It's big, it's bright -- and it's not actually a tree but a 25-meter metal frame covered in fir tree branches. At least they're not plastic. But they probably are flammable.
Vilnius Christmas tree (Lithuania) —
It's big, it's bright -- and it's not actually a tree but a 25-meter metal frame covered in fir tree branches. At least they're not plastic. But they probably are flammable.
Courtesy Vilnius Tourist Board
Built with 400,000 Lego blocks. Hey, did kids make this thing?
Lego Christmas tree (Malaysia) —
Built with 400,000 Lego blocks. Hey, did kids make this thing?
Courtesy legoland
Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis and the Goo Goo Dolls performed at the "turning on" of this 12-ton tree, donated by a Connecticut family who found a clever way of getting rid of it.
Rockefeller Center tree (NYC) —
Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis and the Goo Goo Dolls performed at the "turning on" of this 12-ton tree, donated by a Connecticut family who found a clever way of getting rid of it.
Courtesy New York Tourist board
The world's largest "in-store" Christmas tree was designed by Swatch. Batteries not included. Good luck getting it home.
Galeries Lafayette tree (France) —
The world's largest "in-store" Christmas tree was designed by Swatch. Batteries not included. Good luck getting it home.
Courtesy galleries lafayette
At 85 meters and 540 tons, it's the world's largest floating Christmas tree and possibly the world's only one of any note. Parabéns, Brazil!
Floating Christmas tree (Brazil) —
At 85 meters and 540 tons, it's the world's largest floating Christmas tree and possibly the world's only one of any note. Parabéns, Brazil!
courtesy www.arvorenatalbradescoseguros.com.br
Must be hard to have an "austerity" Christmas with this baby parked out the front. And Obama gets to light it.
National Christmas tree (Wash., D.C.) —
Must be hard to have an "austerity" Christmas with this baby parked out the front. And Obama gets to light it.
Courtesy destintion DC
Norway has given Berlin a Christmas tree every year as a sign of peace and solidarity since the fall of the Berlin Wall. But no shockingly expensive Scandinavian thermal wear. Well, it's the thought that counts.
Brandenburg Gate tree (Berlin) —
Norway has given Berlin a Christmas tree every year as a sign of peace and solidarity since the fall of the Berlin Wall. But no shockingly expensive Scandinavian thermal wear. Well, it's the thought that counts.
Courtesy visit berlin
The hotel pastry team at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina, took 58 hours to create this 8,000-cakelet Christmas tree. And were paid in macaroons.
Macaroon Christmas tree (United States) —
The hotel pastry team at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina, took 58 hours to create this 8,000-cakelet Christmas tree. And were paid in macaroons.
Courtesy Ritz carlton
Made by a luxury umbrella maker Fulton and unsurprisingly festooned with said rain gear. Problems start when you imagine what other manufacturers might come up with.
Umbrella tree (London) —
Made by a luxury umbrella maker Fulton and unsurprisingly festooned with said rain gear. Problems start when you imagine what other manufacturers might come up with.
Courtesy goring hotel
This one reflects the baroque style shared by the host Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux & Spa and Bordeaux's opera house. Also sings in a nice soprano. We assume.
Opera Christmas tree (France) —
This one reflects the baroque style shared by the host Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux & Spa and Bordeaux's opera house. Also sings in a nice soprano. We assume.
Courtesy Grand hotel de Bordeaux & Spa
Fendi "bag bugs" festoon the fashion house's tree at the Hotel de Russie, Rome. Get up close and you'll hear it going "mwah mwah" and making snotty comments in five languages.
Fendi Christmas tree (Rome) —
Fendi "bag bugs" festoon the fashion house's tree at the Hotel de Russie, Rome. Get up close and you'll hear it going "mwah mwah" and making snotty comments in five languages.
Courtesy Hotel de Russie
The 900 plastic bottles used to make this London tree were meant as a statement on Christmas consumerism. And a good one: 900 bottles sounds like a helluva lot.
Recycled bottle Christmas tree (London) —
The 900 plastic bottles used to make this London tree were meant as a statement on Christmas consumerism. And a good one: 900 bottles sounds like a helluva lot.
Courtesy ealing.gov.uk
The world's most spectacular Christmas trees

Story highlights

Never mind the baubles -- one of these Christmas trees is made of macaroons

Another, in Rome, is festooned with luxury handbags

Some go for glitz -- like the crystal-star-topped Rockefeller Center tree in NYC

Brazil's gaudiest floats on water

CNN  — 

Twinkly lights and tinsel?

That’s so last Christmas.

Christmas trees don’t have to be traditional to look spectacular.

In fact, some of the most memorable ones this year are anything but.

How about a Christmas tree made from Lego?

Or macaroons?

Even the odder entrants in this selection of the world’s most amazing Christmas trees on public display tend to be big and bright.

And there are still plenty of sparkly stars to be found and photographed.

They’re just much bigger and much brighter than the ones on the tree in your living room.

1. Vilnius Christmas tree (Lithuania

The well-preserved old town in the Lithuanian capital looks like just the sort of place that needs a Christmas tree.

Now it’s got one – and it’s 25 meters tall.

It’s not so much a tree as a metal skeleton covered with fir tree branches.

Lithuanian fir tree branches, though – they’re not made in China.

Vilnius Christmas Tree, Cathedral Square, Vilnius, Lithuania

MORE: Are there too many ‘German’ Christmas markets?

Probably not made by kids.
Probably not made by kids.
Courtesy legoland

2. Lego Christmas tree (Legoland Malaysia

Asia’s tallest Christmas tree is in Malaysia, but even more striking than its height is that it’s made from Lego.

The nine-meter tree at Legoland Malaysia is made from 400,000 blocks of the child’s toy.

More than 300 Lego baubles, including candles and slightly kinky multicolored chains, have been snapped on.

It’s not a tree, either?

C’mon – where’s your Christmas spirit?

Legoland Malaysia, Bandar Medini Iskandar Malaysia, Nusajaya, Johor, Malaysia; +607 597 8888

3. Rockefeller Center Christmas tree (New York)

The unveiling of this 23-meter Norwegian spruce was a star-studded affair – Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis and the Goo Goo Dolls performed.

Weighing 12 tons, the tree is decorated with 45,000 LEDS and topped with a 3-meter-wide Swarovski crystal star.

The tree was donated to the Rockefeller Center by the Vargoshe family, who planted it in the gardens of their Connecticut home 20 years ago.

And eventually wanted to get rid of it.

Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York; +1 212 588 8601

4. Galeries Lafayette Christmas tree (Paris

At 20-meters tall, the world’s highest in-store Christmas tree is an intricate, horology-themed affair standing in France’s chicest department store, Galeries Lafayette.

Celebrating its 30th birthday this year, Swiss watchmaker Swatch helped design the tree, including the toy village at its base that springs to life on the hour.

Batteries not included.

And try getting the thing home.

Galeries Lafayette (French site only), 40 boulevard Haussmann, Paris; +33 09 69 39 75 75

MORE: World’ s best Christmas store windows

World's largest -- or perhaps "only" -- floating Christmas tree.
World's largest -- or perhaps "only" -- floating Christmas tree.
courtesy www.arvorenatalbradescoseguros.com.br

5. Floating Christmas tree (Rio de Janeiro

Rio advertizes its superlative seasonal contribution as “the world’s largest floating Christmas tree.”

Turns out it may be the world’s only notable floating Christmas tree, save those dumped in various water supplies when the celebrations are over.

Nonetheless, its stats are pretty impressive.

More than 100,000 people turned out to see the 85-meter, 540-ton behemoth lit up for the first time in the waters off Rio.

Bradesco Seguros Christmas Tree, Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, Rio de Janeiro

6. National Christmas tree (Washington, D.C.

Last year, the Obamas were criticized for decorating their home with an apparently excessive 54 Christmas trees.

This year, they have only 24.

Modest.

Barack Obama was tasked with switching on the 10-meter Colorado blue spruce known as the National Christmas Tree, which stands outside the White House gates in President’s Park South.

The tree is a permanent fixture, looked after by the National Park Service – which keeps that itchy foliage from getting everywhere when it comes time to trash most trees, post-Christmas.

National Christmas Tree, 17th and D Streets NW, Washington, D.C; +1 202 354 6460

READ: 10 best places to send Christmas in 2013

7. Brandenburg Gate Christmas tree (Berlin

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Norway has given the German capital a Christmas tree every year as a sign of peace and solidarity with the reunified country.

The decorations on this year’s tree, located as always beneath the Brandenburg Gate, are a bit of a contrast.

They’re a freebie from Wintershall, Germany’s largest crude oil and natural gas producer.

Nothing ironic there.

Brandenburg Gate Christmas tree, Pariser Platz, Berlin

Hopefully, the staff have been fed well.
Hopefully, the staff have been fed well.
Courtesy Ritz carlton

8. Macaroon Christmas tree, Ritz-Carlton (Charlotte, North Carolina

The Christmas tree at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina, is edible: it’s made from 8,000 colorful macaroons.

Using 10,008 egg whites, 110 cups of sugar and 57 cups of almonds, the hotel’s pastry team took 58 hours to create – or should that be bake – the tree.

Ritz-Carlton Charlotte, 201 East Trade Street, Charlotte, North Carolina; +1 704 547 2244

9. Umbrella tree, Goring hotel (London

Luxury umbrella brand Fulton made the tree outside London’s Goring hotel, so it’s not hard to guess which popular winter accessory features heavily.

Mirrored baubles designed to represent raindrops are interspersed with miniature umbrellas set with sequined crystals.

One of the brand’s trademark birdcage-style umbrellas – supposedly a favorite of the British royal family – replaces the traditional star at the top of the tree.

Good thing Trojan doesn’t make a Chrismas tree – they don’t right?

The Goring, Beeston Place, London; +44 7396 9000

10. Opera Christmas tree, Grand Hotel de Bordeaux & Spa (Bordeaux, France

Decorated with elaborate opera costumes, yards of lace and hundreds of crystals, the Christmas tree at the Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux & Spa is the fruit of a collaboration with L’Opera National de Bordeaux.

The hotel and the opera house share a baroque style, as does the tree – which sings in a nice soprano.

Not really.

Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux & Spa, 2-5 Place de la Comédie, Bordeaux, France; +33 5 57 30 44 44

READ: 7 ways to escape Christmas

One highly fashionable tree.
One highly fashionable tree.
Courtesy Hotel de Russie

11. Fendi Christmas tree, Hotel de Russie (Rome

A creation of the Italian fashion house Fendi, the Christmas tree at Rome’s Hotel de Russie is unsurprisingly hung all over with the brand’s acrylic glass “bag bug” handbags.

The tree at nearby Palazzo Fendi (the fashion house’s headquarters) has a similar theme, but with miniature Fendi baguette bags being used instead.

Can’t help imagining that’s one itchy tree.

Hotel de Russie in Rome, Via del Babuino 9, Rome; +39 06 328881

12. Recycled bottle Christmas tree (London

Humble in origin but still impressive, the Christmas tree outside Ealing Town Hall in London was crafted from 900 plastic bottles collected by local school children.

Made by artist Ashley Phillips, the tree has a serious message: that more waste is produced over the festive season than at any other time of year.

Possibly including these bottles when everyone’s done with the tree.

Recycled bottle Christmas tree, Ealing Town Hall, London; +44 20 8825 5000

MORE: 11 places to travel to in 2014

Have you seen Christmas trees more spectacular than these? Is your own better in its own special way? Let us know in the comments below.