Christmas, with the family, somewhere better

Lapland and Santa, the great European markets, Disneyland Paris and LEGOLAND in festive dress, or a country house where nobody has to cook. Thirteen trips we can build around your family — and the honest advice about which one suits.

Plan Our Christmas

One decision, four very different Christmases

Most families start this with a half-formed idea — "something with the children, somewhere Christmassy" — and then lose three evenings to comparison sites. The quickest way through it is to choose the shape of the trip first: the Arctic, a market city, a theme park, or staying put and letting somebody else do Christmas. Everything below is grouped that way, with what each one is genuinely good at and who it suits.

Start here

Four kinds of family Christmas

Pick the one that sounds like your family and jump to the trips — or read the full guide on each.

3 trips

Lapland & the Arctic

Santa, snow and husky forests inside the Arctic Circle — the trip young children remember for the rest of their lives, and the one that sells out first.

See the trips →Full guide →

4 trips

Christmas Markets

Two or three nights of glühwein, lights and a proper old square — the easiest festive trip to do well on a short break and a modest budget.

See the trips →Full guide →

4 trips

Theme Parks at Christmas

Disneyland Paris, LEGOLAND and Europa-Park in full festive dress — shorter queues than summer, and a park that looks like a Christmas card after dark.

See the trips →Full guide →

2 trips

Festive Stays in the UK

Nobody cooking, nobody driving to an airport — a country house or a city Christmas where the whole family fits under one roof.

See the trips →Full guide →

Why plan it with us

The parts families get wrong on their own

None of this is complicated. It is just easy to leave too late, or to book for the family you had three years ago.

The good dates go first

Lapland peak week and Christmas in a country house are booked further ahead than anything else we sell. September is not early for these — it is the normal time to be asking.

Planned around the ages in the room

A trip for a four-year-old and a trip for a fourteen-year-old share a destination and nothing else. We ask who is travelling before we suggest anything.

A real number, not a headline

We quote your dates, your airport and your family — including the bits that usually appear later, like transfers, thermals and park tickets — so the figure you get is the figure you pay.

Lapland & the Arctic

Santa, snow and husky forests inside the Arctic Circle — the trip young children remember for the rest of their lives, and the one that sells out first.

Snow-covered pine forest in Finnish Lapland at dusk

Rovaniemi · Finland

Rovaniemi — Three Nights on the Arctic Circle

The most practical way into Lapland: direct flights in winter, the Arctic Circle and Santa Claus Village a short drive from town, and a hotel you can retreat to when a four-year-old has had enough of −20°C.

3 nights Late November to early January Families with children roughly 3 to 9

Santa Claus Village and a private meeting with Father Christmas
Husky sled ride and a reindeer farm visit
Snowmobile sleigh through the forest for the adults

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

Log cabin in the snow under a fell landscape in Finnish Lapland

Levi and Ylläs · Finland

Levi & Ylläs — Four Nights in the Fells

Further north and markedly quieter than Rovaniemi, with fell scenery, a log cabin rather than a hotel corridor, and enough on the doorstep — including downhill and cross-country skiing — to fill four nights without a long transfer every morning.

4 nights December to March Families with children 8 and up, and mixed-age groups

Ski-in fell resorts with gentle beginner slopes
Husky and reindeer safaris straight from the resort
Snowshoeing and ice fishing on a frozen lake

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

Tromsø · Norway

Tromsø — Three Nights Under the Aurora

A proper Arctic city rather than a resort — cable car, harbour, restaurants — used as a base for aurora chases, dog sledding and a fjord cruise. The northern lights are the reason to go, so the trip is built to be worth taking whether or not they appear.

3 nights December to February Families with teenagers, and parents who want the trip for themselves too

Guided aurora chase by minibus, following the clearest sky
Dog sledding or a husky camp visit
Fjord cruise and the Fjellheisen cable car

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

Christmas Markets

Two or three nights of glühwein, lights and a proper old square — the easiest festive trip to do well on a short break and a modest budget.

Bruges · Belgium

Bruges — Two Nights of Markets and Canals

The gentlest Christmas market break there is. The whole centre is walkable and flat, the market on the Markt sits under the belfry with an ice rink beside it, and you can be there by train without ever seeing an airport.

2 nights Late November to early January First-time market families and anyone travelling with a pushchair

Christmas market and ice rink on the Markt
Canal walks, chocolate shops and frites at every turn
Compact enough that tired legs are never far from the hotel

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

German Christmas market stalls beside a cathedral

Cologne · Germany

Cologne — Two Nights, Several Markets, One Cathedral

Cologne runs several distinct markets within walking distance of each other, the biggest of them directly beneath the cathedral. It is the most efficient market city in Europe: you can do four in a day and still be back for the children’s bedtime.

2 nights Late November to just before Christmas Families who want the full German market experience without moving hotels

The cathedral market, the harbour market and the old-town market
A fairground-style market the children will refuse to leave
Direct flights from most UK airports, or rail via Brussels

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

Christmas market in a grand European city square

Vienna and Salzburg · Austria

Vienna & Salzburg — Three Nights, Two Cities by Rail

The grandest version of the market break: Vienna’s Rathausplatz market in front of the city hall, then a couple of hours by train to Salzburg for the old town under the fortress. Two very different cities, one easy rail hop, no second flight.

3 nights Late November to early January Families with older children, and grandparents travelling along

Rathausplatz market, the Christmas tree and the skating paths
Salzburg old town and the fortress above it
Fast, comfortable rail between the two cities

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

Snowy medieval square with a Christmas tree and market stalls

Tallinn · Estonia

Tallinn — Three Nights in the Medieval Old Town

A walled medieval old town with the market in Town Hall Square at the middle of it, a good chance of actual snow, and prices that still surprise people. It looks like the inside of a snow globe and costs less than Vienna.

3 nights Late November to early January Families who have done the obvious ones and want snow with it

Town Hall Square market inside the medieval walls
Genuinely likely snow in December
Short flight, small airport, quick transfer

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

Theme Parks at Christmas

Disneyland Paris, LEGOLAND and Europa-Park in full festive dress — shorter queues than summer, and a park that looks like a Christmas card after dark.

Theme park at Christmas with lights and a decorated tree

Marne-la-Vallée, Paris · France

Disneyland Paris — Two Nights in the Christmas Season

Disneyland Paris does Christmas better than it does anything else: the castle in lights, the tree on Main Street, the parade in festive costume, and — outside the school holidays — noticeably shorter queues than August.

2 nights The park’s published Christmas season, usually mid-November to early January Families with children 3 to 12

Festive parade, the Christmas tree and the castle illuminations
On-site or partner hotels with early park access on qualifying stays
Eurostar to the park’s own station, or a short flight to Paris

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

Theme park rides lit up on a winter evening

Billund · Denmark

LEGOLAND Billund & LEGO House — Three Nights

The original LEGOLAND, in the town where LEGO is made, with LEGO House ten minutes away as the wet-weather half of the trip. At Christmas the park runs a festive programme on selected dates and the whole place is lit for the dark afternoons.

3 nights The park’s published festive dates in November and December LEGO-obsessed children roughly 4 to 11

LEGOLAND Billund in festive dress
LEGO House — six floors of building, open year-round
Themed hotel rooms a walk from the park gate

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

Family theme park decorated for Christmas

Windsor, Berkshire · United Kingdom

LEGOLAND Windsor Resort — Two Nights, No Flights

The whole trip without an airport: drive or take the train, stay on resort in a themed room, and do the festive programme over a long weekend. It is the lowest-friction version of this idea for families with very young children.

2 nights The resort’s published festive dates Families who want the theme-park Christmas without passports

Themed resort hotel rooms on site
Festive programme on the resort’s published dates
Windsor itself for the non-park half of the trip

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

Theme park in winter with festive lighting

Rust, Baden-Württemberg · Germany

Europa-Park Winter Season — Three Nights

Europe’s best-regarded theme park runs a full winter season, and its European-themed quarters take to Christmas naturally. It solves the problem every other park has: enough serious rides for a teenager and enough gentle ones for a small child, in the same day.

3 nights The park’s winter season, usually late November to early January Mixed-age families — the one that works with a teenager and a six-year-old

Winter season across the park’s themed European quarters
Big coasters and small rides in the same place
Themed on-site hotels a walk from the gate

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

Festive Stays in the UK

Nobody cooking, nobody driving to an airport — a country house or a city Christmas where the whole family fits under one roof.

English country house drawing room decorated for Christmas

The Cotswolds, Devon, the Lakes or the Highlands · United Kingdom

Country House Christmas — Four Nights, Nobody Cooking

Christmas Eve to the 27th in a country house that does the whole thing for you: the tree, the meals, the walk on Boxing Day, and a kitchen you never have to enter. The version of Christmas where the person who normally cooks gets a Christmas too.

4 nights 23 to 27 December Three generations who would rather not host each other

Full-board festive programme across the holiday
Rooms for grandparents on the ground floor where it matters
Somewhere to walk it off on Boxing Day

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

City Christmas market lit at night below a castle

Edinburgh · United Kingdom

Edinburgh — Three Nights of Christmas in the City

A Christmas market under the castle, a proper city to walk around it, and the option of staying on into Hogmanay. It gets you the market-break atmosphere with a train instead of a boarding pass.

3 nights Late November to early January Families with older children, and anyone staying on for Hogmanay

Christmas market and funfair in the centre of the city
The castle, the Old Town and the walk up Arthur’s Seat
Rail from most of the UK, no airport at either end

Price on enquiry

Quoted for your dates, your airport and the ages of your children — Christmas pricing moves weekly.

Get a quote for this

How it works

From first message to a quote you can act on

No forms to fill in twice, and no itinerary until we know who is travelling.

Tell us the shape, not the itinerary

Who is coming, roughly when, and what you are hoping the children get out of it. That is enough for us to come back with two or three options that actually differ.

We check the calendars before we quote

Festive park seasons and market dates change every year and several run on selected dates only. We confirm them against your dates rather than assuming last year repeats.

Booked through protected suppliers

Cherished Retreats is affiliated with InteleTravel UK under ABTA membership P7384, and books through suppliers who hold their own ATOL where flights are involved.

Questions

What families ask us in September

The four that come up in almost every Christmas enquiry, answered straight.

When do we need to book for Christmas 2026?

Lapland is the urgent one — the peak December dates and the family-friendly cabins go months ahead, and by late autumn you are choosing from what is left rather than what you wanted. Country house Christmas is the same. Christmas markets and theme parks hold availability far later, and a market break in late November can often still be arranged a few weeks out.

What does a family Christmas trip actually cost?

It ranges more widely than any other trip we plan — a two-night market break and a four-night Lapland trip for a family of four are not in the same universe. We do not publish a from-price on this page for that reason: it would be a number chosen to look good rather than one you could book. Tell us your dates and who is travelling and you will get a real quote, itemised.

Is Lapland worth it with very young children?

With children roughly three and up, yes, if the trip is built around them: a base you can get back to quickly, two activities a day rather than four, and Rovaniemi rather than somewhere that needs a long transfer. Under three, the cold and the travel usually outweigh what they take in, and a theme park or a market break gives you more for the money.

Can you book the school-holiday dates?

Yes, and they are the dates most families need — but they are also the dates everyone else needs. If your school breaks up a few days before Christmas, the week before Christmas is both quieter and cheaper than the week after it, and that single choice moves the price more than anything else we can do for you.

What if the northern lights do not appear?

Then you have still had the trip. Nobody can promise aurora — it needs solar activity and a clear sky — so we plan Arctic trips to be worth taking on the husky sledding, the forest and the snow alone, and treat the lights as the bonus they are. Anyone promising you a sighting is overselling it.

Do you arrange the flights, or do we?

We do, as part of the package, unless you would rather use points or a specific airline — in which case we will build the rest around the flights you hold. Either way we will tell you honestly which airport works best for the trip, which is not always the nearest one.

Tell us who is coming and roughly when

Send us the ages, the dates you can move and the ones you cannot, and we will come back with two or three options that genuinely differ — with a real price against each.

Plan Our Christmas

Cherished Retreats is affiliated with InteleTravel UK, under ABTA membership number P7384. InteleTravel UK are appointed agents for our suppliers who are ATOL holders.

Disneyland Paris, LEGOLAND, LEGO House and Europa-Park are trademarks of their respective owners. Cherished Retreats is an independent travel agency arranging trips to them and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting as an agent for any of them.