During the summer, everyone wants to kick back and relax—even for just a few days. But the winter’s a great time to take a vacation, too. After all, at the end of the year, you deserve to unwind and de-stress. And what better way to celebrate Christmas and the New Year than to reconnect as a family?

There are many kinds of winter vacations, and you can choose from a number of tourist destinations and travel packages to suit your preference, needs and budget.

Head for the Beach

It may be December or January, but who says you can’t hit the beach? In places like Spain, the sun shines all year round. You can have your bit of “summer” right now, even if the rest of the world is covered under a blanket of snow. Going to the beach can even lift your spirits. Scientists and doctors have discovered that people do experience depression during the winter months because of the lack of sunlight. If you’ve been listless, bored, unusually weepy, or just feeling drained, book a vacation today and get some sunshine back into your spirit.

Enter a Winter Wonderland

One of the world’s most popular winter destinations is the Ice Hotel in Sweden. Found in the riverside village of Jukkasjarvi, this unique resort is made every winter out of over ten thousand tonnes of ice and thirty thousand tones of snow. There’s nothing like it anywhere else, and the children will get a kick out of saying that they’ve lived in an honest to goodness igloo! (Not only that, an igloo with room service.) One of the key features of the hotel is the Absolut Ice Bar, which has become quite a party destination for the twenty something crowd.

Take a Cruise

During the winter, the seas are calm and perfect for a cruise. Escape from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season—the mad shopping crowds, the rush to get things done before the end of the year, the flurry of parties. You can go island hopping on the Mediterranean or visit several European destinations.