Yellowstone - I think it's more beautiful in the winter than the summer.
Hawaii (Maui or Kauai) if you want a warmer choice

Costa Rica

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Just got back from a week lpng trip in Norway and Iceland. Both are incredibly beautiful. Look into flying to Europe with a stopover in Reykjavik.

In December? It will be too dark to see much.

Are the Northern Lights viewable now?

I am the PP who just got back from Norway and Iceland. The tickets with Iceland air were only $670. I checked this morning for tickets to Iceland for Christmas and Icelandair has tickets for $723 for a 5 day trip. the flight is only 5.45 hours from DC and is overnight, so no daytime wasted in travel. I honestly don’t know how dark it will be in December, but let me tell you - Iceland is a must see. It is out of this world kind of a place and Reykjavik has so much character (did not get the same vibe from Oslo; Bergen was very nice though). We only had 2.5 days this time and did an organized tour of the Golden circle - waterfalls, gaysirs, the place where North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. Next time, want to rent a car and drive around, see the Northern lights etc.

As a reference - our hotel was around $120 a night with breakfast included, was centrally located. Iceland is more expensive than the US but not as expensive as Norway, so I can see 5K going a long way for a week, for a couple. There were day trips to the Bardarbunga volcano at about 700 euros per person, if we had more time would have loved to do one. Not sure when again i could see an active volcano.

Icelanders speak English, very good English, and are very nice and friendly people. Not sure what else i could say to sell the destination, I am biased.

Anonymous wrote:Costa Rica

This is a must better suggestion given the limited time you have.

Costa Rica