Top 7 Magical Winter Destinations Around the World
As winter temperatures drop across the Northern Hemisphere, embrace the season's chill with extraordinary activities. Lonely Planet's expert authors reveal the world's top seven winter wonders.
Editor's note: Always verify the latest travel restrictions and follow official government guidance before planning your trip.
1. Northern Lights in Churchill, Canada
Imagine midnight in remote wilderness: pitch-black darkness where you can't see your hand inches from your face. The silence is profound, broken only by snow tumbling from a tree. Eyelashes freeze shut, yet you'd endure endless nights for a glimpse of nature's enigma—the aurora borealis.
Churchill, Canada, offers prime viewing thanks to minimal light pollution, frigid clear nights, and its position under the auroral oval. The surrounding Arctic tundra and boreal forest witness over 300 nights of auroral displays annually.
Auroras can dance for hours or vanish in seconds, swirling in neon pinks, turquoises, and greens—forming walrus, witch, or whale shapes before snapping back. Local Inuit lore views them as afterlife spirits, with some hearing sky crackles. Witnessing this spectacle confirms you're part of Earth's grandest show.
Winter Wonderlands Around the World
2. Ice Sculptures in St. Petersburg, Russia
Each winter, artists carve massive ice blocks into intricate figures of people, animals, and objects, illuminating St. Petersburg's streets.
This tradition echoes 1740, when an ice palace celebrated Empress Anna's birthday. Against golden domes gleaming in low sunlight, it captures the city's winter enchantment.
Locals glide over frozen rivers and canals, bypassing bridges. The Neva River freezes solid, save for a plunge hole at Peter and Paul Fortress used by the Walrus Club for invigorating dips.
Reviving with vodka from ice glasses at pop-up bars, locals quip: "At least we can create art from all this ice instead of just slipping on it!"
3. Reindeer Migration in Northern Sweden
Annually, over 1,000 miles north of Britain, tens of thousands of reindeer trek across northern Sweden. As snow blankets everything, lakes freeze, and temperatures plunge below -25°C (-13°F), herds descend from mountain pastures to forest winter grounds.
Semi-nomadic Sami herders accompany them on this 10+ day journey. Though snowmobiles and helicopters now aid traditional methods, reindeer husbandry remains central to Sami culture.
Joining the Sami means immersing in millennia-old heritage: days paced by reindeers' trot, nights sharing tales by fire under starry skies.
4. The Sunken Bell Tower of Lago di Resia, Italy
In South Tyrol, Italy, discover Europe's oddity: a 14th-century church spire piercing Lago di Resia's frozen surface, remnant of a village submerged for a 1950s hydroelectric project.
Legends claim its bell tolls on cold nights, though removed long ago. Real or not, the site thrives in winter.
Snow-kiters soar on gusts, skaters glide the edges, and families trek to touch this elusive historical landmark.
5. Geysers in Yellowstone National Park, USA
Yellowstone's glacial and volcanic landscape—fire, brimstone, earth breathing and bubbling—captivates like nowhere else.
Since 1872, geysers and hot springs have enthralled amid moose, bears, and wolves.
Winter amplifies the drama: fewer crowds yield to skiers; shaggy bison warm at geyser basins, dodging sudden eruptions of boiling water into frigid air.
6. Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, South Korea
Year-round, sancheoneo trout swim peacefully in Hwacheon’s rivers northeast of Seoul. Winter freezes them under 40cm (16in) ice—cue the festival.
January's Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival draws hordes for ice-fishing. Charcoal barbecues sizzle catches along banks.
Bolder souls dive into icy waters in T-shirts, wrestling slippery trout bare-handed.
7. Snowbound London, UK
A snowy Monday morning: No buses on Piccadilly, Oxford Street deserted, Tubes idle, Heathrow grounded. City offices shuttered—not apocalypse, but rare blanket of snow transforming London.
Parks buzz: Hampstead Heath's runners build snowballs; Richmond Park deer forage; Greenwich kids toboggan from the Observatory.
In the hushed center, steady snow grants wanderers the rare magic of an empty iconic city.
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