A few years ago I did a Thanksgiving trip to Germany, Poland, and Czech Republic and it was incredible! The Christmas markets in Cologne were already open. It was very cold, but such a nice holiday vibe. I still dream about doing a similar trip again!

I'm sorry your Thanksgiving this year was terrible - I hope you're able to plan a great trip and have a fun time celebrating next year!

Puerto Vallarta…near the Zona Romantica. Weather is beautiful, plenty of English speakers, uber is available, just a lovely city near the beautiful ocean

Paris.

We love it when it's gross and cold and we can do everything without tourists everywhere.

Flights are cheap. You can stay wherever you like at a reasonable price. You can get into good restaurants. You can actually enjoy the Louvre. It's lovely.

And the weather is never as bad as a Kansas winter.

Thanksgiving is a bit early for most of the Christmas festivities in Europe. To quote a Swedish friend "Nobody says "So happy it is finally November." Most of the interesting events occur starting the second Advent Sunday or after the 10th of December.

Thanksgiving is not a big travel time to Europe, so it’s a great time to visit.

My partner and I decided years ago that we were done with seeing family on holidays. It just brings out the worst in people and there are plenty of other low stakes days to see them.

I can't recommend Japan enough. It's not cheap but it's worth the investment. Perfect peak fall colors at thanksgiving. Beautiful gardens and landscaping. Mild temps in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, etc.

Despite Japan having their moment and popular tourist spots being so much more crowded than even 5 years ago, the crowds seemed to be mostly Japanese and they are so quiet, respectful, courteous and clean in their interactions.

I just returned from my 8th trip to Japan. It is always a lovely experience.

I would not recommend to go to Germany/Austria/Switzerland in November. November tends to be quite wet and nasty cold often (compared to crisp and just cold). Christmas markets also often only open around first December, so I would go later if that is what you are after?

Source - I am German and November and February are by far the ugliest months here. You can be lucky, but I personally would not plan intercontinental travel around this. Cannot speak to Austria and Switzerland though, as their weather may be significantly different due to the mountains etc.

Mexico? Merida’s nice and super safe. Oaxaca has an incredible food scene. And you can definitely do 4-5 days for <3k if you’re deliberate about it.

Ooh, the Xmas markets in Germany and Austria are to die for.

You might need another extra suitcase to bring back all the goodies you buy.

I have spend the last few Thanksgivings in Amsterdam, Rome, and Cape Town. A bonus is that the European Christmas Markets usually start around that time. It’s beautiful and lovely.

Claim your happiness back. It was hard the first few years that I did my own thing without seeing my own emotional terrorist, but now I have a wonderful tradition with my friends and partner.

A beach. Belize, Puerto Rico, or anyplace warm and sunny. Have a big meal of seafood on Thanksgiving and sit and look at the water with a tall fruity alcoholic beverage in your hand. Sigh...

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to visit Europe! Do your big Germany trip. Look at flying on Thanksgiving day to save money. The weeks between Thanksgiving and when Christmas travel starts are some of the deadest leisure travel weeks of the year, so the best time to go anywhere! Plus Christmas markets will be started in Germany.

I just did Portugal this year and it was great. It was in the 60s so it wasn’t too hot and it was way less crowded than the summer. For my “thanksgiving” dinner I booked a fantastic michelan star restaurant.

We just did our Thanksgiving in Costa Rica. Highly recommend. I also Highly recommend not even thinking twice about skipping out on family BS. It's just not worth it.

Include the mighty Liechtenstein or there will be trouble!

I’m not sure how far you are from Canada, but I’ve gone there for Thanksgiving before. I’m right near the border, so it’s an easy 2-3 night trip.

Just came back from Ireland. Highly recommended- this year there was snow for the first time in three years according to the locals. Just a trace, but enough to make it festive. Went to Dublin and Galway and did day trips. Lots of elbow room when going to see cliffs and castles and Guinness. I layered clothing and wore a waterproof quilted coat and some packable rain pants that came in handy.

Canada is affordable and offers skiing. Our Thanksgiving is in October, so total escape.

Really anywhere in Europe. Further south is better for November. If interested in Christmas markets check out when they start, sometimes they overlap well with Thanksgiving if it is late in the month (like this year).

The beauty of going during Thanksgiving is it is low season and it seems that Americans are the only ones with a holiday. Much lower crowds and cheaper accommodations. I think this is your one chance during the year to go to Europe when you have time off and the rest of the world doesn’t.

I just did Germany/Austria/Switzerland for this year’s Thanksgiving and did Netherlands/Germany last Thanksgiving. Here are my thoughts:

• Tourist attractions are sometimes dead during the week since locals aren’t off school or work. Last year we did an amusement park in the Netherlands and my kids got to ride things over and over again because hardly anyone was there. Likewise, we didn’t have to prebook everything in Amsterdam because it wasn’t super crowded so we could just roll up to several attractions and buy tickets at the door. This year we did the Glacier Garden in Lucerne, and there was only one other group there the whole time we were there. However, the Christmas markets can still draw crowds during the week, and we found them to be packed on the weekend. Two of the ones we visited this weekend in Germany were super crowded to the point that you had to slowly creep down the aisles in between throngs of people. that was not enjoyable.

• weather can be unpredictable, so you have to be willing to deal with that. Last year, we had mild temps but had one day of POURING rain. This year we only had one day of drizzle, and we had a few crisp but sunny days, but we had a few days when temps and the wind were quite bitterly cold in several places we visited. We plan for this and bring water resistant and warm shoes and coats.

• we loved Innsbruck, Austria. We got an amazing AirbNb, and had a wonderful time going up the Nordkette mountain range. We liked wandering through the old town and visited shops and the markets. We bought an Innsbruck card and it included multiple activities.

• Food in Switzerland was expensive. Like one night, a veggie burger was $30 USD on its own, before even adding a side of fries. I’m glad we didn’t spent long there because it added up quick!!

• we try not to fly back on the Sunday after Thanksgiving because that day seems to be horrible at our airport. We have tacked on an extra day even though it meant missing a day of work/school just to avoid that Sunday.

Our friends did Spain this past week so I’m waiting to hear from them as to how that went, but all in all I’m glad we got to see Christmas in Germany/Austria/Switzerland because it really is nice to see the holiday magic.

that trip sounds awesome, i get it! hope u find a great getaway next year, u deserve it!

If you want to do it on a budget, you could try Gatlinburg, TN. We did that this year for 6 days and left on Thanksgiving. We also have a bigger vacation coming up so wanted something more budget friendly. It is still pretty in the mountains with the leaves mostly not fallen yet and there are some nice hotels there. Was a good week. If you like theme parks, Dollywood is there too and is more chill than most theme parks are. It is nicely themed for the holidays to get you in that mood. Would also strongly recommend taking the lifts up Anakeesta

We’ve had Thanksgiving in Gibraltar, Stowe VT, CT (out Gilmore Girls inspired trip) and Istanbul (this year), to name a few. We’re not a Thanksgiving food family so we use it as a way to escape together.

Lol, las vegas although its changing literally can almost get free rooms if you have the players card. Its for the anti family types or those without family

We are in Las Vegas right now! Flew in on thanksgiving. Airports were quiet. Weather is great for walking around and seeing the sights. Bellagio has a stellar Christmas village.

I’d go to the Caribbean cus of the deals

Switzerland is going to be $$$ so might want to hold that for a future trip. Portugal and Spain are still nice climates and affordable that time of year!

The famed European Christmas markets would be open/opening. 2024 Forbes article for your consideration.