Awesome Travel Places: Best Tourist Places in Winter

Best Tourist Places in Winter

Harbin Ice Festival, China

Hibernating is not an option in the frosted reaches of northeast China, where brisk Siberian winds keep the average winter temperatures in Harbin barely above zero degrees Fahrenheit. Hardy local artisans in the Russian-influenced "Ice City" celebrate the season by sculpting ice blocks chopped from the Songhua River into colossal crystalline pyramids and palaces, whimsical dragons and fairies, and frozen slides worthy of a water park. The monthlong Harbin Ice and Snow Festival (beginning January 5), showcases the frosty craftsmanship of local carvers and international teams and includes a Snow Sculpture Expo at Sun Island recreational area and the Ice Lantern Garden Party at Zhaolin Park. Daylight activities include figure skating, ice boxing competitions, and, for the daring, a polar plunge into an ice-free section of the frigid Songhua. After dark, bundle up to see the festival’s illuminated ice displays dazzle neon bright against the night sky. Harbin is accessible via train or plane from Beijing or Shanghai.

Salzburg, Austria

With the city’s historic Christmas markets in full swing, church bells chiming in the crisp Bavarian Alpine air, and snow frosting baroque palace rooftops, Advent in Salzburg delivers a multisensory infusion of gingerbread-warm holiday spirit. Festivities begin in early December with informal and organized Krampusläufe or Krampus processions. According to legend, the shaggy, horned demon Krampus frightens naughty children, while his benevolent counterpart St. Nicholas rewards the nice ones. The Salzburg region (and the town of Grödig in particular) is known for its costumed Krampus parades, as well as for romantic holiday markets on Cathedral, Residence, and Mirabell Squares; at Hellbrunn Palace; and in the Sterngarten. Sip mulled wine, ice skate on the Mozartplatz, and ride Austria’s oldest funicular railway, Festungsbahn, to view the surrounding snow-dusted panorama from imposing Hohensalzburg Fortress. Beyond Christmas, the city’s celebratory energies focus on the International Mozarteum Foundation Mozart Week classical music festival (January 24 to February 3). Events include opera productions and chamber music, soloists, and orchestral concerts.

Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

Located southwest of Tanzania’s most famous safari destinations—the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater—7,809-square-mile Ruaha National Park is off the beaten adventure tour track, offering a quieter, wilder environment for exceptional game viewing and birding. The Great Rift Valley crosses the park, and the Great Ruaha River, a year-round lifeline for the park’s large mammals, forms the eastern border. In addition to having a high concentration of elephants (thought to be the largest of any East Africa park), as well as resident hippos and buffalo, Ruaha is also known as a birder’s paradise. January to April (the hot, short rainfall season) is considered the best time to view the park’s more than 570 species, including the Ruaha red-billed hornbill. Book one of the eight luxurious tents at secluded Jongomero safari camp to embark on ranger-guided game drives in open four-wheel-drive vehicles and small-group walking safaris and birding tours. The camp is just ten minutes from the nearest airstrip, facilitating a quicker civilization-to-safari transition from Dar es Salaam or Arusha.

Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Carnival in Brazil’s first capital (and former Portuguese colonial capital) is a cruising Afro-Brazilian dance party stretching mile after mile along center city and coastal circuits. Convoys of trio elétricos (souped-up semitrailer trucks carrying live bands and DJs) snake past the costumed crowds, pumping up the volume on homegrown Bahia samba-reggae and axé (ahh-shay) music, increasing the frenetic energy with each passing block. Salvador’s local blocos afros (community bands/social groups celebrating African heritage and dress) create this Carnival’s distinctive timbal (high-pitched hand drum) sound. Official Carnival runs from February 7 to February 13, but in Salvador, the partying continues through the morning of Ash Wednesday, when percussion-led processions pulsate along Avenida Oceanica toward Ondina Beach. Founded on Brazil’s northeast coast in 1549 as a strategic seaport and, soon after, a New World slave market capital, urban Salvador remains an amalgam of European, African, and American Indian culture. Walk past multicolored colonial mansions in the World Heritage site old city to tour MAFRO (Museu Afro-Brasileiro), the nation’s preeminent Afro-Brazilian cultural museum.

Cayman Islands

Only an 80-minute direct flight from Miami, the Cayman Islands are close enough to the mainland U.S. for a winter weekend sand-and-snorkel escape. The self-governing British Overseas Territory encompasses three islands in the western Caribbean: 76-square-mile Grand Cayman (the largest and most commercialized), the Brac (12-mile-long Cayman Brac), and unspoiled Little Cayman, home to the must-dive Bloody Bay Wall—a dramatic drop-off plunging more than 5,000 feet. Arrange Bloody Bay Marine Park snorkeling or diving itineraries to match your skill level through Conch Club Divers at Paradise Villas. On Grand Cayman, stroll along coral-sand Seven Mile Beach and swim with yearling green sea turtles in the 1.3-million-gallon saltwater snorkel lagoon at Cayman Turtle Farm. Sign on with a local, licensed dive operator to view the aquatic life flourishing among the decks of the U.S.S. Kittiwake, a former submarine rescue vessel towed offshore and sunken in 2011 to create an artificial reef. For an all-in-one Cayman getaway, make family-owned Brac Reef Beach Resort home base for beachfront lodging, diving, snorkeling, kayaking, and birding.

Petra and Wadi Rum, Jordan

Built by nomadic Nabataeans two millennia ago, rose-red Petra is a “lost” city well worth finding. The ancient commercial crossroads chiseled from bedrock cliffs is situated between the Red and Dead Seas, about a hundred miles north of King Hussein International Airport. Follow the 3,300-foot-long, serpentine entry path—the Siq—through towering sandstone walls to Al-Khazne (the Treasury). The elaborately carved, 13-story tomb served as the final resting place of the Holy Grail in the 1989 movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Explore empty caves, visit the archeological and Nabataean museums, and hike 800 steps up to the top of Al-Dier (the Monastery). From Petra, head south to Wadi Rum (“Valley of the Moon”), the desert valley setting for Lawrence of Arabia, where local Bedouin guides lead rock-climbing treks, canyon hikes, jeep tours, and horseback and camel rides. Highlights include the Red Sand Dunes and the spectacular Seven Pillars of Wisdom rock formation, the latter named for T.E. Lawrence’s autobiography. End the day sleeping under the stars at one of the area’s Bedouin-style desert tourist camps.