11 of the Most Beautiful Christmas Trees From Around the World

Photo: Henryk Sadura/Shutterstock

Christmas time in Mexico City includes the return of a monumental Christmas tree in Zócalo Square, rising over the plaza with the Metropolitan Cathedral behind it. The tree is part of the city’s annual Verbena Navideña, a large-scale holiday festival that brings decorations, performances, and seasonal food stands to the historic center. The event changes thematically each year, but the towering tree remains the centerpiece of the celebration and is lit throughout December as part of the city’s official holiday program.

Photo: Alexandre.ROSA/Shutterstock

A stunning four-story Christmas tree is placed each year beneath the stained-glass dome of the Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris, and it always follows a new theme designed to surprise holiday shoppers. Past themes have included meteoric decorations, Arctic scenes made entirely of paper, and elaborate toy-themed displays.

Each holiday season, the tree is unveiled in mid-November, and every half hour the store darkens for a short light-and-music moment as the decorations come to life. The windows along Boulevard Haussmann are also redesigned annually with animated scenes that match the tree’s theme, making the store one of Paris’s major holiday stops.

Photo:
Volker Vornehm/Shutterstock

Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II unveils its Swarovski Christmas tree each year beneath the glass and iron dome of the 19th-century arcade. The tree rises several stories and is covered in thousands of crystal ornaments that reflect the lights strung through the upper galleries. A deep blue glow from the dome adds to the effect, turning the central octagon into a vivid holiday display.

The tree is part of the Galleria’s seasonal program, which includes window installations from the surrounding boutiques and evening lighting sequences that draw crowds into the arcade. The combination of historic architecture, the tree’s height, and the crystal decorations makes this one of Italy’s most striking indoor trees during the holidays.

Photo: thecandacemiller/Shutterstock

When it comes to Christmas decorations, you just can’t beat New York City. Perhaps the most famous Christmas tree in the world, this year’s Norway spruce is 75 feet tall and was donated by the Russ family from East Greenbush. The Rockefeller Center tree will be adorned with over 50,000 LED lights and topped with a 900-pound Swarovski star. The lighting ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, December 3, 2025, and the tree will remain on display through early January, lit daily from dawn until midnight (with special hours on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve).

Photo: The Peninsula Chicago

The Lobby, one of three restaurant options at the luxurious Peninsula Hotel in Chicago, features a beautifully decorated 20-foot Christmas tree during the holiday season. You can enjoy a festive afternoon tea beneath the tree, with a traditional English-style menu that includes finger sandwiches, scones, and pastries. The Holiday Afternoon Tea is offered from late November through early January, making it a popular way to take in the hotel’s seasonal décor.

Photo: Pan Pacific London

The tallest Christmas tree in London stands in Bishopsgate Plaza beside Pan Pacific London. Rising 67 feet, the tree is covered in more than 100,000 lights and, this year, follows a “Let It Snow” design made from 130 illuminated snowflakes. The hotel shapes much of its holiday programming around the display. Its main restaurant serves a festive afternoon tea with views of the tree through the plaza-facing windows, and the lobby lounge offers seasonal drinks throughout December. Guests staying over Christmas also find small holiday touches in their rooms and special menus in the hotel’s bars and dining spaces. With the tree lit in timed sequences throughout the day, Bishopsgate Plaza becomes the backdrop for the hotel’s winter season.

Photo: Leonard Zhukovsky/Shutterstock

Florida doesn’t get snow, so West Palm Beach created its own holiday landmark: “Sandi,” a 35-foot Christmas tree made of sand, built from 700 tons of recycled material and rising on the city’s waterfront. This season’s build began with the delivery of 850 tons of sand on November 3, followed by sculpting of Sandi and surrounding works by mid-November. The lighting ceremony takes place on Thursday, December 4, and the tree remains lit nightly through December 31, with music-and-light shows each evening.

Photo: Donatas Dabravolskas/Shutterstock

Revelers like to do it big in Brazil, and Christmas time is no exception. Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in Rio de Janeiro brings back one of the city’s most recognizable holiday displays: a floating Christmas tree that rises high above the water and draws large crowds to the lakeside paths. The structure features a tall illuminated frame covered in programmed light sequences that shift throughout the evening, creating reflections across the lagoon. The floating tree has returned after periods of interruption, and the installation remains a highlight of the season when it is part of the city’s holiday program. Light shows and evening displays run throughout the month, continuing a tradition that has become closely associated with Christmas in Rio.

Photo: ValerioMei/Shutterstock

Few things could better inspire holiday cheer than a mountain-sized Christmas tree made from hundreds of real, live pine trees. In Gubbio, Italy, individual trees on the slopes of Mount Ingino are outfitted with an array of lights to create the outline of a 2,400-foot Christmas tree that stretches from the base of the mountain to the peak — the largest Christmas tree in the world. It is switched on each year on December 7 and remains illuminated throughout the holiday season. The honor of lighting the tree often goes to a notable figure; past years have included the Pope and an astronaut who activated the display from the International Space Station.

Photo: Go Vilnius/Saulius Ziura

Vilnius’ Christmas tree, set every year in Cathedral Square, is always lavishly decorated and has been voted one of the most beautiful Christmas trees in the world several years in a row. The city redesigns the display annually with new themes that often include thousands of lights, custom ornaments, and large-scale decorative structures built around the central tree. The tree is typically lit in late November and remains on view through early January, drawing crowds to Cathedral Square throughout the season.

Photo: Hadrian/Shutterstock

Strasbourg’s Christmas tree shines in Place Kléber in the center of the historic market, one of the oldest in Europe. The tree stands about 30 meters tall and is decorated with traditional Alsatian ornaments, light garlands, and handcrafted details that change each year. It’s installed as part of the city’s larger Christkindelsmärik celebration, where streets around the square are lined with chalet-style stalls selling regional crafts and seasonal food. Each afternoon and evening, the tree becomes the focal point of the market as lights glow through the branches and along the surrounding façades. Its scale and placement among Strasbourg’s timber-framed architecture make it one of the most photographed Christmas trees in France.