Top 10

1. Vienna, Austria

Advent brings out Vienna’s romantic side: Garlands of bulbs glisten over thoroughfares and shops are decorated with pine branches and silk ribbons (November 26-December 31). Giant chandeliers lead to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and daily Advent concerts take place at Schönbrunn Palace.

2. Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen

The Japanese Pagoda, a popular restaurant on Tivoli Lake, is among the many structures dressed up with holiday lights at Denmark’s 1843 amusement park and “pleasure garden,” the dreamy vision of a Tiffany design director. In addition to touring the Asian area, located near the concert hall, visitors can zoom through the sparkling skies on the 1914 roller coaster, and warm up with glogg (mulled wine) and apple dumplings. November 11-December 30.

3. Brussels, Belgium

During Plaisirs d’Hiver, dramatically lit buildings and piped-in music lift spirits in the historic Grand Place. At the Christmas market, 240 chalets serve Belgian waffles and conical cuberdon candies. November 25-January 11.

4. Callaway Gardens, Georgia

Eight million lights sparkle in the wooded landscape of this resort complex, which this year stages its 20th annual Fantasy in Lights (November 18-December 30). Woodland displays depict such holiday scenes as the March of the Toy Soldiers or nature themes such as Snowflake Valley. Two beach scenes with moving lights tell the stories of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and the Nativity. The resort’s onsite Christmas Village features shopping, dining, and Santa.

5. Medellín, Colombia

This former drug town pulses with new vitality and, during the balmy holidays, fantastic lights. Tree canopies drip with oversize ornament shapes; giant 3-D figures twirl along Medellín River and above a carnival-like sidewalk packed with food stalls. December 3-mid-January.

6. Gothenburg, Sweden

The aroma of toasted almonds and glogg heralds the arrival of Saint Lucia to this charming river town illuminated all season long. Five million lights glitter on the buildings and on the 700 Christmas trees at Liseberg Amusement Park’s Christmas Market (Scandinavia’s largest, open November 18). Choirs sing and sweethearts smooch along a three-kilometer Lane of Light leading to the harbor beginning December 9.

7. Hong Kong, China

It’s an over-the-top Christmas in Hong Kong, where lights twinkle along Main Street in Disneyland, the city’s malls try to outdo each other in decoration, and the downtown skyline dances with colorful lights and music. The city center, is covered by a giant Swarovski crystal tree, which is surrounded with carolers, and Victoria Harbour is fantastically illuminated. Stick around for Chinese New Year festivities—China’s traditional family holiday—for more fireworks and action.

8. Belrose, Sydney

In Belrose, Sydney we see a homely type of Christmas Lights that is displayed around busy streets. Money is often raised from the people that go see the lights and then this money is given to charities like the Bear Cottage and Charitas.

9. Kobe, Japan

Following the Kobe earthquake of 1995, Italy loaned thousands of hand-painted bulbs to be built into intricate luminarie—light-strung, Gothic-style structures. The tradition continues: Four million residents and tourists celebrate Japan’s resilience near Higashi-Yuenchi Park.

10. Saint Augustine, Florida

Once under Spanish rule, this 16th-century city is proud of its heritage. Single white candles flicker from the residents windows; during Nights of Lights, the 144-square-block historic district twinkles with two million bulbs (each white, per city ordinance).

1. New York City

   New York City is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan area. Along with this busy environment (in the winter) snow covers everything making it a beautiful place to visit!

   

2. Akita, Tōhoku, Japan

   Located west of the Sea of Japan in the Akita Prefecture, Akita is home to more than 320,000 residents. An average of approximately 107 inches of snow covers the region each year. The region also features the famous Akita Castle built in 733 A.D.

   

3. Lake Placid, New York

   Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex Country, New York, United States. Lake Placid hosted the 1932 and the 1980 Winter Olympics Lake Placid also hosted the 1972 Winter Universade and the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games making it one of the best places to ski or snowboard.

   

4. Toronto, Canada

   Toronto is the most populous cities in Canada and the provincial capital of Ohitario. The snow covers the whole city making it a beautiful site to see.

   

5. Granada, Spain

   With the Sierra Nevade moutains full of snow and the sparse towns, this creates a lovely snowy landscape for tourists and residents of the land.

   

6. Boston, Massachusetts

   Ice-skating and walking along the Elsciton walk path, when this city is covered in snow it extends the cities activities for tourists and residents.

   

7. Dortmund, Germany

   Germany It is located in the Bundsland of North-Rhine Westphalia. Its population of 575,944 (2013) makes it the 8th largest city in Germany.

   

8. Sapporo, Hokkaido Japan

   Holding the rank of fourth-largest city in Japan, Sapporo is home to more than 1.9 million residents and famous for its annual Sapporo Snow Festival. The festival features food, snow sculptures and cultural snow-related activities. The city itself is located on the northernmost Japanese island, Hokkaido. Annual snowfalls average approximately 191 inches. In 1972, Sapporo hosted the XI Olympic Winter Games.

   

9. Boulder, Colorado

   Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 5,430 feet (1,655 m). The city is 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Denver. Boulder is famous for its colorful Western history, being a choice destination for hippies in the late 1960s, and as home of the main campus of the University of Colorado, the state’s largest university. Furthermore, the city of Boulder frequently acquires top rankings in health, well-being, quality of life, education, and art.

   

10. Rochester, New York

    Rochester slides into the number ten spot with an annual average of 99 inches of snow. The city is home to more than 260,000 people and is located south of Lake Ontario. One of the first anti-slavery publications ever produced was founded in Rochester in 1847 before the American Civil War. The North Star newspaper was created by famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Douglass, always striving to expand upon his education, taught himself how to read and write.

    

1. Sonoma County, California

   With leaves on both tree and vine, fall foliage is lovely in Sonoma County. Drive through Sonoma Valley along Arnold Drive, lined with canopies of oaks and maples.  Continue through the Russian River Valley, where vineyards paint the ground with sun-fire hues and wines are paired with the October squash harvests

2. Northern New Mexico

   

   Drive the 83-mile (134 km) Enchanted Circle stretching from Taos to Red River, a diverse and scenic landscape of verdant valleys, cottonwood forests, and aspen-rimmed mountain lakes that turn to gold in late September and October.

3. Holmes County, Ohio

   In the of centre of Ohio’s Amish Country, maple, oak, and the iconic state tree, the buckeye, hang over narrow roads that curve through fields of corn. Drive under the boughs of bright reds and yellows, sharing the road with horse-drawn carriages of the Old Order Amish and stopping at roadside farm stands along the way.

4. Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec, Canada

   Along coastal Quebec, maple leaves turn red like of the leaf on Canada’s flag. On the Gaspé Peninsula, the trees have the blue waters of the St. Lawrence Gulf as a backdrop. You can hike the mountains of Parc National de la Gaspésie, or leaf-peep while whale-watching in Forillon National Park, where seven types of whales visit through October.

5. Douro Valley, Portugal

   

   Autumn transforms the Douro River Valley, which travels across northern Portugal, into a sea of red, orange, and yellow as the vineyards and farmland slope along the riverbanks prepare for winter. Take a cruise along the 125-mile (200 km) waterway, where you can see the leaves up close.

6. Bavaria, Germany

   Southern Germany is saturated with Alpine forests that pop with colour against snowy mountains. Travel along the 224-mile (360 km) Romantic Road, beginning in the Franconia wine region—where local wine festivals are commonly held throughout autumn—and heading south through centuries-old towns such as medieval Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Dinkelsbühl. Crowded with tourists in summer, fall offers more relaxed tempos for leaf-looking.

7. Transylvania, Romania

   Autumn in Transylvania, where there is medieval castles that are fronted to the leaves. Challenge yourself on the Transfăgărășan, a 56-mile (90 km) drive through the Fagaras Mountains full of 90-degree turns, sharp curves, and spectacular views of autumn’s finest leaves.

8. Moscow, Russia

   Moscow presents itself with defying hues of red, orange and yellow. As the trees prepare for winter in the monumental castles and old cottages the splashes of colour make the landscape pop.

9. Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan Province, China

   The Jiuzhaigou Valley hosts has some of the diverse flora and fauna in China. In Autumn, it whips up a colourful match of dramatic red-orange leaves, rainbow-hued prayer flags of Tibetan villages, and emerald-tinged lakes that dot the landscape.

10. Kyoto, Japan

    

    In Japan, the leaf-viewing tradition is called koyo. One of the best spots for koyo is Kyoto on the island of Honshu, where vivid leaves reflect on the houses, which remnants of when the city was an imperial government. From mid-November through December the leaves are at their prime