Christmas Adventures

with CulturalTravels.com Tour Hosts
by Sheri Leigh Tour Host listing noted in Bold

Dreaming of a White Christmas or a blow-out true-millennium (note) celebration? Why not an alpine sleigh ride in view of the Matterhorn? Or an English Country Christmas, complete with carolers and pantomime? Perhaps the Old World formality of New Year’s at Vienna’s Imperial Ball or the revelry that only a 1,000 pipers in kilts can provide?

If you have ever dreamed of the ultimate storybook Christmas, William Buckman’s Travel Time Co. creates fantasies to remember. Travel Time’s 28 years of experience planning Christmas Holidays ensures you the best seats in the house for all of the season’s most spectacular performances. Its five distinct Christmas/New Years trips, and variety of tour combinations wrapped in dreamlike luxury have earned Travel Time Co. the title of October’s Pick of the Month.    

If you want to shop, get into the spirit of the holidays and still be home for Christmas, we have three shopping tours that should tickle your fancy. “The Spirit of Christmas,” offered by Herzerl Tours takes you back to the delights of simpler times. The Christmas markets of Vienna and the adjacent countryside are home to the sights and smells that typify Austrian Advent celebrations and the traditional “Christkindlmarkt.” Hand-made ornaments and candles delight the eye, carolers fill the air with song and fragrant wreaths and spices invigorate the soul. This hands-on trip is highlighted with a holiday cooking class. 

Gerhard's Odysseys wander through the German countryside. One route winds its way through the state of Coburg, with its Hummel factory and glass making center of Lauscha. In Seiffen, the wooden toy-making region, you can still see craftsmen making holiday decorations, or visit the Nutcracker Museum. Bohemian crystal and local crafts are available in Prague, the last stop on this adventure. The alternate trip visits the Gingerbread houses and castles of Rothenburg, Salzburg and Nurnberg, home of holiday gingerbread and Germany’s grandest market. Both tours include Munich’s Marienplatz Square, home of Germany’s oldest Christmas market.

Celebrating the holidays in a different land is always a treat. The festivities offered by the following hosts suggest delightful ideas for a Christmas or New Years in Old World style.

“A Traditional Salzburg Christmas” is offered by Cross-Culture. The heart of Old Salzburg is your home for the holiday. Enjoy a chamber music performance at Mirabell Palace, in the halls where Mozart often played. Savor the crisp alpine air from the comfort of a horse-drawn sleigh and lunch at a traditional mountain inn. Christmas is spent amidst candles, fruit and handmade ornaments in a private home where you will delight in a splendid Yule dinner. 

Combine Christmas in Salzburg with Vienna’s New Year’s Imperial Ball with Morgan Tours. This trip is filled with music: Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Strauss provide the melodies that delight as you attend events in such magnificent surroundings as Salzburg Cathedral, Hohensalzburg Castle and the Salzburg Landestheatre. New Year’s Eve starts with Beethoven's Symphony No.9 by the Vienna Symphony, then moves on to the Imperial Ball and culminates with midnight ballet and opera performances.

If an English country Christmas is more your style join Golden Escapes as they visit London and spend the holiday at Charlecote, near Stratford-upon-Avon, where  Shakespeare is said to have poached his first deer. Visit Stratford, Warwick Castle and a Boxing Day theatre performance. Combine this trip with a stay in Airth Castle Hotel and visit both Edinburgh and Glasgow for a blowout Scottish Hogmanay festival.

Not into the traditional holiday festivities? Spend Christmas on Safari. Enjoy a traditional East African safari with Another Land 4 day trip to Uganda. Talk about a Holiday Adventure! Join the Master Musicians and Dancers of Buganda in their native village of Lutengo, to ring in the new millennium. Spend 3 days preparing for this celebration by learning to cook, sing and dance with the locals. This is truly a unique once-in-a-lifetime experience! 

Cheers to the True New Millennium, which begins January 1, 2001!