All sound excellent to me, each in its own way.
I’ve been in London for Christmas and of course it had that festive Dickensian atmosphere, but be warned that a lot of places are closed for the actual holiday, and sometimes transportation can be tricky, too.
New Year’s Eve in Edinburgh (Hogmanay) is a huge street party.

i was reading a tour guide (i think it was contiki) that have xmas tours of scotland, including spending christmas eve/christmas day in a castle now that would be aweseom for spening christmas i say!

You don’t really need Contiki to do that, though.
We stayed at Borthwick Castle in Edinburgh about 10 years ago—it was very atmospheric, but the draftiest place I think I’ve ever slept (outside of camping in the woods!)

sweet would prob save on money as well
i want to be over in europe now!!!! blast having to save up

I once spent a Christmas in dublin, it was very boring as almost everything was closed, incl. most of the restaurants. Only a few hotel restaurants were open. The only fun thing we did was going to a dog race

Don’t you have a family?

As cil and bigfoot mentioned, you may enjoy the days leading up to Christmas, but you’ll be depressed on the actual holiday when everything is closed, and you’re far away from your friends and family, and you’re dying for a place to eat.

“Christmas in Europe” sounds romantic, but it’s just as boring there as it is in North America.

Try Brazil, Australia, or Thailand. At least there you can go to the beach…(and Christmas isn’t really celebrated in Buddhist-majority Thailand).

we can still get cold rainy days in australia for xmas in melb

I have spent Christmases away from home in Barcelona and Lisbon. Of the two, today, I would pick Barcelona. It has a Christmas culture, to be sure, and is cozy for a big city. There is a lot to see and do. Last year we froze, but it was sunny.

Everywhere, you will have to worry about closures. The week between Christmas and New Years may only have 1-2 days when shops are open, depending where you are. Northern Europe is cold and rainy. Southern Europe is not as cold and rainy. The further inland you go (east) and farther away from the coasts you go, the more likely it is to be cold and clear.

Ski Vacation?

Like opera, symphony, ballet? Get your ticket early.

okay im going to be gone during christmas as well, and how i planned the trip it looks like i would be in amsterdam for xmas is that a bad decision?

Christmas in Berlin and Munich are amazing!

is it true that europe has different days for xmas then the u.s. does?

Most of Europe celebrates Christmas on December 25. Some Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on the Gregorian calendar which is January 7. That’s only an issue in Greece, Russia, Ukraine, etc.

I’m sure it will be fine. Just don’t plan on it snowing or anything

haha i really hope it doesnt snow sadly. i dont even know what real snow is i live in california. but thanks for the help.

Oh hehe… then you’ll be fine The only other thing I’d say then is that it will be a lot colder than you’re used to in most places, but will be raining as well. Personally, I prefer 30 degrees and snow as opposed to 40 and rain…

Believe it or not, I’ve never spent Christmas out of town.

It has always been a tradition to spend Christmas at home with the family!

never spent xmas away either….but i wouldnt mind it these days. xmas with the rellies has become extremely boring :S

haha yeah this is my first xmas away, as well as my first trip without a family member and im pretty excited about it.

feicht id rather a nice sunny day, but i guess im not going at the right time for that.

No not at all Most of the Med will have a similar climate to California in the winter (well, it usually does most times of the year). The rest of Europe will be rainy as well but colder. I’m sure there will be a few sunny days in there somewhere, but nothing you can count on

In Greece, Christmas is on December 25.

As far as predominantly Orthodox countries go:

Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Romania observe Christmas on December 25.

These countries use the Gregorian calendar (same as Catholic and Protestant countries), and only determine the date for Easter on the Julian calendar.

Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia observe Christmas on January 7.

These countries base all Christian observances (Christmas, Easter, Assumption, Saints’ days, etc) on the Julian calendar which is about a couple weeks behind the Gregorian.

The Gregorian calendar was devised in the 16th Century by Pope Gregory XIII to address the inaccuracies of the Julian calendar which all of Europe had been previously using. Catholic countries were the first to adopt the Gregorian calendar, followed by Protestant countries. The Anglosaxon world, including what was then the 13 American Colonies, didn’t switch to the Gregorian calendar until sometime in the 18th century. Orthodox countries adopted it in the early 20th Century, but some Orthodox churches kept the Julian calendar for religious observations. Denominations in Greece/Cyprus/Bulgaria/Romania adopted the Gregorian calendar, so Christmas falls on Dec 25 in these 4 countries. Whereas denominations in Russia/Ukraine/Serbia kept the Julian calendar, hence Christmas falls on Jan 7.

Feicht wrote:

No not at all Most of the Med will have a similar climate to California in the winter (well, it usually does most times of the year). The rest of Europe will be rainy as well but colder. I’m sure there will be a few sunny days in there somewhere, but nothing you can count on

I’m not too crazy about the Med in winter. There can be sunny days with relatively warm weather, but there can also be cold days (40s-50s Fahrenheit), with rain. The region receives little to no rain in the summer months; almost all of their annual rainfall falls in the colder months. Some areas are drier than others. But yes: California is the best comparison when Americans ask me to describe the climate in Southern Europe.