How about a family holiday this Christmas?

Festivals are a great time to be together with friends and family. Celebrations are planned in advance and everybody gets busy doing something. You get to spend quality time with your family as well as with yourself but then that is what you have been doing year after year?

You have almost always celebrated festivals at home – it’s always the same setting, the same pattern of eating, drinking and meeting relatives and friends. Let’s make our festivals a little more special this year and satiate that perpetual craving of our souls to travel and seek new experiences. Away from your nest, these are some places in India that you can escape to, this holiday season.

How about doing something different this time? How about traveling with family this festive season and satiate that perpetual craving of your soul to travel and seek new experiences.

Away from your nest, these are some places in India that you can escape to, this holiday season and enjoy Christmas in a new spirit. 

 1) Shimla

Starting from where I went last year, Shimla is one of the best places to spend Christmas with your family and friends. The winter is almost mesmerizing with the lights that illuminate the Mall road on Christmas’ eve. Attend the Mass in Christ Church, the second oldest in North India and then a casual stroll on Mall road. Ice skating rink, just below Mall road, will add to the recreation.

Travel is pocket-friendly and enjoyable. Though you may not find heavy snowfall, but if you are looking for a relaxing holiday without any hustle, Shimla is where you should go.

 2) Goa

The ultimate party destination makes to this list as well. With a high Christian population, Goa has its own mixed flavor of Indian and Portuguese Christmas. You can attend midnight Mass in the Gothic styled churches of Basilica of Bom Jesus or the Immaculate Conception Church and join in with the carols. Later, you can head on to the beaches of Anjuna and Candolim for the Christmas fireworks and all-night parties. For the party animals, Goa is waiting in full fury.

 3) Mumbai

If you are looking for city-style Christmas, Mumbai has a lot to offer you. Popular churches like Saint Michael’s Church, Holy Name Cathedral, Saint Andrew’s Church, Mount Mary’s Basilica and Saint Thomas’s Cathedral hold Mass at midnight that you can join, followed by carol singing. All night parties await you after this. A long walk on the Marine drive at break of dawn can be absolutely amazing.

 4) Pondicherry

A French colony in colonial times, Pondicherry still has traces of French influence along with large Catholic population. This is the place to have a calm and serene Christmas with beaches and delicious seafood. Attending night service in Eglise de Notre Dame des Anges (The Church of Our Lady of Angels) and Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will let you be a part of the enthusiastic Christian community there.

 5) Kerala

A culturally rich and traditional way of celebrating Christmas makes Kerala stand apart from all the other destinations. Instead of loud and bustling parties, Christians in Kerala celebrate the birth of Christ in a simple and conventional way. With native Kerala Christmas exclusive dishes like Mutton Stew, Beef Curry and Biryani, Kerala celebrates not just Christmas but the simplicity and the true sense of religion.

So celebrate this Christmas by wandering off to these destinations in India, maybe on your way you’ll witness your Christmas miracle this year.

Merry Christmas!

(Compiled by Utkarsha Arvind)

Pic courtesy: Pixabay