Victoria

In a frantic and hurried world, Victoria offers a respite from the chaos of everyday life. The pages are dedicated to living beautifully when entertaining, cooking, and decorating and even in artistic pursuits - and now you can enjoy every single page on your tablet! With a distinct personality all its own, Victoria personifies feminity, passion, and an enterprising spirit. Each issue features decorating and entertaining ideas, recipes, travel stories, essays from inspiring women, and much more.

Victoria • November/December 2025 Volume 19, Issue 6

Dear Friends

victoriamag.com • FUN FINDS * PLACES TO GO * ENTREPRENEURS TO MEET

FROM YEAR TO YEAR • Tradition is often a wonderful familiarity during the holidays, anchoring the Christmas season in culture and togetherness. In these letters, our readers share their fondest customs and how they have gracefully accompanied change over the years.

Many Merry Christmases

Seasonal TOKENS • Christmastime shimmers with cherished traditions and glowing hearts, with each keepsake whispering of fond memories wrapped in shiny paper, gifted and received between those who cherish one another most.

SPLENDOR IN SAXONY • Beneath a canopy of twinkling lights and frosted pine trees, the air in Dresden, Germany, is rich with the excitement of the season as well as the aromas of buttery Christmas bread and roasting almonds—sweeping travelers into the warm embrace of the holidays.

Honoring JANE AUSTEN • Culminating our yearlong celebration of the author of beloved books such as Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion, we present a teatime fête ideally suited for marking the 250th anniversary of her birth with festive fare on December 16, 2025.

A Joyous TRIBUTE • With the festive season in full swing, Jane Austen’s House prepares to welcome guests from across the globe for a veritable whirl of Yuletide merriment and celebratory activities planned to commemorate the revered author’s 250th birthday.

HARMONY AT HOME • From carols sung with loved ones to vintage wares collected with care, beloved customs are especially cherished at Christmastime.

Collected SPLENDOR • Gracefully poised a short distance away from the banks of the Mississippi River and exuding a genteel Southern charm, one of Natchez’s historic landmarks invites exploration into splendid environs steeped in the elegance of a bygone era.

Charmed by OLD-WORLD ÉLAN • A soft, feminine palette of sumptuous pinks and blues punctuated by jewel-like flashes of gold and ruby replaces traditional holiday hues, offering a refined backdrop in which to usher in the most enchanting of seasons.

Merriment at the Real Downtown Abbey • For lovers of the historical fiction drama series Downton Abbey, there may be no greater dream than to spend Christmas at Highclere Castle. For the 8th Countess of Carnarvon, that dream is both a blissful reality and an important responsibility, as she works together with the estate’s dedicated staff to create a holiday season brimming with celebration and hospitality.

Market Season • Beneath the gaze of cathedral spires and half-timbered houses, swags of twinkling lights cast their glow upon one of Europe’s oldest and most enchanting traditions: the open-air German markets or Christkindlmarkts, a timeless celebration of Yuletide brimming with handcrafted treasures and festive fare.

Ornamented with WHIMSY • Long before mass-produced holiday décor filled the stores, Victorian-era families pulled out baskets of old lace, pretty ribbon, and ephemera and gathered to fashion frippery for the newly popularized Christmas tree. One West Coast couple keeps the tradition alive with their one-of-a-kind handwrought adornments.

FIT FOR A QUEEN • As captivating in beauty as it...