This was published 1 year ago
Travel Christmas gifts: Seven destinations we'd love to receive
The landscapes of patagonia are breathtakingly beautiful satdec17cover A Place Under The Christmas Tree cover story ; text by various cr: iStock (reuse permitted, no syndication) Credit: Sophie Dover
If you could give the gift a whole destination Christmas, where would it be? Seven Traveller writers make their picks of the places with the power to inspire, to delight and to move.
In giving the gift of travel you'd want it to be meaningful and memorable. If you could choose and afford anywhere on the planet wouldn't merely package up a beach escape or city break — surely the equivalent of a pair of Christmas socks.
No. You'd let your imagination roam the globe for places to enrich the life of the happy recipient.
Such is the fancy we put to our seven of our regular, and well-travelled, Traveller writers. As you might expect, their responses were varied, from towns to regions, a country to a continent, and with ideas to suit different personalities.
Of course, few of us have the means to give such generous presents but we hope this encourages you to consider your horizons in 2023: where you truly want to go, and why. As we've all learned, fortunes fluctuate and while travel isn't a given it remains the greatest of gifts for those fortunate to receive it.
SWITZERLAND
Family enjoy an apres ski lunch with traditional Swiss raclette and cheese fondue.Credit: iStock
By Brian Johnston
I grew up in a cold climate, and I'd give the gift of Switzerland to anyone who hasn't experienced a northern winter, and especially a northern Christmas.
It would be my present to any adult looking for a snug, indulgent holiday, or who longs to capture the magic of childhood again.
Or to Aussie kids, so they could step inside their carols and Christmas cards and experience snow, roasting chestnuts, and the glamour of real Christmas trees on properly dark nights.
Yes, the Swiss equivalent of Jack Frost nips at your nose and days are short, but you'll experience true Gemutlichkeit or cosiness. The tourist crowds are gone, the museums are warm, the trains still run through pavlova landscapes, and Swiss central heating never lets you down.
'Tis the season to gorge on raclette and fondue, Stollen cake and honey biscuits, mulled wine and cherry schnapps.
I'd like an Australian to experience icicles on chalet roofs, the crunch of snow underfoot, the romance of walking through a forest slumped under epaulettes of snow.
Everyone should enjoy the wild exhilaration of tobogganing. Take a horse-drawn sleigh ride. Skate on an ice rink smeared with the coloured reflections of fairy lights, beneath half-timbered buildings and Gothic churches.
Giggle over the childish nonsense of rolling a snowman, and knocking snow off branches onto unsuspecting heads.
Really, there's no winter cliche you should leave not experienced, because in Switzerland they aren't cliches but reality. Get into the Christmas markets: the ones in Lucerne, Einsiedeln, Basel and Montreux are lovely.
Listen to oompah bands and elves clanking cowbells. Ride on a carousel. Smell the pine resin, gingerbread and sausages. Twinkle yourself in lights.
Your breath comes out in puffs. Your toes and cheeks tingle. You aren't just singing about walking in a winter wonderland, but doing it. A snowy Christmas makes you feel both romantic and young again, and what greater gift is there than that?
RAJA AMPAT, INDONESIA
Aerial view of Raja Ampat Island, Indonesia.Credit: iStock
By Julie Miller
My laptop screensaver is an aerial photograph, courtesy of a drone, of an unnamed tropical beach in the Raja Ampat archipelago of Indonesia, powder-white sand lapped by pellucid turquoise water.
A mere pink dot in the image, I'm lying on a daybed under the fringed umbrella of a coconut palm, revelling in what will forever remain one of the most idyllic mornings of my life.
Beauty. Nature. Solitude. A private paradise, far from other people and chaos, devoid of structures and obstructions.
What could be a greater gift to a special friend craving a soul-nourishing, spirit-enhancing, body-healing escape to one of the most unspoilt parts of the planet?
Should my fortunate beneficiary be a scuba queen, this remote, bejewelled smattering of coral cays and rainforest-clad karst islands where couture-clad birds-of-paradise reign will already be a wishlist item.
Dive beneath the becalmed surface to find the richest marine life on Earth, with the archipelago the epicentre of the so-called Coral Triangle housing 1,300 species of tropical fish and 75 percent of all known reef-creating corals.
From rare walking sharks to dugongs, manta rays to sunfish, it's a cornucopia of colour and biodiversity, observed up-close through champagne bubbles.
Such treasures cached in this subterranean frontier deserve to be experienced in style, so my Christmas gift will include a berth on the Kudanil Explorer, a luxury expedition yacht that meanders through these largely uncharted waters, anchoring in secret bays where there is no other sign of human habitation.
Onboard, soak up the opulence, inhale the serenity and enjoy the sheer indulgence; then, from the watersports deck, paddle off into the beyond in a glass-bottom kayak as hornbills fly in formation overhead and leatherback turtles salute in your wake.
Enjoy this bounty of exploration, dear friend, and take heart that places like this, of unfettered purity and endless fascination, still manage to exist.
See kudanil.com
GRAND CANYON, US
Horseshoe Bend, also known as the east rim of the Grand Canyon.Credit: iStock
By Rob McFarland
I'm a terrible gift giver. I have a habit of choosing things I'd secretly like myself. Such as the controversial Christmas of 2012 when mum unwrapped an iPhone-shaped present to discover a portable travel iron.
However, with the Grand Canyon, I'm on safe ground. Because I've yet to meet anyone who wasn't rendered speechless in awe by this majestic wonder.
Part of the appeal is obvious: it's massive. Carved by the Colorado River over the last six million years, it's a 446-kilometre-long chasm through the Arizona desert that in places yawns to 29 kilometres wide and 1857 metres deep.
Whether you're perched on the rim looking down or lying on the river bank gazing up, it's impossible not to feel astonished by the sheer scale of the thing.
What's less apparent is that it represents an almost unparalleled geological snapshot – a timeline that stretches from 1.8-billion-year-old grey-green Vishnu schist through kaleidoscopic layers of sandstone and shale to creamy Kaibab limestone that's a mere 250 million years old.
It's a place that expands people's mental horizons, prompting life-changing shifts in perspectives and priorities. Whether you hike into it, fly over it or raft through it, you'll emerge a different person. And probably a better one. Yes, what a perfect gift.
It's a transformation that can happen in any of the US's 63 national parks, from the sultry swamps of Florida's Everglades to the soaring redwood forests of northern California.
Famously described by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wallace Stegner as "the best idea we ever had", America's national park system is the gift that keeps on giving – an endless source of soul-stirring wonderment.
Perhaps the best way to deliver such a present, along with the airfares, the accommodation and some spending money, then, would be to include an "America the Beautiful" annual pass, which provides free access to every national park plus hundreds of other recreation areas for the bargain price of $US80.
Just a thought, Mum, if you're reading this piece. See nps.gov
DEVPRAYAG, INDIA
By Nina Karnikowski
Two hours drive up into the Indian Himalayas from Rishikesh, sits a special town that I am loath to tell anyone about because I am protective or greedy or maybe both.
But it's Christmas. A time for giving. So here I am, stuffing Devprayag into the imaginary Christmas stocking of a real, world-weary friend seriously in need of some soul rejuvenation.
Devprayag is a pilgrimage town, set at the confluence of two revered rivers — the roaring jade-coloured Bhagirathi, and the sluggish, chocolate-hued Alaknanda — which combine at this exact point to become the sacred Ganges river.
This, it is said, infuses the town with a powerful spiritual energy that has drawn enlightened yogis and sages for centuries, since Indians consider the Ganges to be the mother of the country, and the personification of the shakti life force energy inside us all.
Hindus believe the Ganges is able to purify all manner of sins, and even facilitate liberation from an eternal cycle of life and death. How's that for a Christmas present?
The steep, narrow alleyways of Devprayag are lined with little shops selling tea, spices, incense and prayer beads, and filled with rogue bicycles, cows and donkeys.
Candy-coloured houses and ancient temples cling to the sides of the mountains, and below them Hindu pilgrims gather on the river bank to dunk themselves in the holy water, giving their minds and bodies a thorough cleansing.
I would urge the recipient of this gift to find a quiet spot by the river, and simply sit still and listen to it. To watch the waters, and to learn from them.
Locals say that the merging of these rivers symbolises the balance we all seek between our masculine and feminine energies, but I think they might also teach us everything we need to know about surrender. The greatest gift of all, especially for you at Christmas time.
ARGENTINE PATAGONIA
Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentinian Patagonia. Credit: iStock
By Catherine Marshall
My special wish for you this Christmas is that you be sent to the ends of the Earth, to a land of fire and ice and water the colour of jade and topaz. Your surprise gift will be unwrapped by degrees on the long journey there.
It begins as Buenos Aires dissolves beneath your plane into a billowing greenbelt with vegetation giving way to an infinite steppe as the pampas collide with the Andean foothills and the highlands arise to meet the Southern Patagonian Icefield.
From this perspective you'll witness lakes glowing like gems in their yellow-gold setting, glaciers spilling from the cordillera, fjords stitching together these two disparate landscapes.
You'll descend into El Calafate, which holds fort along the otherwise empty banks of Lago Argentino. This is a frontier city whose name you'll want to chew and savour.
Eat the berries off the calafate bush and you will return one day, says the legend; if true, it's a gift you will possess eternally.
To the west lies Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, bulwarked by Perito Moreno Glacier. Orchids grow beside the boardwalk in defiance of the wall of shattered ice looming electric blue behind it.
Climb the glacier with a guide and feel the Ice Age fissuring beneath your crampons. Be still; listen to the rush of snowmelt through unseen crevasses and the thunder of ice calving into Canal de los Tempanos. You will understand now why locals say there are two Patagonias, the beech-clad Andes and the outstretched steppe.
Trace the margins of these interlinked landscapes on the lonely road north, past those colour-saturated lakes and swathes of golden coiron grass harbouring rheas and guanacos.
Eventually, Monte Fitz Roy will come into view, an immense granite tiara filling the sky. Come to rest in El Chalten, and reflect on this offering. Your hunger for vast, unpeopled spaces has been satiated; this rare gift of travel has left you replete.
See argentina.travel
KINOSAKI-ONSEN, JAPAN
A winter on the canal at Kinosaki Onsen.Credit: Toyooka City Hall/Shogo Nishiyama
By Ute Junker
There is one thing that everyone on my Christmas list has in common: they all need to slow down. Instead of juggling a thousand different things, they need a chance to relax and just be.
That is why I would wish every single one of them – and you too, if you're feeling a trifle chewed-up or ground-down – could take a trip to the Japanese hot springs town of Kinosaki-Onsen.
Kinosaki-Onsen, a 2.5 hour train ride from Kyoto, looks exactly how you want a Japanese resort town to look, its beautifully-preserved main street coming complete a willow-lined canal lined with lanterns and crossed by low-slung stone bridges.
Its true treasure, however, is the seven onsen, or hot springs bathhouses, all within walking distance of each other.
The town has embraced onsen culture so wholeheartedly that this is one of the few places where it is not just acceptable but downright encouraged to walk down the street wearing your traditional onsen outfit of yukata robe and wooden geta sandals.
The outfit will be waiting for you in your room when you check into one of the local ryokan, along with a pass that gives you free access to every onsen. In Kinosaki, they make everything easy.
If you are an early riser, the first onsen open their doors at 7am and there is no more refreshing way to start your day than a soak in the hot pool.
Rather savour a late-night soak? That's an option too, but be sure you allow enough time for a leisurely kaiseki dinner.
This area is known for its superb food - from the richly-marbled Tajima beef to seasonal favourites ranging from matsutake mushrooms to the wintertime treat of snow crab – and several restaurants offer magnificent kaiseki meals.
Book yourself a dinner at the excellent Sanpou restaurant, which belongs to the town's most historic ryokan Nishimuraya Honkan, a wonderful place to stay.
ANTARCTICA
The Antarctic Peninsula is the most visited area for tourism in Antarctica.Credit: iStock
By Kristie Kellahan
"Remember, the world is an amazing place". I write this message on a postcard in Antarctica and send it to myself, as is the custom, from Port Lockroy, the most southerly post office in the world.
It will be months before it arrives in my letterbox on the other side of the world. By then, a platitude of sorts as it may at first appear, who knows? I may well be in need of such a reminder.
Aren't we all, sometimes? Childlike wonder can sometimes be sacrificed to the daily routine of obligations and never-enough-time busyness.
Even long-anticipated trips to glamorous places can underwhelm the weary traveller. Antarctica is the antidote. On the great icy continent, it's impossible to feel anything less than awestruck.
If I could grant wishes, I would wrap this adventure in a bow and put it under the Christmas tree for travellers of all ages. It's the lifetime gift of wonder and respect for nature, for our tiny, humble place in the vastness of it all. A reminder to slow down, tread lightly and savour deeply.
After days of Drake Passage blues, the first shock of all-encompassing neon white comes as a resurrection. Where to look first? Towering cliffs of ice formations resembling blanc-de-blanc honeycomb, the blow of a passing humpback whale, an albatross overhead.
The eyes dart from one spectacle to the next, as we search for new ways to say "unbelievable!".
Coming toe-to-toe with inquisitive penguins (while the humans are told to maintain social distancing, the penguins clearly didn't get the memo) is an unforgettable wildlife encounter.
Zipping past icebergs in a Zodiac is a thrill that can never be equalled by a theme park ride. Roaring with laughter in a special ops boat as it does high-speed doughnuts around Hockney-blue glacial masses? A memory, and a gift, to be treasured.
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