Least Risky Place to Travel Christmas/NYE

How about Edinburgh, Scotland, or Vienna? [Altho , I have read that number are going up in parts of Austria.] Edinburgh is on my Bucket List for NYE.

Also you may want to check Flight Aware to make sure that the flights you intend to purchase are currently flying. The airlines have had this pesky little habit during Covid of selling flights they HOPE will be flying.

Good luck!

I also prefer city over beach so this subject connects with other recent discussions about how the recovery this past summer season was stronger in resort areas than in the big cities because so much of the leisure travel was internal, and because the city cultural festivals and exhibits are still not at full force --
so why not try to aim for places that combine the charms of the beach with the cultural riches of the city, like Marseilles or Nice?

I'm getting a little vicarious pleasure, I hope, from hearing about the plans of those with time and money to do leisure travel :-)

If you’re from North America, you might want a back-up plan like Vancouver, BC combined with Victoria or Chicago or San Francisco. There’s many museums, unique neighborhoods, etc. to explore that could give you an active trip vs. your back-up plan of Mexico.

Southern Spain may currently offer the best European combination of low infection rate, high vaccination rate and holiday-season weather. By "southern" I mean Andalucia rather than Madrid (for reasons of weather).

You can find climate-summary statistics in cities' Wikipedia entries (link goes to Seville), but they may not be super-accurate since the time period on which the averages are based usually cuts off in 2010 (if not 2000). Actual, historical, day-by-day temperature figures are available on the website timeanddate.com. The link is for December 2020, but I recommend checking multiple years for a better idea of the range of conditions you might encounter.

The usual caveats apply, as there's no way to predict the future or read anyone's mind...

But it seems to me England is a safe enough bet, in terms of being less likely to have shut downs and curfews. The political leadership there has thus far been fairly committed to forging ahead without restrictions, strict mandates, etc. Now, a cooler climate in the winter with what are at the present at least fairly high new case numbers? Perhaps not "less risky" in every way. But I'd be kind of surprised to see things like curfews, capacity restrictions, movement restrictions or the like in England anytime soon.

How about Mexico City? Great city, great food, nice neighborhoods to stay in...if you have never been, it has a very european feel to it, and it costs a lot less than Europe, too.

Just reported on CBS yesterday Portugal has the highest VAX rate and lowest cases. Loads of great places to visit there including the Azores

It seems every 60-90 days Covid changes the landscape of different countries and regions. Who knows what it will be like 12/24. Maybe waiting until mid-December might not be a bad idea to choose a location.

I too would pick Portugal! I would love to visit! Lisbon….the Douro river….And the Azores look wonderful also. Amazingly vaxed!

I'll be spending my second holiday season in London this year.

FYI because others who read your post would be misinformed about France, here is the situation in France: there’s no crackdown on unvaccinated individuals, but those of us who are vaccinated will need to either get our third shots by certain declared dates, according to age, or give up using our Health Passes. The vaccination rate for people over 12 is just under Spain’s, at 87.4%.

That said, I’d head to southern Spain.

Another vote for southern Spain - we’re here now. The vaccination rate is high, people are wearing masks both inside and outside, the food is great, and the people really kind. Fly into Madrid and take the train south. I’d get an apartment in one or two places - Cordoba, Granada, Cadiz, Seville. Holiday decorations are going up and it looks like it will be festive!

Having just returned from 2 weeks in Spain, I agree with Sharon’s observations and recommendation to go there. Enjoy!

If you have concerns, make sure you know you will be able to enjoy the trip, and where ever you end up is a place you will enjoy; otherwise wait a while.

Since COVID began i have been to Greece, Turkey, Ukraine, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Croatia, Mexico, Texas, Florida, Louisanna, South Carolina, Nevada and now Hungary. Based on your question and the COVID practices I saw in these places, I would take all of them off your list. But there are some good ideas above.

At present, Andalusia looks to be one of the safest places Covid wise, but lots can change in 5 weeks!

Although vaccination rates are high in Portugal, Covid death numbers are now unfortunately the highest for 3 months and hospitalisations are increasing, so the government is meeting on Friday to assess the situation.

Unless you can book flexible tickets, I would hold off booking until the situation becomes clearer. The best accommodation will have been booked months ago, so you won’t have much difference in choice now if you wait awhile.

In many places, public transport is limited or non existent on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

It's really hard to say that far in the future given how bad things are in some parts of Europe right now, but let's just say that my plan to get a German Rail Pass and hit a bunch of Christmas Markets all over Germany, Belgium, and Austria has uh, been curtailed. I was going to go to Berlin for my birthday on Thanksgiving weekend by rail. Now I'm pretty sure I'm flying to Spain instead. So...flexibility and I wouldn't book anything more than two weeks out if you can afford it, otherwise you might run into some surprises.