Thanksgiving Sunday air travel this year shattered all-time Transportation Security Administration (TSA) numbers with a record 2,907,378 passengers screened at U.S. airports. Americans have certainly proven that they’re ready to go all in on holiday travel—and the December holidays are shaping up similarly. With a longer vacation window surrounding Christmas and New Year’s Day, travelers are setting out on a wide-ranging set of trending destinations, including a mix of classic urban cities, warm weather getaways, and even transoceanic trips.
“The period between schools getting out for the holiday and the New Year is one of the busiest for travelers, whether they’re heading back home or taking off on a big vacation,” Expedia Travel Expert Christie Hudson tells Condé Nast Traveler, adding that Americans are going “anywhere and everywhere.”
The festive period elicits a celebratory feel, elevating people’s sense of adventure. “Travelers want to create holiday season memories, whether that’s a spin around Rockefeller Center’s seasonal ice-skating rink, a visit to a Christmas market in Munich, having breakfast with Mickey Mouse, or just lounging on a sunny beach for a week,” she says.
We reached out to popular booking sites to see where travelers are headed for their year-end getaways—find the results below.
New York City is still a classic holiday destination
On every list we obtained, New York City earned top marks, scoring the highest spot for Skyscanner’s December domestic searches, second place for Kayak’s holiday destinations, third for Priceline’s domestic December holiday travel, and fourth for Google Flights’ most searched cities during the year-end period. Expedia also noted it was among its most in-demand cities.
“Not surprising that New York City ranks as the top domestic destination with all the festive happenings that take place in the city during December, including parades, light shows, Christmas markets, and Broadway shows,” Skyscanner’s Travel Trends Expert Laura Lindsay says.
And the holiday spirit is already in full swing in the Big Apple, with an 80-foot-tall, 12-ton Norway Spruce shining bright as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree; meanwhile Saks Fifth Avenue is partnering with Dior for “most ambitious holiday windows and light show” in the store’s history, according to the New York Post. The city will also be shutting down an iconic stretch of the Fifth Avenue from 48th to 59th Streets to vehicular traffic on three Sundays, including Dec. 10 and 17, and transforming it into the festive celebration, “The Gift of Fifth.”
