Christmas Vacation Ideas

Snow Sports

By late December, most areas that support snow sports have seen a good snow fall and are ready to go. The most obvious option is to plan a ski holiday, but this is hardly the only one. Many high altitude areas with mountain biking and hiking paths turn these over to snowshoeing. Climbers can test their mettle against the challenges of ice climbing. If you live within driving distance of either the Rocky or Appalachian mountain chains, a trip based on one or more of these outdoor winter sports is within road-tripping distance, so you don't even need to fly. Alternatively, vacations of this kind could easily go foreign. There are many popular ski destinations in Europe and Japan, for example.

Dog Sledding

If you have ever wanted to yell "mush" at a pack of sled dogs, a Christmas vacation might just be the best time to live out your fantasy. For a major dog-sledding expedition with winter camping, you need to go to the obvious choices of Alaska or the Canadian Yukon, but dog-sledding opportunities exist more widely than that. If you are going on a ski trip to Lake Tahoe, Nevada, for example, there is day-trip dog sledding there. Ontario in Canada, Minnesota and Wyoming all have dog-sledding tours available.

Beat the Winter

Another option is to skip the winter weather altogether, which you can do by heading to the Equator or due south of it. The weather is always hot and humid in the equatorial regions, and in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are reversed. Late December is mid-summer in Argentina, for example. You could go into Patagonia for long-distance hiking or climbing, or to the coast of Chile for sea kayaking. By December, the dry season is in full force in much of Southeast Asia, making it the best time to plan a jungle trek in Malaysia or a scuba diving trip in Thailand. December and January offer the best weather for visiting a host of destinations around the world, making them a great way to beat the winter weather at home.