Places to see Santa
Top 10 Places to see Santa:
- Demre, Turkey
- Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland, Finland
- Finnish Lapland, Finland
- London Zoo, London, England
- Sinterklaas Festival, Holland
- New York, United States
- Stuttgart Christmas Market, Germany
- Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Celebration in the Oaks, New Orleans, United States
- Talyllyn Railway, Wales
Demre, Turkey
Sorry to disappoint everybody, but the original Santa Claus did not hail from the chilly North Pole but from the sunny Mediterranean town of Demre (Myra), on the Turkish coast.
Bishop Nicholas became known for such saintly deeds as resurrecting butchered boys, rescuing sailors, and tossing bags of coins down chimneys of the poor.
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Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland, Finland
That's enough reality - back to the myth we know and love. Sometime in the early 20th century, the Finns decided Santa Claus resided in their own Lapland, up on the Arctic Circle.
At the post office in the Santa Claus Village, Rovaniemi, Santa works his way through bags of letters. He and his elves also run nearby SantaPark, a themepark in a mountain cavern.
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Finnish Lapland, Finland
If you're searching for the Santa magic in snow-covered Lapland without the queues and amusement park rides, consider a winter break with a tour operator offering special Santa breaks.
Stay in a cosy hotel and take a reindeer-pulled sleigh ride across the Arctic Circle. Try ice fishing, snowmobiling, husky sledding and moonlight tobogganing.
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London Zoo, London, England
You don't have to go to Lapland to meet reindeer - a couple of Santa's reserve team can be found at London Zoo. Book a special Christmas ticket and you'll be allocated a weekend slot in December.
The stables are decorated with the zoo's sheep, camels, donkeys and goats playing the supporting cast to reindeers Mischa, Charm and baby Maple.
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Sinterklaas Festival, Holland
Get an early start on Santa-spotting with a visit to Holland in late November. This is when the Dutch version of St Nick, Sinterklaas, arrives in Amsterdam - not on a sleigh pulled by reindeer, but on a steamship from Spain.
Apparently the Dutch Santa lives in Madrid, and arrives in Holland with a Moorish assistant, "Black Pete".
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New York, United States
Another place to get a glimpse of Santa pre-December is at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, in New York City.
Thanksgiving, which always falls on the fourth Thursday of November, was established by the pilgrims in order to give thanks for their newfound country and for the bounty of its land.
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Stuttgart Christmas Market, Germany
A very different type of Santa-and-shopping experience can be found in traditional European Christmas markets.
In Stuttgart, at one of the oldest and most beautiful Christmas markets in Germany, St. Nicholas and his elves keep children happy in a magical Fairytale Land, build on the Schlossplatz. Meanwhile, parents can browse more than 200 stalls.
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Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark
Nestled amongst the twinkling lights of Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen's wonderful old amusement park, is the World of the Christmas Pixies.
Pixies on sledges whizz past the waterfalls of Christmas Pixie Mountain on their way to Santa's workshop, where children can badger poor old St. Nick with Christmas requests. There are pony rides and farm animals to pet, and ice skating on the Tivoli Lake.
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Celebration in the Oaks, New Orleans, United States
More twinkling lights - more than a million of them, in fact - are found adorning the trees in New Orleans City Park, where Santa is on-hand to bring Christmas cheer to the South.
Visit the magically-decorated Botanical Gardens, explore Storyland and take a ride on the old carousel. Americans love Christmas lights, often covering their houses in a riot of electric colour.
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Talyllyn Railway, Wales
Closer to home, the Welsh eschew electricity for the world of steam. Ride the historic Talyllyn Railway from Tywyn Wharf and collect Santa from Rhydryronen Station.
Back in Talyllyn, children receive presents from the bearded one while their parents enjoy ye olde seasonal refreshments.
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