Where to travel in December: 47 festivals

Festivals and seasonal sights in 74 cities in December: Christmas Wonderland and the Orchard Road lights (Singapore), Guam International Dance Festival…

Top 10

Singapore

• Christmas Wonderland and the Orchard Road lights — A ticketed light fair under the Supertrees from late November to 1 January. The Orchard Road lights are free from mid-November. Evening rain is common in this season, so carry an umbrella.
• Wet season, November to January — Frequent afternoon downpours and the occasional run of rainy days, but also the coolest time of year at around 31°C. Put indoor stops (museums, the domes, malls) in the afternoon.
• Marina Bay Countdown fireworks — Merlion Park and the Esplanade steps are full by 8 pm. The MRT runs through the night afterwards. Sentosa's beaches hold their own parties.

Guam

• Guam International Dance Festival — Chamorro dance houses (gumas) and visiting troupes compete and swap styles. Free workshops.
• Christmas lights & New Year fireworks — Light displays at the Governor's Complex and nativity belens in every village; on December 31 fireworks burst over Tumon Bay with parties along the beach hotels.

Boracay

• Christmas to February Peak — The best weather and the highest prices. Book two months ahead to have a choice of rooms.
• New Year's Eve Fireworks — Fireworks over the water at midnight. Reserve a beach-path restaurant table for dinner.

Athens

• Christmas and New Year at Syntagma — A tall tree goes up in the middle of the square and Ermou is strung with lights. Countdown and fireworks in the square on 31 December, running through to Epiphany on 6 January.

Manila

• Christmas season (September–January) — Parol lanterns go up in September and Simbang Gabi dawn masses run 16–24 December. Ayala Triangle's light show plays nightly, but December Friday-evening traffic is the year's worst.
• Metro Manila Film Festival — From Christmas Day the cinemas show only Filipino films, with a float parade of stars down Roxas Boulevard before it opens.

Milan

• Oh Bej! Oh Bej! fair & Sant'Ambrogio — Stalls ring the castle for the patron saint's day: roast chestnuts, mulled wine, honey, crafts. The same evening La Scala opens its season (the Prima) and the whole centre buzzes.
• Duomo Christmas market and tree — The big tree on the square, lights across the Galleria roof, little chalet stalls beside the Duomo. This is when to buy panettone.

Hanoi

• Christmas Eve at the cathedral — Tree, lights and a crowd that blocks the lanes. Queue early in the evening if you want to get into the mass.

Rome

• Christmas at the Vatican — It starts on 8 December when the Pope lays flowers at the Madonna column in Piazza di Spagna; then the giant nativity and tree go up in St Peter's Square. Apply months ahead for the 24 December mass.

Cebu

• Christmas and the run-up to Sinulog — Christmas in the Philippines starts in September and peaks in December: lights on every roundabout and mall, rice cakes sold outside the dawn masses. The nine-day Sinulog novena starts right after New Year.

Madrid

• Christmas Lights and the Twelve Grapes at Sol — From the switch-on in late November to 6 January. Plaza Mayor hosts a nativity-figure market, and at midnight on 31 December the crowd at Sol swallows twelve grapes to the clock's chimes. The square is sealed off early in the evening.

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