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VIENNA
Keep a cup of Glühwein, mulled wine, in your hands for warmth this season as you romp through the 21 Advent markets in Vienna beneath garlands of flickering lights on Kärntner Strasse and Graben, Vienna’s main shopping thoroughfares. More than 10,000 liters of the spiced drink or, if you’d rather, punch (berry, orange, and even jelly bean are some of the flavor offerings), are sold every day to help warm December visitors to this imperial city.

To find gifts for the trendsetters in your life try Kabine in the Karmeliter district, a maze of narrow streets where young local designers display their wares: everything from sleek, small label jackets to t-shirts and hanging sculpture. The nearby MuseumsQuartier also holds a modern holiday design mart that brings beats to the Yuletide with a variety of DJs spinning daily in the inner courtyard. The Lomo Shop here is an international favorite, carrying cult cameras and a range of unique and utilitarian gifts.

From the MuseumsQuartier it’s only a few blocks south to Linke Wienzeile, the center of the LGBT scene, and a street with gay bars, clubs, and restaurants. The Café Conquer Standard here serves classic traditional Austrian holiday cuisine like Wiener Schnitzel (breaded, fried veal) and Knödel (rich dumplings).

In the inner city of Vienna, the grand Imperial Palaces of the Habsburg emperors are open for the holiday season and decorated in Christmas ornamentation befitting a ruling house of Europe (www.hofburg-wien.at). Watch some of the best 10- to 14-year-old singers in the world when the famous Vienna Boys Choir (www.wsk.at) performs in the ornate Hofburgkapelle Chapel on December 24 and 25. If you can get a ticket, glam up for the Imperial Ball at the Hofburg Palace on December 31 (www.hofburg.com).

Vienna wraps up the winter celebrations with a thumping street party on New Year’s Eve. A dozen stages showcase free music and entertainment beginning in the afternoon and crowds of dancers warm each other up long into the night. When the Pummerin, Austria’s largest bell, rings to officially welcome 2009, grab a partner for the Blue Danube Waltz, the customary first dance of the New Year.
—Anja Tranovich

LONDON
What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry?” Charles Dickens famously asks in his classic story, A Christmas Carol. It is too bad Dickens isn’t around to see the holiday season in London today, filled with performances, lights, winter sports, shopping, clubbing, and even a pudding race. What reason have we to be merry? Well, just about every!

While London offers some of the world’s most entertaining holiday festivities, the main and most dominant attractions are the thousands of lights that help illuminate every crevice of the city. Lights will greet nighttime present buyers in all the major shopping areas, especially on Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road, and Covent Garden. As the lights seem to sprout up overnight, ice-skating rinks also seem to magically appear. Some of the most impressive spots to skate include the Tower of London, Somerset House Ice Rink, Hyde Park, and the Ice Disco at the O2 dome.

For Christmas’ Sake! London’s Gay Men’s Choir (www.lgmc.org.uk) sure knows how to put on an enchanting show. December 19 and 20 at Cadogan Hall, the boys will perform everyone’s favorite holiday classics, and inevitably mix in their charming humor, to make this event a must see for any holiday visitor.

If a highly amusing theatre experience is in order to help assuage that buildup of holiday frustration, the British holiday tradition of Pantomime was designed for you. Popular since the early 18th century, pantomime is an over-the-top theater spectacle, where cross-dressing is rewarded and belly-aching laughs are guaranteed. This year the must-see show is Mother Goose (www.hackneyempire.co.uk) playing November 29–January 10.

What would the holidays in London be without the annual English Pudding Race (www.xmaspuddingrace.org.uk)? Celebrating its 28th year, on December 6, teams from across the UK will race through a series of obstacles, dressed up in madcap costumes, all while balancing a pudding mold on a tray. While the teams have fun competing, the spectators have the most fun, cheering on their favorite fancy dressed team and amused by the sheer ridiculousness of the entire event.

London’s largest holiday festival, and a truly romantic treasure, is Hyde Park’s increasingly popular Winter Wonderland (www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com). Come and enjoy ice-skating, tobogganing, Santa photos, and the famous Ferris wheel. The most noteworthy part of the festival is the German market. Wander down bustling alleys of stalls, each selling German specialties, from Kinder Chocolate to wooden toys. The festivities last until January 4 and crowds don’t usually let up. While the event is free, the ice-rink and wheel aren’t—advance purchase tickets are highly recommended.

To mark the days of Hanukkah, the city lights a 30-ft menorah in Trafalgar Square. Celebrate with London’s thriving Jewish community and enjoy latkes, doughnuts, and festive music.

If by the end of all the holiday adventures, you can’t stomach another sighting of Father Christmas, head to one of a dozen gay clubs, which remain open even on Christmas Day. The most talked about are Orange (www.allthingsorange.com/orange), which famously throws parties on days that Brits have off, and Trade (www.tradeuk.net). For the most up-to-date event information check out Time Out London (www.timeout.com/London).
—Joseph Pedro

COPENHAGEN
The city of Copenhagen has a latticework of interconnecting canals and its waterways reflect holiday jollity with boats draped in lights and Christmas decorations that shine during the long winter nights. The Nyhavn district of Copenhagen, in the oldest part of the harbor, starts off the winter festivities with an annual Christmas Beer Tasting on November 18 and a traditional Christmas market that lasts through December 30. Carlsberg beer brews a special Julebryg or “Yule brew” delivered to bars and restaurants in horse-drawn wagons covered in garlands and Danish flags on November 3 at exactly 8:59 P.M.. If you are there for an early winter holiday be sure to intercept one of the Santa-capped Carlsberg staff scattered through the city handing out free samples of the brew on its debut day.

On November 26, holiday revelers coming from Nyhavn Street end their Christmas parade at the City Hall Square to watch the mayor of Copenhagen light the city’s official Christmas tree, a huge evergreen spotted with white lights and woven paper hearts. The nearby Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen’s 100-year-old amusement park, celebrates the season with a Christmas village, holiday market, and hip-hop Nutcracker performances from November 15 through December 31. Tivoli’s stages also host a Christmas Cabaret, Hamlet’s Private Dick—The Case of the Great Dane. Huddle under a blanket and sit outside to enjoy the fireworks at one of the many restaurants at Tivoli offering traditional Danish holiday foods, like duck served with red cabbage and Ris a l’amande, a rice pudding topped with warm cherry sauce.

Back in the city center, Kongens Nytorv, the Royal Theatre, hosts an array of holiday-inspired productions including the Royal Danish Ballet’s performance of the Nutcracker. Meanwhile, the Homophones, the country’s largest gay men’s choir, bring some gaiety to the Christmas season by belting out well-loved carols on December 9 at St. Stefans Church.
—Anja Tranovich

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