Five warm places for Christmas vacations from Canada, and fifteen gifts from our Travel Store for the traveller on your list.
Where to go for ChristmasWhat to give a traveller
Turks and Caicos holds a street festival on Boxing Day. Meanwhile, Curaçao sees out the year with firecrackers in the streets of Willemstad, and Jamaica has new nonstops from across Canada this winter. So here are five places for all-inclusive Christmas vacations, each with at least one resort we’ve written about. After that come our gift picks for the traveller on your list.
We checked the holiday events, the seaweed reports and the December flight schedules in late October 2026.
Turks and Caicos
BOXING DAY FESTIVALNEW AT BEACHES
Maskanoo is the islands’ Boxing Day street festival. This year, it’s on Saturday, December 26, from 6 p.m., on Grace Bay Road near Saltmills Plaza and Regent Village. The road also closes to cars for the night. There are stalls selling food, drinks and local art, and there are fireworks. Then, at around 9 p.m., the Junkanoo bands arrive. Entry is free, but most of the stalls prefer cash. Also, parking is close to impossible that night, so take a taxi.
Beaches Turks & Caicos is on Grace Bay, and it grew this year. Its new Treasure Beach Village opened in early 2026 with 101 more suites. It also added a lagoon-style pool with a waterslide, a food hall, a steakhouse and a cinema.
For Christmas vacations, you can fly nonstop from Toronto on Porter, Air Canada or WestJet, and BermudAir adds a Saturday flight from December 19. Porter also flies from Ottawa twice a week from December 17, and Air Canada flies from Montreal. Otherwise, from the rest of Canada, you’ll need a connection.
Good to know: Beaches is one of the priciest family all-inclusives we’ve covered. So our guide explains exactly what the price includes.
Beaches Turks & Caicos
Family all-inclusive on Grace Bay, with kids’ camps up to age 17
The Riviera Maya and Cancún
POSADAS BEFORE CHRISTMASLOW SEAWEEDNONSTOPS COAST TO COAST
In Mexico, the days before Christmas are the time of the posadas. At Xcaret Park, for example, the people taking part split into two groups. One sings a request for lodging, while the other sings the answer. Then it ends with piñatas. Xcaret says the posadas are included with park admission, and Hotel Xcaret México includes entry to the Xcaret parks. However, Xcaret hadn’t posted this year’s dates when we checked, so ask the hotel before you count on them.
Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya lists Christmas Eve and Christmas Day events, with a themed dinner, live entertainment and a visit from Santa, and then a New Year’s Eve gala dinner. Its page doesn’t give this year’s schedule, so check it when you book.
Seaweed and flights
December is also one of the months with the least sargassum, the brown seaweed that washes up on this coast. In fact, by early October 2026, the amount offshore had dropped to under a quarter of what it was in early September. Even so, a winter surge hit Playa del Carmen last January, so it isn’t guaranteed.
For Christmas vacations, Cancún is the easiest of the five to reach, with nonstops from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. In addition, there’s more this December. For instance, Air Canada adds Calgary flights from December 11, and Flair adds Edmonton from December 16. Then Porter starts flying from Halifax on December 18.
Good to know: at Hotel Xcaret, plan to book the restaurants, spa and shows about 30 days before you arrive.
Hotel Xcaret México
Entry to the Xcaret parks included, 45 minutes to an hour south of Cancún’s airport
Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya
Family all-inclusive with its own water park, 25 to 30 minutes from Cancún’s airport
Our other guides on this coast, including Moon Palace Cancún, are on our Mexico page.
Barbados
CHRISTMAS MORNING IN THE PARKNEW FROM HALIFAX AND MONTREAL
On Christmas morning, Barbadians head to Queen’s Park in Bridgetown dressed in their best. The Barbados Police Band plays Christmas songs, families gather under the trees, and visitors join in. It’s been a Christmas Day tradition for decades, and it happens in the morning, so go early.
Air Canada and WestJet fly nonstop from Toronto, and two routes are new this December: Air Transat from Montreal from December 13, and Air Canada from Halifax from December 17. From the rest of Canada, you’ll need a connection.
Good to know: Queen’s Park is in Bridgetown, so plan a taxi from the south coast for Christmas morning.
Sandals Royal Barbados
Adults-only and all-suite, about 15 minutes from the airport
Sugar Bay Barbados
For families and couples, about 10 minutes from Bridgetown
Jamaica
NEGRIL IS BACK OPENNEW NONSTOPS
Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica in October 2025. Negril officially reopened that December, and Riu Negril reopened the same month. We stayed there in March 2026, and our review covers the beach, the food and the rooms.
Across the island, about 70 percent of hotel rooms were back by September 2026, and the rest are due between the end of this year and early 2027. A few Montego Bay resorts stay closed until early 2027. So if you’re looking beyond Negril, check that your resort is open before you book.
On Christmas Eve, towns across Jamaica hold Grand Market. The streets fill with stalls selling seasonal food like sorrel and sweet yam, with music and Christmas lights. Last year, Negril also put on its first New Year’s Eve fireworks on Long Bay Beach, free to watch. This year’s haven’t been announced yet, so check closer to the date.
Getting there is easier this winter. There are nonstops to Montego Bay from Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, and several are new. Air Canada adds Halifax from December 3, Ottawa from December 6, and Edmonton and Winnipeg from December 7. Porter also adds Toronto and Ottawa in late November. From Vancouver, though, you’ll need a connection.
Good to know: Riu Negril is about an hour and a half from Montego Bay’s airport, on roads with potholes, so plan for a long transfer.
Curaçao
NEW YEAR’S EVE PAGARA
If New Year’s is the part of the trip you care about most, look at Curaçao. On the afternoon and evening of December 31, pagara firecrackers go off around Willemstad, and the smoke and noise fill the streets. Last year, one of the pagara events started on Nieuwstraat, in the Pietermaai district, at 2 p.m. After that came a street party with live music, outdoor bars and street food. There was also a fireworks show the night before, on December 30.
This year’s schedule hadn’t been posted when we checked. Last year’s appeared on December 30, so look closer to the date.
In December, you can fly nonstop from Toronto on Air Canada or WestJet, and from Montreal on Air Canada. Otherwise, from the rest of Canada, you’ll need a connection.
Good to know: Sandals Royal Curaçao is about 40 minutes from Willemstad, so plan your ride there and back for New Year’s Eve.
Sandals Royal Curaçao
Couples only, about 40 minutes from the airport
Booking all-inclusive Christmas vacations
Christmas vacations book up fastest and cost the most, along with New Year’s and March Break. If you’re travelling with kids, school breaks start around December 21, 2026, and run into early January.
Before you book, ask the resort two things. First, how the Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve dinners work, since some resorts limit them or charge extra. Second, whether there’s a minimum stay over the holidays, because some resorts require a longer one.
If someone on your list has a beach trip coming up, give them something they’ll use on it. These are the Christmas gifts for travellers we’d put under the tree, all from our Travel Store: the suitcase, the long-flight comforts, the sunglasses, and the small things that keep a trip organized.
The big gift: a new suitcase
The present that comes on every trip after this one.
DELSEY Chatelet Hardside 2.0
A polycarbonate spinner with vegan-leather trim, a fitted interior and a ten-year warranty. So it’s the suitcase for someone who cares how their luggage looks.
Vipbox 28-Inch Hardside Luggage
A light, expandable 28-inch case with a YKK zip and a TSA lock. It’s roomy enough for two people to share one checked bag on a beach week.
For the long flight
Comforts for anyone who dreads the flight more than they look forward to the beach.
Bose QuietComfort Headphones
Bose’s noise cancelling in a light over-ear pair, with up to 24 hours of battery. That’s a flight down and back with plenty left over.
Trtl Travel Pillow
A soft fleece wrap with a hidden frame that holds your head upright. Still, it weighs only about 148 grams and packs to half the size of a U-pillow.
EverSnug Travel Blanket
A 65 by 40 inch micro-plush blanket that folds into its own case. The case slides over a carry-on handle, so it rides on the suitcase instead of in your arms.
For the beach
Sunglasses they’ll wear every day of the trip.
Maui Jim Starfish Sunglasses
A cat-eye frame with Maui Jim’s SuperThin Glass, the crispest lens they make. It comes in five frame colours.
Maui Jim Lighthouse Sunglasses
Rimless polarized sunglasses on the MauiPure lens, close to the clarity of glass at a fraction of the weight. Similarly, there are five frame colours.
Ray-Ban Meta Glasses
Classic Wayfarers with a 12MP camera at eye level and open-ear speakers. As a result, they capture the trip without anyone reaching for a phone.
For the one who plans the trip
The person who holds the passports and packs the night before.
Apple AirTag 4 Pack
Four coin-sized trackers on Apple’s Find My network, one for each checked bag, so you can see where each one has been. They work with Apple devices.
Polare Passport Wallet
A full-grain leather wallet with six passport pockets, room for cards and cash, and a wristlet strap. It’s also tall enough for a printed sheet without folding it.
Shacke Pak Packing Cubes
Four packing cubes in graduated sizes plus a drawstring laundry bag, sized for a two-week trip.
Stocking stuffers
Small, useful, and they’ll all come on the trip.
riemot Luggage Cup Holder
Straps to a suitcase handle and holds two coffees, with a back pocket for the phone, passport and boarding pass.
Plush Velvet Travel Jewelry Box
A 3.75 inch velvet case with ring rolls and a hidden earring compartment behind the mirror. Clare packs hers on every trip.
Travel Inspira Luggage Scale
Weighs a bag up to 110 lb and holds the reading after you set it down, so you know the weight before the check-in desk does.
Opret Silicone Travel Bottles
Four 100 ml silicone bottles sized for the carry-on liquid limit. Also, they only pour when you squeeze.
More resorts, side by side
Every resort we’ve rated is on our ratings page, scored the same way, so you can compare them on beach, rooms, food and value.
If you can go before the holidays, our guide to where to travel in November has five more places. Before you go, our guide to tipping at all-inclusive resorts covers who to tip and how much. And the rest of the gear we’d pack is in our Travel Store.
The Expedia and Amazon links on this page are affiliate links. They support the site at no extra cost to you, and the price you see is the same either way. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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