Around the world, October is a holiday-filled month with traditional festivals and celebrations of all kinds going on. Many are quite familiar to us as traditional holidays such as the beer-guzzling Oktoberfest originating in Germany which has now spread to many other countries.
Nevertheless, there are some American holidays that are lesser known but just as important to some people such as National Mule Day, National Pumpkin Day and National Chocolate Day.
However, by far the most celebrated of all October holidays is Halloween, whose name is a derivative from other holidays. Designated as the evening before All Hallows’ Day and All Saints’ Day, Halloween has grown and morphed into one spooktacular holiday filled with phantoms, fun and sweet treats.
The Top 5 destinations for celebrating Halloween as reported by a recent USA Today’s Reader’s Poll may surprise you. While there isn’t room here to do a complete write-up on every one, we can list them for you and allow you the fun of discovering what each place has to offer.
Number 5: Key West, Florida
The number 5 travel destination for Halloween is Key West, Florida. While it’s difficult to conjure up a spooky picture of swaying palm trees and warm white sand, it’s easy to understand why one would want to spend Halloween in Paradise.
Number 4: Transylvania, Romania.
You would be hard-pressed to find a scarier place to celebrate Halloween than in Dracula’s hometown. Yes, the number 4 destination on the list is none other than Transylvania.
Number 3: Salem, Massachusetts.
While the townspeople were kept busy in medieval times trying to discern which witch was which, today it’s all in fun when celebrating Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts.
Number 2: Anoka, Minnesota
Anoka, Minnesota, comes in at number 2 and we know why. Anoka is actually the “Halloween Capital of the World” as it was one of the first American cities to host an official Halloween Parade way back in the 1920s.
And the Number One Destination for Halloween Travelers is: Derry/Londonderry, Ireland.
Only fitting since Halloween actually originated in Ireland from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Depending on which Gaelic dialect you use, Samhain is pronounced Sow-in or Sow-een and a few more ways as well.
Well that’s it then. If you were looking for somewhere different and exciting to go this Halloween, any one of those Top 5 would be a scary good choice.