Hubby and I are planning a holiday this Christmas break and are looking at going to the US. We also contemplated Europe, but decided that maybe I would cope with parts of the US - temperature wise - better than Europe.
We are planning on being away for at least three weeks, from anywhere between about Dec 20th to Jan 20th. We know that these aren't great times for visiting parts of the northern hemisphere, but it is the only time we get holidays long enough to go overseas.
I would LOVE to experience a white Christmas, but don't know how to fit that in to our itinerary if we want to spend most of the time in the warmer parts of the area. We are currently looking at Hawaii (perhaps for a week) then across to the mainland to Las Vegas (missed it in our last trip) for a few days then perhaps across to Florida. We have NO idea what is in between that we should visit and we don't really know if there is enough in Florida for us to see in a week and a half.
Does anyone have any suggestions for us? Any information at all would be great. If I want a white Christmas I realise that I am going to have to go north, but I don't know how far north I would have to go to have a white Christmas guaranteed, or whether it couldn't really be guaranteed anywhere. Can you tell I am not well travelled at all?
In a few years time we will have Long Service Leave, where we get three months leave with pay, which is VERY nice. It will be my third one. You get one set after working ten years then another set every 7 years after that. We can take them however we want, so the last set I took as a few weeks' break, then the rest I took one day a week for a year so I got a long weekend EVERY weekend. When we get the next batch we will be looking at seeing more parts of the US and then hopefully going to Europe as well. But for the moment we have to put up with a winter holiday wherever we go.
Thank you for wading through all of this and thank you in advance for any info you can give us.
I would suggest San Diego, California if you could, because we have everything here...Beaches, mountains, skiing, you name it!
Las Vegas can be fun too, if you like chaos, all night buffets, smoking, drinking and dancing girls! Seriously though, it's an affordable place to have fun.
Do you like Elvis? You can visit Memphis, Tennesee; it's not too far north, and you can visit Graceland, and it may have a white Christmas. The weather is crazy in the Midwest, and sometimes we have spring-like rainy Christmases, and sometimes we have snowy Christmases. I think the only guaranteed white Christmas may be in Buffalo or North Dakata. Kansas City is wonderful in the Winter time, but I'm bias.
I actually think there are very few cities that would guarantee you a white christmas unless it is the east coast and way north. As the years go by, I believe winters are getting much milder in most of the US.
For a major city, your best chances and a place to visit probably would be New York city. Washington DC is nice too but this winter we've had snow 3 times total I think, 1-2 days each time.
I don't care for Florida much but I do like the keys (minus key west). San Diego is a nice place to visit, I grew up there so I'm biased.
You will have some chance of snow in Vegas but it probably won't stick. You are definitely near the Sierra Nevadas though and you could go to one of the mountain resorts in CA not too far from Vegas. Another alternative is to go to the rocky mountains like Vail. Those are ski resort areas and if they don't have snow, then I don't know who will
No wonder they make emigrating to Australia so difficult
Nelie had a good suggestion. Hang out in California (I've never heard one person from abroad complain about San Fransisco) and then head into the Sierra Nevadas or the Colorado Rockies (ahem!) for Christmas. It has snowed so much in the mountains this year, that we should have some left over
Soul Bliss - We went to San Diego and other parts of California a couple of years ago and LOVED it! We would like to go again, but thought of looking at other areas as well. Actually, we didn't get long in San Diego, so there are probably lots of places we missed. We wouldn't want to be in Las Vegas for long, just enough to say "been there done that". We aren't big gamblers, but would have to at least visit a few of the casinos, just to look at them and take photos. We love taking photos wherever we go.
Harpo - I would LOVE to see Graceland. I saw an old Oprah show the other day where she had lunch there with Lisa Marie. I hadn't thought of that. I kinda figured that the weather could be quite erratic. I am wondering whether it would be worth perhaps flying up to New York or somewhere like that for a couple of days just for Christmas, then heading back down to slightly warmer areas after that. SO much to think about.
Nelie - Thanks for the site! I will have to go and check it out for a bit of an idea. I hadn't really thought of Washington DC, but there would certainly be places to see there. We are very much into history and nature, so have lots of choices I suppose. Chicago was one place that I had considered. Thanks for the suggestion.
Jen - I am beginning to wonder whether people may be right about California. When we visited a couple of years ago we started at Los Angeles and followed the coast up to San Francisco, then went to Seattle for a week, as Neil had a Microsoft summit to go to. I truly loved everywhere we went, and would be happy to visit it all again, but there is SO much I want to see. I am just not used to the cold at all, especially since losing the weight. I start getting really cold at anything under 20C/66F, so will have to take a jacket or two with me wherever we decide to go I think.
It doesn't really snow before Christmas often... even in New England. However this December it did. I couldn't guarantee you a white Christmas. After all, the New England saying is "Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes."
If you REALLY have white Christmas on the top of your list, you'd have to head to north north north New York, Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine if you're in the eastern area. If you're already on the West Coast then I'd suggest the same for the north north north on that side
Hi, I live in Chicago and we have had a white Christmas every year for at least 5 years, the only thing is the airports are crazy around Christmas, and the snow will NOT help. Have you considered Canada also? I would suggest Chicago or New York for a White Christmas, but airports will be something you could not IMAGINE how crazy. Maybe you could go to a smaller city, like Milwaukee, WI. They have an airport and would not be anything like Chicago.
Jacket? We are talking coat, hat, gloves, hood, ski mask even during that time, long underwear under your pants, 2 socks, boots, and it is STILL FREEZING! =)
I was going to suggest NH myself, but it really is no GUARANTEE of snow. Though when they do get dumped on, they DO get dumped on. You may get more snow than you bargained for. LOL But you get a better assurance of snow if you head to the mountains in the north. Hit a ski resort in NH. Even if the snows haven't fallen, the weather is cold enough that they can make the snow for ya.
Does it have to be US or could it be Canada? You could be pretty sure of a white Christmas in Quebec City which would be old world charming beautiful or Banff in Alberta for skiing and mountains.
I've always wanted to do Christmas in Hawaii (2nd choice is Mexico)!
Las Vegas can be one extreme or another at that time of year. Probably it will be cold at night, but the days could be anywhere from cold to hot (highs mid 40's to mid 80's). You won't see snow there!
If you really want to see snow, choose a mountain area in the north. Tahoe in California/Nevada; Park City, Utah; Aspen, Colorado. You'll probably see snow in those places, but you may not be guaranteed of snowfall while you're there (most resorts make snow for the skiers, so you can see the snow but you might not get a snowstorm).
I'm not very familiar with the eastern part of the US as I'm a west coaster.
How about Colorado or Utah or my homestate of Minnesota ? If you are going to go to Las Vegas you can go north to Reno or Lake Tahoe, they have lots of ski resorts in that area.
Las Vegas can be one extreme or another at that time of year. Probably it will be cold at night, but the days could be anywhere from cold to hot (highs mid 40's to mid 80's). You won't see snow there!
You know I was thinking of the year I was in Vegas and there was snow on Thanksgiving. Of course I forgot, it didn't actually snow in Vegas but snowed a few miles out (and made driving back to California a nightmare).
Visiting the US in Winter
Seriously though, it's an affordable place to have fun.
