Six ways to end the year outside Mexico (and what really changes in each)

Every October someone writes me with the same question: "we want to go away in December, where to?" And I almost never answer with a destination. I answer with another question: how much cold can you take?

Because December is a strange month. The 24th of December can be the best night of your trip in a town in Oaxaca and the most complicated in Nuremberg, with the city almost shut and you looking for somewhere to eat. This is not a list of pretty places. It is what I would tell you if we were just talking.

"I want a postcard Christmas": markets in Vienna and Nuremberg

It is the most classic European winter trip, and it goes very well if you know one thing: the good part ends on the 24th.

Nuremberg's market opens on 27 November and on 24 December it closes at two in the afternoon. Vienna lasts a little longer: the Rathausplatz market runs from 13 November to 26 December, although on the 24th it closes at half past six. Strasbourg opens on 27 November, and last year it closed on the 24th.

But what really changes the trip is not the market. It is the rest of the city. In Germany and Austria, on the afternoon of the 24th the shops close and so do many restaurants; the 25th and 26th are holidays, with shops closed. Hotel restaurants usually open. If you do not have dinner sorted on the night of the 24th, you will eat whatever you find.

That is why it is best to arrive before the 24th for this trip, with Christmas Eve dinner booked months ago, and to sleep in a hotel with a restaurant. In Vienna, the MICHELIN Guide gives three Keys to Hotel Sacher Wien and two to the Imperial, the Park Hyatt, the Rosewood, the Sans Souci and the Amauris. For a proper table, Steirereck, which went up to three stars this year. And if kids are coming, the Eistraum, the ice rink next to the town hall, is open until 6 January, except on the 31st.

"I want wildlife, not cold": safari in the southern Serengeti

Ndutu Wilderness Camp opens in mid-December and closes in mid-March, because that is when the herds move south in the Serengeti to give birth. The births run from January to March, and the people who run safaris in the area put the peak in February.

To put it plainly: December is the beginning. It is a very good safari, but it is not the peak. If you only have December, I will tell you so. If you can move to February, better.

The camp has ten tents. That seems like a lot, until you travel with a big family: with fifteen people you fill more than half. And on a safari the price is per person, but per room. Someone traveling alone pays as two.

"I want something nobody has": Antarctica

The Antarctic summer is exactly December and January: there is almost no night and temperatures hover around zero degrees. At the end of December the penguin chicks begin to hatch.

Atlas Ocean Voyages sails from Ushuaia on 16 December aboard the World Navigator, on an eleven-night voyage with a Drake Passage crossing and Zodiac landings. It returns on the 27th. That is before the 21st, so if you are traveling with children in school, you would have to take them out for a few days.

One thing to be clear about: some operators recommend booking December Antarctica twelve to eighteen months ahead. For this December we would have to ask whether a cabin is left, and I cannot promise you one. On a cruise it works the same as on a safari: the price is per person, but per cabin, so traveling alone means paying for two.

"I want real cold": Lapland

In December in Rovaniemi it is about six degrees below zero by day and about twelve at night, with weeks at twenty-five below. The sun is up a couple of hours.

And here is what almost nobody says: December is not the best month to see the northern lights. They can be seen from late August to April, and the strongest months are September and October, and February and March. December is the most requested because it is Christmas, and according to local operators it is one of the months with more cloud. If you want Christmas with snow, go ahead. If what you want is the lights, there are better months.

To sleep, Skýra Retreat, in Rovaniemi, which this September received its first MICHELIN Key: a former 1950s school on the shore of a lake, with suites, log cabins and a villa with a Nordic spa.

"I don't want a long flight": Oaxaca

On 23 December, in Oaxaca's Zócalo, it is the Night of the Radishes: people carve figures out of enormous radishes and the whole city comes out to see them. It is the plan that asks for the least logistics, and the only one on this list without a long flight.

To sleep, the MICHELIN Guide gives one Key to Pug Seal Oaxaca and to Hotel Casa Santo Origen. To eat, there are two one-star restaurants, Levadura de Olla and Los Danzantes, and among the Bib Gourmands, Xaok and Las Quince Letras.

"I want to see a country come to a stop": Japan at New Year

In Japan, 1 January is the only national holiday, but many companies and many restaurants close until the 3rd. The Japanese call it shōgatsu, and it is one of the most important holidays of the year. Hotel restaurants and the big chains usually open, with reduced hours.

The tradition is to visit a shrine on the first day of the year, and the big ones, like Tokyo's Meiji Jingu, get packed. If you go, book dinners months ahead and look for a smaller shrine or go first thing in the morning.

To sleep, the MICHELIN Guide gives three Keys to Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto, the only one in that category in Kyoto, and to Palace Hotel Tokyo, Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi and Bvlgari Hotel Tokyo, in Tokyo.

Which one I would pick

If you have not traveled in a while and want something easy, Oaxaca. If you want a postcard Christmas, Vienna, arriving before the 24th. If wildlife is your thing, the Serengeti, and if you can, in February. If you want a trip unlike any you have taken, Antarctica, but ask now whether there is room. If what moves you is the northern lights, Lapland, but not necessarily in December. And if you want to see a country at a standstill, Japan at New Year.

Two big trips rarely fit in the same weeks. Pick one.

How much it costs

My fees are calculated per person and depend on the destination, the days and how much logistics the trip takes. Trips start at around 4,000 dollars per person, double occupancy and in four- and five-star hotels, without international flights: I work airport to airport. Upward there is no fixed ceiling.

What people ask me most

01

What closes at Christmas in Germany and Austria?

On the afternoon of the 24th the shops and many restaurants close. The 25th and 26th are holidays and shops stay closed; hotel restaurants usually open. It is best to book everything ahead.

02

How long are the Christmas markets open in 2026?

Nuremberg, from 27 November to 24 December, closing at 14:00 on the 24th. Vienna, from 13 November to 26 December. Strasbourg opens on 27 November.

03

Can you travel to Japan at New Year?

Yes, but from 1 to 3 January many restaurants and companies close. You have to book ahead.

04

When are the northern lights best in Lapland?

From late August to April. The strongest months are September and October, and February and March.

How we plan it

The first thing I ask you is how many days you have and how much cold you can take. That rules out two or three of these plans in one call.

That is how we build a tailored trip, and it is what the first call is about, which costs nothing. If you already have dates, tell us where to.

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Escrito por Diego Ramírez · Publicado el 8 October 2026