We rounded the bend and right there in front of me was the most magical and glittering iced-over winter wonderland I had ever seen.

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Upstate New York bursts with beauty, but one village rises above the rest. Actually, it rises above all of the most beautiful winter villages in the world.

It was my 30th birthday and Lake Placid was the destination. Looking down at the village of Lake Placid from the road, I could see precisely why it was picked to host the Winter Olympics in 1980. I felt like my breath had been stolen from my lungs as I felt my head swiveling, trying to soak in every single thing around me.

Lake Placid sits in the Adirondacks and is a lovely place all year round, but there's something really special about this little town of just over 2,000 people during the winter months as the village is transformed into what I can only describe as looking like a winter scene from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Lake Placid in the winter, I hope that you do. The Olympic Village, the shops, and the restaurants of Lake Placid make it a fantastic winter vacation spot. And, just 15 minutes from Lake Placid is Saranac Lake which plays host to a wonderful winter carnival each year.

Don't just take my word for how fantastic  Lake Placid is though. The group of travel experts at SkyParkSecure have released a list of the ten most Instagram-worthy winter wonderlands on Earth and New York's very own Lake Placid has been named the most Instagram-worthy winter wonderland in the entire world.

Using Tripadvisor data, SkyParkSecure found and filtered global destinations that visitors described as the very best “winter wonderlands in the world.”

A trip to Lake Placid will mean that not only will you get some fantastic photos for your social media accounts but you'll also enjoy a getaway not too far from home in one of the most beautiful winter locations in the world.

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