With a name like Santa Claus, it's no wonder that this southern Indiana town likes to string out the festive season. Dubbed "America's Christmas Hometown", Santa Claus is known for its Christmassy street names (think Comet Lane and Carol Drive) and its year-round yuletide attractions. Highlights include the mammoth Santa Claus Christmas Store on the aptly-named Kringle Place and the jolly Santa statues dotted about. There's a whole roster of events planned for the 2022 holiday season, including a drive-through Christmas lights trail at Sun Outdoors Lake Rudolph RV resort.
Another major draw in Santa Claus is Holiday World and Splashin' Safari, a festive theme park that opened as Santa Claus Land back in 1946. There’s a host of passes to choose from, with food discounts, bring-a-friend tickets and admission all season available.
While Käthe Wohlfahrt now has stores across Europe, the original and the best remains in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a town in German Bavaria. Described as a "Christmas village" rather than a store, it's filled with light-drenched trees and snow-crowned houses, as well as the usual displays of nutcrackers, ornaments and wooden toys.
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Right next to Käthe Wohlfahrt, you'll find the Deutsches Weihnachtsmuseum, or the German Christmas Museum, the brainchild of Harald Wohlfahrt, Käthe Wohlfahrt's son. Beginning with Harald's own private collection, the museum focuses on the history of the German Christmas through a series of festive relics. Visitors can discover, among other things, the distinctive decorations produced in Germany's Erzgebirge region, the origins of advent and the story of the Christmas tree.
Gloriously kitsch Castle Noel describes itself as "America's largest indoor year-round Christmas entertainment attraction" – and it has garnered worldwide attention since it opened in 2013. Christmas fanatics can pore over a huge store of festive movie props (from favourites including Elf and The Grinch) and Big Apple Christmas window displays from the likes of Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's. A shiny red slide, an animated Christmas tree and plenty of fake snow add to the fun.
There are festive shops, and then there’s gargantuan Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland, tipped as the largest Christmas store in the world. A top attraction in the Bavarian-style city of Frankenmuth, the shop brims with some 50,000 Christmassy trinkets and trimmings, from life-sized nativity scenes to Santa suits to intricate collectibles. There are also special events including visits from Father Christmas.
This little city not far from Fairbanks embraces the Christmas spirit the whole year through. Holiday decorations are strung about the streets whatever the season, and roads (such as Santa Claus Lane and Snowman Lane) are marked with giant candy canes. Each year come Christmastime, the town's post office is flooded with mail intended for Saint Nick.
Top festive attractions here include Santa Claus House, a giant Christmas store complete with holiday ornaments, festive foods, toys and more. It's known for its white and red candy-cane façade and the 50-foot (15m) Santa statue out front. After browsing, visitors can head next door to take a peek at Santa's loyal team of reindeers.
Bruges is a favoured spot for festive travellers, but visitors can get a dose of Christmas cheer in the middle of summer too. Occupying a sought-after spot on Vlamingstraat, right in the heart of the city, De Witte Pelikaan touts itself as Belgium's very first permanent Christmas shop. The store is filled with quaint decorations from teddy bears to traditional model Santas, plus oodles of twinkling lights, baubles and garlands.
Visitors won't find year-round holiday decorations or perennial Santas in this Pennsylvania town – but there’s another reason it’s known as "Christmas City, USA". Bethlehem was established on Christmas Eve in 1741, and a star has shone over the city since the 1930s. Originally made of wood, the glittering symbol is a reminder of both the Christmas story and Bethlehem's enduring connection to the festive period. Today the star shines with more than 250 LED lights and can be spotted from more than 20 miles (32km) away.
The Christmas spirit is never far away in Drøbak, a town that claims to be the true home of Santa Claus. Legend has it, the man himself was born a stone's throw from Drøbak, and he still resides here. In fact, if visitors don't spot Father Christmas himself, they'll certainly see comical road signs warning that Santa might be crossing.
Drøbak's crowning festive jewel is Tregaarden's Julehuset, right in the heart of town. The Christmas House is packed to the rafters with seasonal decorations, from Christmas lanterns to statues of Santa to pretty postcards with festive scenes. Visitors will also find Julenissen's Post Office, which receives thousands of letters addressed to Santa each year, and comes with its own official Christmas post stamp.
The Nutcracker Christmas Shop – now with multiple locations across Scotland and England – has been spreading Christmas cheer for nearly two decades. And the small chain's Crieff outpost is tipped as the biggest year-round Christmas shop in the whole of the UK. Shoppers can swing by for Christmas trees, crackers, carved decorations and more.
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The year-round Christmas spirit is alive and well in the Southern Hemisphere too. In Melbourne, Australia is Christmas Elves, a perennial Christmas store that caters to collectors and regular Christmas lovers alike. Some 11,840 square feet (1,100sq m) are dedicated to a carefully curated store of Christmas decorations, from wreaths and window ornaments to trees and tinsel.
Tucked away in Germany's Ore Mountains is Seiffen, a dinky town famous for its carved Christmas gifts and decorations. Wooden toys, nutcrackers and schwibbögen (a type of ornate candle holder) are all made here, and visitors can typically get into the festive spirit by visiting Seiffen's traditional toy workshops and stores. A top pit stop is the Spielzeugmuseum, or Toy Museum, with some 5,000 toys on display, including carousels and dolls' houses.
The Incredible Christmas Place, at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains, is hailed as the South's largest Christmas store. The sprawling building, notable for its gabled roofs and year-round holiday trimmings, houses every Christmas knick-knack you could think of, from crab apple garlands to Alpine village scenes. But some just come to drink in the 60-plus decorated Christmas trees, dripping in lights, baubles and Christmas spirit.
Right across the road you'll find The Inn at Christmas Place, which might be the most festive hotel on the planet. Its comfy rooms are decked out for the holidays all year round – think lush green wreaths over the coffee station, a sparkling Christmas tree on the dresser and ruby red pillows wishing you a "Merry Christmas". The cosy common areas ooze just as much festive cheer and, best of all, a singing Santa visits the inn periodically.
Solvang is known for its Danish heritage, and its comforting pastries and horse-drawn street car make visitors feel festive whatever the time of year. However, where Solvang's Christmas spirit really shines through is at Jule Hus, a year-round Christmas store that's been going strong for more than five decades. Christmas-lovers can peek inside to discover handcrafted Christmas decorations, Scandinavian ornaments and wooden nutcrackers.
The pretty town of Niagara-on-the-Lake is lauded for its dreamy waterside location and its many wineries – but it's also home to Canada's "oldest year-round Christmas emporium". Its cheerful green and red façade pulls in visitors whatever the season and, inside, some 5,000 Christmas gifts, decorations and ornaments jostle for space. The store's prized offering is its personalised baubles, which are hand-painted by an artist on site.
Sweden's central Dalarna County is home to another of Santa's purported residences: Santaland (or Santa World, as it's also known), a glittering amusement land with a fairy-tale focus. Here Santa Claus rules the roost, overseeing a land of mythical creatures from trolls and gnomes to fairies and elves. You can pay a visit to Santa himself or take a pew at Mrs Claus' café for some festive refreshments.
Taking pride of place in Salzburg's quaint Old Town, the Christmas Museum chronicles festive traditions in Austria and southern Germany from 1840 to 1940. The collection is housed above Café Glockenspiel, and visitors can expect to see colourful nutcrackers, incense burners and other festive figurines displayed in glass cases. There's also an entire room festooned with traditional decorations and toys, from a rocking horse and carousel to an ornament-drenched tree.
A curious landmark around 100 miles (161km) north of Tokyo, Lockheart Castle was originally built in Scotland in 1829. However, late Japanese actor Masahiko Tsugawa fell in love with the Scottish estate during his travels in the country in the 1980s – so much so that he had it shipped brick by brick to his native Japan and rebuilt as it once was. And what's the connection to Christmas you ask? Today it's home to a World Santa Museum, holding rare, one-of-a-kind Father Christmas figures – including a life-size one.
A festive theme park open throughout the summer too, Santa’s Workshop has been delighting visitors for some seven decades. Fittingly, it's located in North Pole, a hamlet of Wilmington, New York, and it includes a cute festive village, with a candy shop, toy makers' workshop and, of course, Santa's House (pictured). The park opens on select days throughout the year, and in December there’s even a Village of Lights.
While this Christmassy theme park does close for some select months during the year, it typically keeps the yuletide vibe going much longer than most – including over the summer season. Visitors will find 60 acres of festive fun, including Elves Island, with its aerial park and poutinerie, and the Candy Cane Express, a jolly red train that chugs around the park. There's also the Christmas Ball Ferris Wheel which overlooks the park and surrounding water.
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This New Hampshire amusement park continues to spread its festive magic right through the late spring and summer seasons. There are plenty of watery attractions perfect for warmer weather, like the Yule Log Flume. Guests can also ride Santa's Express Train right through the festive village and fill up on treats at places such as the Jolly Lolly Candy Store or Dasher's Delights.
A little Midwestern city has created its very own North Pole. Teensy WaKeeny might seem an unlikely place for an offbeat winter wonderland, but you'll find just that in the form of a small park in an empty lot dedicated to the festive season. It features a colourful mural depicting a row of houses festooned for the season, plus candy canes and a little shed that's been designated as Santa's Workshop.
Given it's the capital of Finnish Lapland – and the "official hometown of Santa Claus" – it's no wonder that Rovaniemi is a year-round festive getaway. The Christmassy city has a dreamy location right on the Arctic Circle (the line is proudly marked, so visitors know when they're crossing into the Arctic) and guests can visit Santa Claus any day they like at his official headquarters in Santa Claus Village (pictured).
Rovaniemi is also home to Santa Park, a jolly indoor theme park that takes guests underground for festive shows, an elf school and a Christmassy express train. Beyond the amusement parks, favoured activities in Rovaniemi include reindeer-fronted sleigh rides, farm visits and (depending on the season) chasing the Northern Lights.
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