The joy of Christmas is celebrated differently around the world, and the right destination can make the festive season genuinely memorable, from snowy mountains in Switzerland and Finland to Christmas markets in Germany, stunning scenery and warm weather in New Zealand, fairy-lit beaches in Thailand and plenty of local delicacies. These five countries offer some of the most heartwarming Christmas experiences available when you're away from home.

Switzerland

Switzerland at Christmas is Central Europe's winter at its most magical: snow-dusted alpine villages, Christmas markets in medieval city centres, fondue and raclette in mountain chalets, and Europe's most reliable skiing combine to create a seasonal experience that justifies every cliché. The Christmas markets of Zurich, Basel, Bern, and Geneva are among the finest in Europe, and the ski resorts of Verbier, Zermatt, St Moritz, and Gstaad are all fully operational from mid-December.

• The Beau Rivage Palace is the grande dame of Geneva's lake hotels: a Belle Époque palace on the shores of Lake Geneva, opened in 1865 and still family-owned, with rooms that look directly across the waters to Mont Blanc. The Christmas illuminations reflected in the lake, the hotel's own decorations, and the warmth of its long-established service give it a special seasonal character.
• Coeur des Alpes is a chalet hotel in Zermatt with an intimate, residential atmosphere and furnishings and service that place it among the finest ski chalets in the Alps. The Christmas period in Zermatt — the slopes open, the village decorated, the fondue restaurants at full capacity — is exactly what the Swiss Alps do best.
• Volkshaus Basel is a very different proposition: an arts-focused hotel in a historic trade union building in Basel, transformed into a creative hub with rooms, a restaurant, a cinema, and a concert hall. Basel's Christmas market, held on the Barfüsserplatz below the late-Gothic town hall, is one of the most beautiful in Switzerland, and the city's extraordinary museum density makes it a culturally rich base year-round.
• The Cambrian is a contemporary design hotel in Adelboden, a traditional Bernese Oberland village, with a strong programme of winter activities, a spa, and rooms that combine the best of Swiss hospitality with a very strong design identity. The village atmosphere of Adelboden, genuinely Swiss, not overrun, is at its most atmospheric at Christmas.

Finland

Finland at Christmas is the most authentic Father Christmas experience on earth: Lapland, in the far north, is where Santa Claus officially lives (Rovaniemi, the regional capital, is at the Arctic Circle, and the Santa Claus Village is a year-round Christmas destination). The northern lights are visible from Finnish Lapland from October through March, reindeer roam freely, and the traditions of Finnish Christmas — think saunas, rice porridge, Christmas ham, glögi (mulled wine) — have a genuine, unperformative warmth.

• Runo Hotel is a boutique hotel in Porvoo, one of Finland's best-preserved medieval towns, 50 kilometres from Helsinki. The painted wooden houses, the cathedral, and the river make Porvoo one of the most atmospheric Christmas destinations in southern Finland, and Runo is a well-designed, personally run property that makes the most of its setting.
• Hotel Iso-Syöte is a fell-top hotel in Finland's southernmost guaranteed snow area, in the Pudasjärvi region, with cross-country and downhill skiing, snowshoe walks, and reindeer activities available from December. The silence, the snow, and the northern lights visible from the hotel make it a compelling winter destination.
• Ranua Resort Arctic Igloos is a resort near the Ranua Wildlife Park in Lapland, with glass-roofed Arctic igloos for northern lights viewing and a programme of winter activities including snowmobile safaris and husky rides. The wildlife park, home to polar bears, wolverines, and Arctic foxes, is one of Finland's most unusual attractions.
• Javri is a wilderness lodge in the Levi ski resort area of Lapland, offering comfortable lodge accommodation, outdoor activities, and the extraordinary darkness and silence of the Finnish Arctic in winter. It is the most wilderness-focused of the four options and the most likely to produce northern lights sightings.

Germany

Many Christmas traditions that have spread around the world originated in Germany: the Christmas tree, Stollen cake, Lebkuchen gingerbread, and the Christmas market (Weihnachtsmarkt) are all German inventions, and the country still does them better than anywhere else. The markets of Nuremberg (the most famous), Cologne, Dresden, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and Strasbourg (technically French but culturally German) are all extraordinary. The Black Forest, the Bavarian Alps, and the Rhine Valley all have particular winter characters worth seeking out.

• Gewandhaus is a five-star hotel in a historic tailor's guild building in Dresden, one of Germany's most culturally significant cities, with a Christmas market visible from several of the windows and the Frauenkirche (rebuilt from wartime rubble and reopened in 2005) a short walk away. Dresden's Striezelmarkt, held on the Altmarkt, is Germany's oldest Christmas market, dating to 1434.
• The Wasserturm Hotel is a boutique hotel in a converted 19th-century water tower in Cologne, with circular rooms on multiple levels of the original tower and the Cologne Christmas markets — six in total, the most famous around the cathedral — all within easy reach.
• The Fontenay is Hamburg's most ambitious modern hotel, on the Alster lake, with panoramic views and a design identity that reflects the city's confident cultural ambitions. Hamburg's Christmas market around the Rathaus (town hall) is one of the most elegant in Germany, and the city's strong music and theatre culture is at full capacity through December.
• Hotel Markusturm is a historic hotel in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany's best-preserved medieval town, which transforms every December into what might be the most Christmas-perfect setting in the world. The Reiterlesmarkt (Christmas market) in the medieval town square, the half-timbered houses decorated with lights, and the ancient walls and towers are extraordinary. Markusturm is a medieval tower within the old city walls.

New Zealand

New Zealand at Christmas is midsummer in the Southern Hemisphere — December brings long, warm days, outdoor barbecues, and the particular New Zealand tradition of celebrating Christmas on the beach. The country's extraordinary natural diversity (glaciers, fiords, geothermal fields, subtropical beaches), the Māori cultural heritage, the wine regions of Marlborough and Hawke's Bay, and the adventure sports capital of Queenstown all reward a December visit.

• Sherwood is a regenerative hotel and farm in Queenstown, set on 40 acres at the edge of the lake with a commitment to sustainable tourism, local food production, and connection to the surrounding landscape. The Christmas period in Queenstown, the lake, the Remarkables mountain range above, and the long summer evenings, is genuinely special.
• Waitakere Resort & Spa is a boutique hotel in the Waitakere Ranges west of Auckland, in native bush with views over the Tasman Sea, offering a tranquil counterpoint to Auckland's urban energy. The bush setting in December — the native birds, the pohutukawa trees in their Christmas-red flower — is distinctly New Zealand.
• Parehua Resort is a country house hotel in Martinborough, in the wine country of the Wairarapa east of Wellington, with a spa, a tennis court, and cellar-door access to some of New Zealand's finest pinot noir. The Wairarapa in December is warm and beautiful, and the combination of excellent local wine, good food, and a well-appointed country house makes Parehua an excellent Christmas base.
• The Lindis is a remote eco-retreat in the Ahuriri Valley of the South Island with canvas pavilions designed to disappear into the tussock landscape, extraordinary night skies, and access to some of the most unspoiled high-country scenery in New Zealand. The summer solstice in the South Island high country is one of the world's great off-grid experiences.

Thailand

Christmas falls in the middle of the dry season in Thailand: warm, sunny, and reliably beautiful. The beaches of Koh Samui, Koh Lanta, and Koh Lipe are at their best, the hill country of Chiang Mai has clear, cool evenings, and the cultural riches of Bangkok and the ancient capitals of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya are all highly accessible. Thailand's food culture — one of the world's great cuisines — is available in extraordinary depth and variety, from street level to the country's finest restaurants.

• Phu Chaisai Mountain Resort is a hill tribe-influenced boutique resort in the mountains near Chiang Rai, with bamboo pavilions set into the hillside, a working organic farm, a spa, and a strong connection to the local Akha, Yao, and Lisu communities. The December temperatures in the northern highlands are pleasantly cool, and the resort's cultural programmes give depth to a visit beyond the standard resort experience.
• Keemala is a forest villa resort in the hills above Patong in Phuket with tree houses, nest villas, and pod-shaped residences set among the forest canopy, a spa drawing on Thai healing traditions, and a very strong food and beverage programme. The design takes traditional Thai village typologies and elevates them to something extraordinary.
• Riva Arun is the small boutique hotel in Bangkok on the banks of the Chao Phraya opposite Wat Arun. Its 26 rooms and the extraordinary view of the Temple of the Dawn across the water make it a very strong Bangkok base at any time of year.
• Saii Phi Phi Island Village is a resort on the large island of Koh Phi Phi Don, in the bay between the island's two dramatic limestone hills, with bungalows set in tropical gardens and direct beach access to one of Thailand's most beautiful settings.

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