The 19 Best Places to Spend Christmas This Year

The week between Christmas Eve and New Year's is one of the few stretches of the calendar year when laziness is not only tolerated but highly encouraged. Schools are closed, offices are pretty much deserted, and you can't even pay a visit to your favorite bank teller. (Lol...just kidding, unless that's really your thing, in which case...carry on!) In other words, December 24 through January 2 is the perfect time for you to plan a vacation. You've worked super hard all year, and to celebrate, you deserve to take a trip to somewhere festive and fun. Spending Christmas *not* at your boyfriend's stepmom's house is pretty rad, let me tell you.

There are places all over the world that go bananas for the Christmas season, covering everything within reach in a slew of lights, and hosting tons of tourist-friendly events. You get to see cities at their absolute most gorgeous and everyone is jolly, plus you don't have to take too much time off work, assuming you get a couple freebie days off between the two holidays. Really, traveling this time of year gets such a bad reputation, and it's unfair!

Here are some of the best places around the world to visit this Christmas. Whether you're yearning for a classic holiday vacation full of hot cocoa and window displays (New York City is the spot) or you want to splurge on a bucket-list-level international destination (look up flights to Prague ASAP), you can't go wrong spending Christmas in any one of these pretty cities.