The World’s Most Kitschy Christmas Destination

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The North Pole is closer than you think — by approximately 1,700 miles. Reset your GPS coordinates to 64°45′04″N 147°21′07″W and you’ll find yourself in the middle of North Pole, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks that celebrates the Christmas spirit all year long. Named by developers trying to attract toy manufacturers to the remote U.S. state in the 1950s, the town never thrived as planned. Instead, North Pole has become a yuletide pilgrimage site for children of all ages.

Imagine if Christmas were to come down with the flu and vomit on an entire town. That’s what North Pole looks like. Many houses are decorated year-round, lamp posts look like striped candy canes, streets bear names like “Santa Claus Lane” and “St. Nicholas Drive” and there’s even a North Pole marker on 5th Avenue.

[dropshadowbox align=”left” effect=”lifted-bottom-left” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]TIP: Don’t come to Alaska specifically to visit North Pole unless you’re a total Santaphilic.[/dropshadowbox]The central attraction, though, is Santa Claus House, which is chock full of Christmas baubles for sale. Originally founded as a general store, this popular roadside attraction features a giant Santa Claus statue out front, a reindeer stable, a seasonal ice park and, of course, Santa himself. More than 100,000 visitors meet with Mr. Claus, who finds out if they’ve been naughty or nice. Santa is in residence from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday and Noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

If you can’t go in person, you can send letters addressed to Santa at the North Pole using the following address:

Santa Claus
1 Santa Claus Lane
North Pole, AK 99705

Starting at $9.95, you can even get a response from the man himself tailored for the recipient and postmarked from North Pole, Alaska.

For more information about North Pole, Alaska, visit northpolealaska.com or plan your trip with the help of Explore Fairbanks.