Travel + Leisure asked their readers to vote on the top U.S. cities for Christmas destinations. These are the top 3, and each has budget-friendly timeshare rentals for a relaxed and luxurious Christmas vacation.
1. San Juan, Puerto Rico. This Caribbean city made number one for two reasons: it’s a warm tropical getaway for Christmas, and the Puerto Rican view of the Christmas season is “not so much a spirit, as a marathon.” The revelry starts in November, and can last well into mid January.
Spending Christmas here you’ll enjoy some wonderful island traditions:
Christmas Eve trumps Christmas Day for most Puerto Ricans. This is when a typical Puerto Rican Christmas dinner is served, consisting of lechón (roast pork),pasteles (patties), and arroz con gandules (rice ‘n beans).
The traditional Christmas dessert is tembleque, which is a kind of custard with coconut, cornstarch, vanilla, and cinnamon. Instead of eggnog, you’ll have coquito, or coconut nog.
After dinner, many Puerto Ricans attend a midnight mass known as the Misa de Gallo. You might just catch a live reenactment of the nativity scene.
A Puerto Rico timeshare rental can start as low as $65/night.
2. New Orleans. Christmas in New Orleans is comprised of event after event spanning the last week of November to the last week in December ending with New Year’s Eve. The events are unique, holiday oriented, and all are family friendly.
City Park’s celebration In the Oaks is said to be one of the best holiday lighting displays in the country. This walking path, amusement park, synthetic ice rink, and train route has become the gem of New Orleans’ Christmas celebrations.
Caroling in the Square (see photo right) is perhaps one of the most amazing things to behold all season long. This event brings tourist and locals, like moths, to a candle-lit Jackson Square for caroling. Led by local musical talent, the crowd is handed the lyrics and candles to complete what has been called the most moving event all season long.
Consider a New Orleans timeshare rental for just $86/night.
3. New York City. Of course the Big Apple had to make the cut – its Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, and the Radio City Music Hall’s Rockettes Christmas Show, are two of the most iconic Christmas events in the country.
But get out of Manhattan and head to Brooklyn and you’ll run into a New York City Christmas treasure – the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights Tour (see top photo).
The residents of this Italian-American neighborhood unabashedly practice one-upsmanship every Christmas season. Where homes can go for $1 million or more many of these residents now hire professional decorators to use the latest in LED technology. Professional displays can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $10,000 or more, depending on how elaborate they are.
Regardless of how the displays are created, the result is pure Christmas delight, prompting comments such as “You can probably see that house from space!” and “That house looks like a dessert!” from wide-eyed visitors that come from all over the world.
A New York City timeshare rental in downtown Manhattan is currently just $125/night.
Photo Credit (Puerto Rico):.tumblr.com
Photo Credit (Jackson Square): southernliving.com
Photo Credit (Dyker Heights): examiner.com