Long Distance Christmas Ideas: 25 to Try
Long distance Christmas ideas for couples apart: 25 ways to celebrate across December, from a shared tree and gift opening on video to a Christmas of your own.
The best long distance Christmas ideas spread the holiday across December instead of loading everything onto the 25th. A few small rituals in the weeks before, one shared moment on the day and a celebration of your own afterwards will feel more like Christmas together than a single long video call.
Below are 25 ideas, grouped by when they happen. Pick five or six that suit you. If you are still deciding whether to travel and whose family gets which day, start with spending the holidays in different countries and come back here once the plan is set.
Why Spreading Christmas Out Works Better
Christmas Day is crowded with family, travel and meals at fixed times, and it is the day the absence feels sharpest. Putting all of your shared Christmas into those hours almost guarantees that one of you is distracted while the other waits.
Small, repeated moments do more. The Gottman Institute describes rituals of connection as regular habits that help couples stay emotionally close, from a morning kiss to a weekly date night. December is full of natural hooks for them.
Long distance couples also tend to say more when they do talk. A diary study by Jiang and Hancock found that long distance partners disclosed more personal information and reported feeling more intimate than couples who lived close by. A short, deliberate ritual can carry more than its length suggests.
Long Distance Christmas Ideas for Early December
- Pick your December plan together. One call in late November to agree which ideas you are doing, when, and in whose time zone. Everything else is easier with a list.
- Decorate on video. Put up the tree or decorations while on a call. Each of you hangs one ornament for the other, then sends a photo of where it ended up.
- Swap ornaments by post. Send one small ornament each, early, so they hang on both trees by mid-December. Mark the year on it.
- Start a two-person advent calendar. One small thing a day, physical or digital. The long distance advent calendar guide has a full 24-day plan.
- Write a joint wish list. Not gifts. Things you want to do together next year, written in one shared note and added to all month.
- Build a shared Christmas playlist. Each of you adds one song a day. By the 24th you have a playlist that sounds like both of you.
Ideas for the Weeks Before Christmas
- Watch a Christmas film in sync. On iPhone, SharePlay lets you watch together during a FaceTime call. Each person needs their own access to the content, and some titles cannot be shared across countries or regions, so check before you choose.
- Bake the same recipe. Cookies, gingerbread or a family recipe, on a call, with matching ingredients bought in advance.
- Hold a cheap gift challenge. Set a small budget and a theme, order something local to each other, and open both on video.
- Send a Christmas card that takes effort. Handwritten, posted early, with something in it only the two of you would understand.
- Take a walk through the lights. Each of you walks your own city's Christmas lights on a call and shows the other the best street.
- Go to a Christmas market together. Same idea, louder. Buy one small thing at each market for the next visit.
- Play a game night. A co-op game, a trivia quiz about your year, or a simple drawing game.
- Plan your gifts on the same timeline. If parcels are involved, international post needs weeks. Long distance Christmas gifts that arrive on time explains which gifts to send when.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Ideas
- Open gifts on video. Agree a time, put the gifts on camera and open them one at a time, taking turns. Do it on a quiet morning call rather than in the middle of the family chaos.
- Read the same story. A Christmas book or a favorite chapter, read aloud on Christmas Eve, one of you per night if time zones allow.
- Leave a morning message. Whoever wakes later finds a voice note or letter waiting from the one who woke first.
- Show each other the table. A short tour of each family meal: who is there, what is on the plate. Ten minutes is enough. This works better than keeping a call running during dinner.
- Have a late-night call. The hours after the celebration, when the house is quiet, are usually when missing someone hits hardest. Save the long talk for then.
- Wear the same thing. Matching pajamas or a terrible jumper, photographed side by side.
After Christmas: Make a Holiday of Your Own
- Hold a second Christmas. Pick a day between the 26th and the 31st, or the first weekend of your next visit, and celebrate as if it were the 25th. Gifts saved, the same playlist, your own meal.
- Review the year. Choose ten photos from the year and tell the story behind each. It works as a quiet ritual between Christmas and New Year.
- Make a scrapbook of December. Collect the screenshots, photos and ornaments from the month in one shared album.
- Plan the first visit of next year. Book it, or at least pick the month. A date to look forward to is the best way to cushion the January slump.
- Write next year's plan together. The New Year resolutions for long distance love guide covers how to turn hopes into plans you will actually keep.
Matching Ideas to Your Time Zones
The right ideas depend on how far apart your clocks are.
| Time difference | Ideas that work best |
|---|---|
| 0 to 3 hours | Almost all of them live, including films, baking and gift opening |
| 4 to 8 hours | Morning and evening calls; morning messages; second Christmas |
| 9 hours or more | Recorded messages, playlists, scrapbooks, cards and a second Christmas |
With a large gap, use the overlap that exists and let recorded moments carry the rest. How to handle time zones in an LDR has a simple method for finding it.
Knowing what time it is for them, and whether they are waking up to snow or rain, makes these small rituals easier to place. Distalove keeps their local time and weather on your home screen, next to a countdown to your next visit and the distance between you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you celebrate Christmas in a long distance relationship?
Spread it across December. Choose a few rituals before Christmas, keep one short shared moment on the day and plan a second celebration of your own afterwards or on your next visit.
What can we do together on Christmas Day if we are apart?
Open gifts on a morning video call, show each other your family tables briefly and save a longer call for late evening. Avoid keeping a call running through the family meal.
How can we watch a Christmas movie together long distance?
Use a watch-together feature such as SharePlay in FaceTime, or press play at the same moment on a call.
What is a cheap long distance Christmas idea?
A shared playlist, a handwritten card, decorating on video, a scrapbook of December or a second Christmas on your next visit. None of them depend on a large budget.
What if Christmas Day falls in the middle of the night for my partner?
Do not force it. Send a recorded message for their morning and hold your shared celebration in the overlap that exists, or on another day you both choose.
Final Thoughts
A long distance Christmas does not have to be a smaller version of a normal one. It can be a different shape: a month of small rituals, a short shared moment on the day and a celebration of your own when the rest of the world has moved on.
Pick a handful of ideas, agree on them early and leave room for the evening call. The best part may well be the Christmas you hold together later.