9 Unusual Places to Experience Christmas Any Time of the Year - Atlas Obscura Lists
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9 Unusual Places to Experience Christmas Any Time of the Year

Gifts that keeps on giving.

by jonathancarey
9 Places

The jingle of bells, the red-green-white color scheme, the crunch of frost underfoot. The Christmas spirit really only seems to come alive at one time of the year, when the days approach their shortest length and the gleam of Christmas lights punctuate the glow of early twilight. But, just maybe, it doesn’t have to. There are places across the world to experience holiday cheer year-round. Here are nine places that have captured that joy, from a fully functioning Christmas post office to entire towns dedicated to the season’s most jolly, iconic figure. 

North Pole, Alaska

Santa Claus House

Con Miller often dressed as Santa Claus to visit village children in Alaska during the mid-20th-century. When he raised enough money to open a trading post, a child who remembered him in costume asked him if Santa was building a new house. Miller decided to go with it. For more than 60 years, the house has played host to everything Christmas, and has garnered international recognition.
nbj914 Added by nbj914
Riga, Latvia

First-Ever Public Christmas Tree Marker

No Christmas setting is complete without a tree, but few know about the first community Christmas tree. This marker, written in six languages, claims to be the site of the first public Christmas tree. It’s said the Brotherhood of the Blackheads, a guild of professional merchants, put a fir tree at this location during the 16th-century for their annual Christmas/New Year’s celebration. It’s believed they decorated the tree with paper flowers, danced around it—and then set it ablaze.
ahvenas Added by ahvenas
Rovaniemi, Finland

Santa Claus's Main Post Office

Staking a claim as “the world’s only official Santa Claus Post Office,” this outpost has been accepting mail and Christmas wishlists since 1985. The unique post office located within the Arctic Circle is open year-round, and is an official part of the Finnish postal service. It has received around 20 million letters from all over the world.

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WaKeeney, Kansas

WaKeeney North Pole

No need to travel to the North Pole for this Christmas-themed enclave. Located in a vacant lot, it is a winter wonderland that features murals and sculptures dedicated to the most wonderful time of the year. WaKeeney, Kansas, also happens to be known as “Christmas City of the High Plains.” And when the right time rolls around each year, the town is engulfed in thousands of Christmas lights.
kdishmon27 Added by kdishmon27
Putney, Vermont

Santa's Land

A classic roadside attraction on Vermont's historic Route 5 is home to Christmas toys, ornaments, and Santa figures all the time. It’s been spreading cheer for more than five decades.
RoadTripNewEngland Added by RoadTripNewEngland