Germany: Schrottwichteln

Forget spending a fortune on Christmas presents—in Germany, the tradition of Schrottwichteln puts a rather amusing twist on exchanging gifts, with friends and family swapping unwanted, bizarre, or downright useless objects instead.

“For gifts, we follow the German tradition of Schrottwichteln (literally ‘junk Secret Santa’), where everyone brings something completely useless, unwanted or gloriously ridiculous, often something they were given once and never knew what to do with. The more pointless, tacky or absurd, the better,” Karin Mueller, Traveller’s visuals director, tells us. “Our children have grown up with this ritual, and what began as a cosy dinner has become the highlight of the year. They never miss it. Now that they’re young adults, they bring their partners along, and it’s turned into this wonderfully chaotic, joyful, very-London celebration that I’m pretty sure they’ll keep going long after we stop hosting.”

England

Across England, Christmas is celebrated with familiar traditions, from exchanging gifts to tucking into mince pies and singing Christmas carols. But each county and neighbourhood has its own customs, too. In some seaside towns, brave locals take part in a Boxing Day dip—sprinting into the freezing sea to shake off the Christmas excesses, often while raising money for charity. There’s also the age-old custom of burning a Yule log, traditionally associated with good fortune and protection from misfortune. In Cornwall, some communities gather in local pubs for a traditional Cornish ‘shout’, joining together to sing folk songs and sea shanties.

“In the hazy betwixmas period, the days of lounging on the sofa and gorging on Terry’s chocolate orange are punctuated by one magical evening at a local pub for a Cornish ‘shout'”, explains Lucy Bruton, CNT’s social media manager. “A shout refers to the community coming together to sing sea shanties and folk songs in the pub, and the Lerryn (where my family live in Cornwall) shout is a particularly special one to me. The tiny pub feels packed to the eaves with people of all ages belting out some of my favourite Cornish songs – from “Trelawney” to “Lamorna” and, of course, “Cornwall My Home”. It’s dark, cosy and a real slice of the magic of Cornwall.”

A version of this story originally appeared on Condé Nast Traveller UK.