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Revealed: Europe’s most underrated destinations for a white Christmas

These are the absolute best places to wrap up and let it snow, according to a new study

Liv Kelly
Written by
Liv Kelly
Contributing Writer
Sagene in Oslo
Photograph: Shutterstock
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While the only white Christmas many of us will get is the velvety serenade of Bing Crosby, in some parts of the world a snowy December is almost always guaranteed. 

The likes of Canada and Iceland are obvious picks for a snow-covered Chrismas, but have you ever thought about Brasov in Romania, or Lillehammer in Norway? These are two of the top picks for a lesser-known (but still very snowy) getaway from ferry operator DFDS

The operator analysed 23 years of snowfall data for December 25 across a whopping 164 European destinations and narrowed down the list by finding out which spots are least-searched for on Google. 

So what do we have now? A comprehensive list of the most underrated white Christmas destinations, of course, and topping the list is Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden!

Kiruna not only brags a healthy 70 percent chance of snow on Christmas day, according to DFDS, but only garnered around 100 Google searches per month and was not on the radar of 88 percent of Brits who were surveyed for the study. 

In second place was Lillehammer, recognised as the oldest winter sports destination in Norway. The country had three other entries on the list too: Oslo, Bergen and Stavanger

In third place was Turku, the regional capital of southwest Finland. However, it’s not only the Nordic region boasting snow on Christmas day – read on for the rest of the top 10. 

These are the 10 most underrated places for a white Christmas in Europe

  1. Kiruna, Sweden
  2. Lillehammer, Norway
  3. Turku, Finland
  4. Tallinn, Estonia
  5. Innsbruck, Austria
  6. Oslo, Norway
  7. Bergen, Norway
  8. Brasov, Romania
  9. Stavanger, Norway
  10. Lucerne, Switzerland

Let it snow!

We recently reported that this European ski resort has been named best in the world, and that it will soon become a whole lot easier to visit this very snowy destination. Plus, these are our favourite places to travel in December, January and February – time to wrap up!

Did you see that Notre Dame is finally reopening next month, five years after devastating fire?

Plus: Extreme weather is already forcing travellers to rethink destinations, according to a new study

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