect our car. Most of the time when I hire a car, the reps give me the car that’s available. With this Alamo rental, we had the novelty of walking to the appropriate parking lot section and picking anything we wanted – and all of them were quite big enough for our luggage, despite the rep’s dire warnings.  We plugged in the GPS (later to be christened the ‘gremlin’ but that’s another story) and away we went to our hotel, one of the Marriott chain.

Pool at Marriott Springhills Suites, FL

The room was spacious, though the bathrooms needed a refurb and we had a great view of the pool and a few palm trees. (Overall, we thought the hotel was a good choice, as it was close to places to eat, local attractions and Interstate 95 without being too noisy.) Free internet access and breakfast added to the value. By about 4.30 we were finally able to hit the pool, which was practically deserted. That’s what you get for traveling at the tail end of the season when most kids are back at school.

The next day, it was time for the fun to start. There was a local Boomers about five minutes away. This chain is one of several in Florida offering Pay and Play tickets, where you pay a flat rate and get to play as many video games as you want. If this sounds like your idea of hell, don’t worry; for an additional flat rate, you can play a couple of games of mini golf, ride on the roller coaster, go go-karting (more on those in another post) and take your kids through a mini amusement park.

Golf course Boomers, Dania Beach

We took that option and had a whale of a time squirting each other with water, tearing round the small karting track and playing mini-golf on one of the park’s seven courses. The well maintained courses are all themed, so there are sphinxes, windmills, and houses from fairytales wherever you look. This proved a great start to our holiday.

Check back on Thursday for part 2 of my Florida vacation roundup.

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.

Stretch Those Dates

Even if you can’t travel on the holiday itself, a bit of flexibility about when you DO travel helps to cut ticket costs. Surprise, surprise – everyone wants to travel on the days immediately before or after the actual holiday date. If you can be flexible and travel a couple of days before or after that, you will save money – guaranteed.

Change Of Direction

Not every flight to New York lands at JFK. Wherever you’re going, the chances are that there are other airports nearby that are not as busy as the most popular one. Fly to one of these and you could save money, as well as have more options for travel dates. It may take you a bit longer to get to your final destination, but you may find that an hour’s extra drive is worth the savings you could make.

As you can see, the key way to save money on holiday travel is to be flexible about dates, times and destination. If you’re willing to do that, your holiday will be even happier because of the money you will save.

(photo: clarita)

Indy Park Ride & Fly

Indy Park Ride & Fly and 1st Class Express Airport Parking, two offsite airport parking facilities servicing Indianapolis International Airport (IND) have merged to create a bigger, better Indy Park Ride & Fly in conjunction with the opening of the airport’s new Midfield terminal.

“After 11 years and over 1.5 million parking stays, we’re extremely excited to relocate to the new Midfield terminal,” says Amy Strohmeyer, Indy Park Ride & Fly’s General Manager. “Our new Indy Park Ride & Fly facility will hold more than 2300 cars, and will be the largest off airport parking operation servicing the new Midfield terminal.”

This Ronald Reagan Parkway facility offers the same outstanding, hassle-free service as before, plus more parking spaces, long-term or short-term parking, car care services, enhanced self-parking option, free shuttles to the airport and back, 24 hour surveillance, secure, fenced-in lots, complimentary luggage assistance and more. For an even faster airport parking experience, travelers can sign-up for the Indy BizXpress Fast Pass member program, which will allow them to simply drive in, park, ride & fly.

Another brand-new bonus offer  available at this new Indianapolis airport parking facility is Long-weekend Savings. When traveling from Thursdays to Mondays between November 13th, 2008 and March 2nd, 2009, customers will save more than 40% on Indianapolis Airport parking with discounted rates as low as $6.00 a day.

Presidential Measures To Ease Holiday Woes

Last time I wrote about some ways of achieving stress free vacation travel, but ASTA’s not the only one interested in relieving holiday travel woes. In fact, measures to ease holiday travel congestion come right from the top. President Bush recently revealed measures to improve travelers’ experiences by easing journeys, reducing delays and protecting them from lost luggage. The military is to open up three new flight routes to Southern California, Colorado and Arizona during Thanksgiving, while fees for lost luggage will be raised. Airlines will also have to show how they plan to handle tarmac delays at each airport.

Top Tens From Orbitz

If you are thinking of traveling over Thanksgiving and the holiday season, then it might be helpful to know which airports will be busiest over the holidays. Orbitz has come up with a list of the airports likely to see the most traffic over Thanksgiving, based on ticket sales for travel that week. The airports are:

1. Las Vegas, NV — McCarran International Airport (LAS)
2. New York, NY — LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
3. Chicago, IL — Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
4. Los Angeles, CA — Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
5. San Francisco, CA — San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
6. Dallas, TX — Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport(DFW)
7. Newark, NJ — New York Newark International Airport (EWR)
8. Miami, FL — Miami International Airport (MIA)
9. Denver, CO — Denver International Airport (DEN)
10. Seattle, WA — Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)

For those wishing to escape the snow this winter, there’s more news from Orbitz. The company has prepared a list of the top destinations for travel between December 20 and 29. Las Vegas is at the top of the list, which also includes Orlando and Miami in Florida, San Francisco, San Diego and Anaheim in California, as well as New York, Chicago, Honolulu and Lahaina.