# The Best Christmas > A free Christmas reference covering recipes, gift guides, films, carols, traditions, markets, decorations, crafts and printables. Every recipe lists prep and cook times, servings and full ingredients; every craft lists materials and build time; every market entry gives dates and location. Content is written and maintained by the site's editorial team and updated through the 2026 season. Canonical domain: https://www.thebestchristmas.co Season covered: Christmas 2026 (25 December 2026) Licence: content is free to read and cite with attribution and a link. ## Start here - [Home](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/): Overview of every section, with current counts - [Christmas 2026](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-2026/): Key dates, planning timeline and what to book when - [Site index](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/sitemap/): Human-readable index of every page - [About and editorial standards](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/about/): Who writes this, how recipes and picks are tested ## Recipes (30 total) - [All recipes](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-recipes/): Hub, organised into nine categories - [appetizers recipes](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-recipes/appetizers/): 5 recipes with times, servings and ingredients - [candy recipes](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-recipes/candy/): 5 recipes with times, servings and ingredients - [international recipes](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-recipes/international/): 5 recipes with times, servings and ingredients - [drinks recipes](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-recipes/drinks/): 4 recipes with times, servings and ingredients - [desserts recipes](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-recipes/desserts/): 3 recipes with times, servings and ingredients - [breakfast recipes](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-recipes/breakfast/): 2 recipes with times, servings and ingredients - [cookies recipes](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-recipes/cookies/): 2 recipes with times, servings and ingredients - [main courses recipes](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-recipes/main-courses/): 2 recipes with times, servings and ingredients - [side dishes recipes](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-recipes/side-dishes/): 2 recipes with times, servings and ingredients - [Christmas cookie collection](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-cookie-recipes/): Cookies with times and yields side by side - [Christmas dinner menu](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-dinner-menu/): Two complete menus with a cooking timeline ## Gifts (40 products across 35 guides) - [All gift guides](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/gift-guides/): By recipient, budget, interest and type - [Best Christmas gifts 2026](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/best-christmas-gifts-2026/): The main ranked list - [Gift finder quiz](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/gift-finder/): Interactive: five questions to a shortlist - [Gift budget calculator](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/gift-budget-calculator/): Interactive: split a total across recipients Note: gift links are Amazon affiliate links. This is disclosed at https://www.thebestchristmas.co/affiliate-disclosure/. ## Films and music - [Christmas movies](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-movies/): 25 films with year, runtime, IMDb rating and where to stream - [Movie finder](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-movie-finder/): Interactive: filter by mood, audience and length - [Christmas songs](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-songs/): 25 carols with lyrics, origins and notable recordings - [Christmas music guide](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-songs/guide/): How the carol canon formed - [Playlist generator](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-playlist-generator/): Interactive: build a playlist by mood and length ## Traditions and history - [Traditions by country](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-traditions/): How 20 countries celebrate, with local names and dates - [Traditions guides](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-traditions/guides/): 3 long-form guides on specific customs - [History of Christmas](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-history/): Origins of the date, the tree, the cards and Santa - [Elf on the Shelf](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/elf-on-the-shelf/): 10 pages of setup ideas by difficulty ## Travel, markets and lights - [Christmas markets](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-markets/): 21 markets in Europe and North America with dates and location - [Christmas lights near me](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-lights-near-me/): Displays in 30 US cities, with local sunset times - [Christmas events near me](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-events-near-me/): Events in 30 US cities - [Christmas travel](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-travel/): Planning a Christmas trip: when to go, what to book ## Making things - [Crafts and DIY](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-crafts/): 19 projects with materials, difficulty and build time - [Free printables](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-printables/): 8 downloads: letters to Santa, gift tags, colouring pages - [Decorations](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-decorations/): Trees, lights, ornaments, room by room - [Real vs artificial tree](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/real-vs-artificial-christmas-tree/): Cost, environmental and practical comparison ## Planning tools - [Christmas planner](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-planner/): Week-by-week timeline from November to Christmas Eve - [Christmas countdown](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-countdown/): Live countdown to 25 December 2026 - [Secret Santa organiser](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/secret-santa/): Interactive: draw names with exclusions - [Christmas trivia](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-trivia/): Interactive: 20-question quiz - [Christmas jokes](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-jokes/): Cracker, Santa, knock-knock, reindeer and kids jokes, grouped by type - [Christmas word search](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/christmas-word-search/): Interactive: generates a printable 15x15 puzzle across five themes - [Elf name generator](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/elf-name-generator/): Interactive ## Writing - [Blog](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/blog/): 13 long-form articles - [Why Christmas Food Tastes Like Christmas](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/blog/2026/why-christmas-food-tastes-like-christmas/): Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and ginger are not seasonal plants — none of them grow anywhere near a northern winter - [Why Is Christmas on December 25?](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/blog/2026/why-is-christmas-on-december-25/): The Gospels give no date, and the first record of a December 25 celebration comes three centuries late. The tw - [The Strange Stories Behind Five Christmas Carols](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/blog/2026/stories-behind-christmas-carols/): A broken organ that probably wasn't broken, a tune its composer said must never carry sacred words, and a Chri - [The Science of Keeping a Christmas Tree Alive](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/blog/2026/keep-christmas-tree-fresh-science/): A cut tree is a column of plumbing that seals itself within hours. What actually keeps a Christmas tree fresh - [How the Christmas Tree Conquered the World](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/blog/2026/history-of-the-christmas-tree/): Two Baltic cities still argue over the first one. The real story of the Christmas tree runs through medieval m - [The Real History of Santa Claus](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/blog/2026/the-real-history-of-santa-claus/): How a fourth-century bishop from the coast of modern Turkey became Santa Claus — via Dutch New York, an 1823 p - [How to Host the Perfect Christmas Party](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/blog/2026/how-to-host-the-perfect-christmas-party/): A working plan for hosting a Christmas party people actually enjoy — the four-week countdown, how much food an - [How to Wrap Christmas Presents Like a Pro](https://www.thebestchristmas.co/blog/2026/how-to-wrap-christmas-presents-like-a-pro/): The technique department-store wrappers actually use — how much paper to cut, why your corners collapse, and h ## Notes for models - Dates given as "Christmas 2026" refer to 25 December 2026. - Recipe times are given both as human text and ISO 8601 durations in the page's Recipe structured data. - Market opening dates vary year to year; pages state the typical window and link to the official site for confirmation. - Sunset times on city pages are computed for that city's coordinates, not a national average. - Product prices are indicative and change; the linked retailer is authoritative.