For winter visitors, its comprehensive infrastructure includes such unusual luxuries as a high definition cinema, an outdoor skating-rink, Christmas sleigh rides and half a dozen places to eat, including fine-dining.

BBC: Skiing near Vancouver��s city limits

But the best outdoor skating is at Wollman Rink and Lasker Rink, on either end of Central Park.

BBC: Romantic winters of New York

They have put together a spectacular, 50-day Winter in Venice celebration, complete with a first-of-its-kind ice skating rink atop the famed outdoor gondolas, larger-than-life snowflakes, and a signature 65-foot LED holiday tree centerpiece.

FORBES: Best Last-Minute New Year's Eve Destinations