Anonymous wrote:Are there any towns out west that have that real old fashioned Christmas vibe and guaranteed snow? Leavenworth WA?

Even towns in CO & WY don’t have “guaranteed” snow in December. Snow is pretty reliable around late December, but there are years where it doesn’t start until January. That said, we should be in a full blown El Niño by winter, so snow should be good this year.

If you want “guaranteed” snow in a cute town, I’d go to Banff.

Another vote for Quebec City. This is your best bet for east coast snow at Christmas. I was there Christmas week 2 years ago and there was tons of snow. It's best if you can go BEFORE Christmas because they have lovely Christmas markets and they close I think on the the 23rd. My kids were 3&6 and they lived in their base, mid, and outer layer.

If you go to Quebec City and drive, I would make sure you know how to drive in snow, have snow/winter tires and a car that handles the snow well.

I recommend staying in an apartment or hotel in the old city (preferably with parking---parking is HARD). There's a museum that is supposed to be fun with a play area for little kids, lots of cozy warm-up spots with fires, lots of spots to grab hot cocoa and mulled wine, ice skating, hills to sled and x-country skiing right in the main part of the city!! idk about renting equipment there but yeah, I saw lots of people xc skiing I think at Abrams plains. We also went snow hiking out at Jacques Cartier National Park (30 min drive out) and it was all so magical. We hope to go again 2024.

You would have to go really far north to guarantee it. Quebec has others have suggested. Lovely but very cold and dark that time of year.

The travel distance would be the same to head to the Rockies which would have more snow and while cold, a dry cold.

Sunday River ME

There's just no guarantee of snow on the east coast in December.

What about the Canadian Rockies? Fly to Calgary and then drive to Banff.

would Quebec city be entertaining enough for 13 year old and 9 year old?

Another vote for Tremblant. Can add Montreal if you do not want a resort for the whole trip

I think you can find snow, but not in December.

Are there any towns out west that have that real old fashioned Christmas vibe and guaranteed snow? Leavenworth WA?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have passports you could go somewhere in NY’s lake effect snowbelt.

Skaneateles is a nice town.

Yeah try Ithaca NY! It’s been decades since I lived there, but it was pretty much snow on the ground for 6 months. Or Rochester. Erie also always had a ton of snow.

Syracuse and Buffalo get more snow than Rochester and all 3 of them suck. Especially in December.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only near guarantee is at high elevation in New England. Like Lake Placid in NY or Stowe in VT.

Agreed. You'll probably also have some luck with the White Mountain area in NH.

Unfortunately you may have to go further north than the White Mountains. My parents have a ski cabin in North Conway and it has been a bad few years for snow, well into January.

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have passports you could go somewhere in NY’s lake effect snowbelt.

Skaneateles is a nice town.

Yeah try Ithaca NY! It’s been decades since I lived there, but it was pretty much snow on the ground for 6 months. Or Rochester. Erie also always had a ton of snow.

Yeah I was in NH in January- very little snow, rain and just not very pretty.

If you don’t have passports you could go somewhere in NY’s lake effect snowbelt.

Skaneateles is a nice town.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only near guarantee is at high elevation in New England. Like Lake Placid in NY or Stowe in VT.

Lake Placid is not in New England.

And the village is below 2000 feet.