13 holiday destinations for festive family fun

It’s that time of year again. Time to haul out the holly, rock around the Christmas tree and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Whether you are planning a holiday get-together with extended family or just want to give your kids the gift of travel this year, there are destinations across the globe that will get even the scroogiest of scrooges in the holiday spirit.

Here are 13 festive destinations with everything merry and bright for families this holiday season.

New York City

New York City is one of those places you have to visit during the holiday season at least once. It’s home to some of the most iconic holiday experiences in the world: ice skating in Central Park, looking up at the stunning Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and watching the Radio City Rockettes perform their “Christmas Spectacular.”

Related: These are the best New York City hotels for families to check out

There are also the holiday window displays at Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s and other Fifth Avenue shops (fun for window shopping or actual shopping). Plus, there are charming outdoor holiday markets across Manhattan. The Winter Village at Bryant Park will have ice skating, curling, cozy igloos, shopping and more this year. Beginning Dec. 3, you can also drop into the Columbus Circle Holiday Markets, where more than 100 local artisans sell unique holiday gifts.

Beginning Dec. 1 at the Empire State Building, families can watch “Elf,” “Home Alone” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” on a big screen with complimentary snacks and drinks. Your ticket includes access to the Empire State Building’s museum and observatories for wintertime views of the New York City skyline. You can also purchase tickets to meet Santa on select days beginning Nov. 30.

If you want to stay in the middle of the holiday action, book a room at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square. During the hotel’s “25 Days of Festive Fun” celebration, which kicks off Dec. 1, hotel guests can experience daily holiday surprises like complimentary hot cocoa, carolers, holiday trivia and visits from Santa and his elves. The hotel is even offering “Santa-Approved Rooms” with decor, lights and an in-room amenity with “Elf on Broadway” merchandise.

For the ultimate New York City holiday experience, you can channel your inner Kevin McCallister with The Plaza Hotel’s “Home Alone: Fun in New York” package. You’ll get a limousine ride around the city, a large cheese pizza and a massive 16-scoop sundae — just like Kevin enjoyed in the movie while he was stranded in New York City during Christmas.

Vienna

Austria’s capital city hosts one of the country’s most renowned Christmas markets: the Rathausplatz Christkindlmarkt. There’s so much more to do than simply shop, though. With more than 100 stalls, you should probably bring an extra suitcase for your purchases and a big appetite for the roasted chestnuts and other treats. In addition to the market stalls, you can ride a Ferris wheel and a carousel, do some laps around the ice skating rink and walk along an illuminated path depicting Nativity scenes.

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Related: Vienna’s 5 best Hyatt hotels

The winter market at Prater amusement park combines theme park attractions with an enchanting Christmas market. In addition to all the eating, drinking and shopping opportunities at the Wintermarkt at Riesenradplatz, your kids will love the park’s rides, including Vienna’s trademark Giant Ferris Wheel, live music and children’s puppet shows.

While in Vienna, a visit to Schonbrunn Palace is a must. Tours of the baroque palace are available, but your best bet is a combination ticket; it comes with access to additional attractions on the palace grounds, such as a children’s museum, gardens, a labyrinth and the world’s oldest zoo. The palace hosts its own Christmas market, with holiday shopping, food and drinks, and a tree fitting of royalty.

Branson, Missouri

Surrounded by the Ozark Mountains, Branson is a premier Midwestern destination for families no matter the time of year. The obvious first stop is Silver Dollar City theme park. The park’s annual “An Old Time Christmas” celebration features more than 6.5 million lights, 1,000 decorated trees, live entertainment, seasonal food and drink specialties and access to the park’s rides and attractions.

Related: 13 absolute best things to eat that you can only get in US theme parks

Outside the park, attractions all around Branson get in on the holiday fun. At Shepherd of the Hills, you can go on a “North Pole Adventure” with a walk-through Christmas light display, a hayride, kids play areas, a mountain coaster and a trip to the top of the 230-foot-tall Inspiration Tower for panoramic views. Several of the area’s famous theaters put on holiday productions, including dinner and a holiday show at Dolly Parton’s Stampede. You can also see the types of gifts you used to ask Santa for at the nearby World’s Largest Toy Museum Complex.

Guests and visitors of Branson’s Big Cedar Lodge can enjoy ice skating, visits from Santa, crafts, holiday light tours and more during the resort’s annual “Home for the Holidays” celebration. During your visit, you can explore the drive-thru Christmas lights tour or let Big Cedar do the driving and see the lights on a holiday tram ride.

Santa Claus, Indiana

Where better to spend the holidays than a town that celebrates Christmas all year long? Santa Claus is a small town in southwestern Indiana that embraces its name every day of the year. It features extravagant Christmas decorations, toy and candy shops, a theme park called Holiday World with lands dedicated to major holidays and a post office where you can send letters to Santa. (Yes, he responds to every letter.)

Related: 11 regional theme parks that are closer to home but just as fun as the big names

When you visit in November or December, Holiday World is closed for the season. However, the town rustles up even more holiday cheer with a drive-through light display at Sun Outdoors Lake Rudolph campground, a Christmas Parade, dinner with Santa at Santa’s Lodge, a live reindeer exhibit and chestnut roasting at Santa’s Candy Castle.

If your family is up for a little friendly competition, see who can find the most Santa statues. There are more than 20 all over town, including the 22-foot-tall Santa at the Santa Claus Museum & Village. At the museum, you can also learn how the town got its unique name.

North Pole, Alaska

You don’t have to travel all the way to the planet’s northernmost point to visit the North Pole. There’s another (warmer) North Pole just 15 miles south of Fairbanks in Alaska. Like a mug of hot chocolate, the town is filled to the brim with holiday cheer all year long. There are candy cane-striped street lamps, as well as street names like Kris Kringle Drive and Mistletoe Lane. Visiting during the holidays is like topping that hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows.

The Santa Claus House is North Pole’s most popular tourist attraction. At this large holiday store, you can shop for gifts, sample holiday treats, arrange a personalized letter from Santa for your kids and take photos with a giant Santa statue. Santa himself also makes frequent appearances.

On Saturday, Dec. 14, North Pole holds a citywide Winterfest. Visitors can shop from local vendors at the Holiday Bazaar, decorate Christmas cookies and view a festive fireworks display.

Bowling Green, Kentucky

Home to well-known attractions like the National Corvette Museum and Lost River Cave, Bowling Green is always fun to visit, no matter the time of year. But this southern Kentucky town transforms into a winter wonderland during the holiday season thanks to an ice skating rink, a Christmas parade, enchanting light displays and real, live reindeer.

At The Reindeer Farm (open from mid-November through late December), you can book a “Reindeer Encounter” with Santa’s furry, flying helpers. While there, you can also visit the other farm animals, write a letter to Santa, play yard games and more. On select days, you can reserve a breakfast with Santa or the Grinch, too.

Other seasonal events include the SoKY Ice Rink, an outdoor ice rink with daytime and nighttime hours. Don’t miss downtown Bowling Green’s weeklong Light Up BGKY event (held this year between Dec. 2 and 8) that officially kicks off the holiday season. Even if you miss the event, you can see the light displays at Fountain Square and Circus Square parks all season long.

If the temperatures get too frigid, you can drive about 45 minutes north to Mammoth Cave National Park. Temperatures inside the cave hover around 54 degrees all year long.

Lapland, Finland

Lapland is Finland’s northernmost region — and perhaps its most magical. Those who brave its snowy subarctic wilderness will be treated to once-in-a-lifetime holiday experiences like reindeer-driven sleigh rides, snowmobile rides, a stay in a glass-domed igloo and visits to Santa’s house.

Related: What it’s like to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Finland’s Arctic to see Santa

The easiest way to visit Lapland is by booking a tour package where everything — including flights, hotels, the use of snowsuits, meals and activities — is organized for you. There are various packages to choose from based on your budget, and you can include add-on experiences like skiing, snowshoeing and excursions to view the northern lights.

Orlando

If your family loves the lights, decor and general merriment of the holiday season but not the cold weather and snow, a trip to Orlando should be at the top of your wish list.

Related: Not your average sleigh ride: 9 can’t-miss theme parks during the holidays

Area theme parks like Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando and Legoland Florida mark the occasion with limited-time events. All are included with park admission, save for Disney World’s “Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party,” which is a separately ticketed after-hours event.

Outside the parks, Harry P. Leu Gardens holds an annual holiday walk-through called Dazzling Nights that features a million twinkling lights, and Give Kids the World Village hosts Holiday VIP Tours of its tree trail and decorated villas. Proceeds for the latter will benefit Give Kids the World’s mission to provide cost-free Orlando vacations for critically ill children and their families.

You’ll need somewhere to settle down for a long winter’s nap during your visit, and even Orlando’s hotels get a merry makeover for the holidays.

In addition to wintertime events like cookie decorating, holiday dive-in movies and holiday crafts, the Orlando World Center Marriott is debuting a new holiday drone show to celebrate the Christmas season. The show will take place nightly from Dec. 25 to 30.

Ice! is a holiday event at Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center with a different theme every year. For 2024, the event will feature “Elf”-themed ice sculptures, indoor snow tubing, gingerbread house decorating and more.

Over at the new Conrad Orlando at Evermore Orlando Resort, guests can enjoy festive activities like gingerbread house decorating, hot chocolate, fireside sing-alongs, and holiday-themed parties and movie screenings at the resort’s zero-entry pool.

At the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, you can decorate Christmas cookies, meet Santa and Mrs. Claus and view a nightly holiday light show.

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

Coeur d’Alene sits along the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho. In the wintertime, the evergreen-dotted mountains in the distance become blanketed in sparkling white snow, but that’s not the only thing that sparkles in this town during the holiday season.

The town transforms into a life-size snow globe filled with more than a million Christmas lights and holiday entertainment. This year, the town will mark the start of the holiday season with an annual lighting ceremony of Coeur d’Alene’s holiday light displays Nov. 29. Throughout the holiday season, families can embark on a North Pole cruise and enjoy Christmas stage shows.

The best place to stay if you want to see and do it all is The Coeur d’Alene Golf & Spa Resort. Guests can dine and drink in cozy igloos along the lake and meet Santa’s elves. Families can book the resort’s “Holiday Family Adventure” package that comes with two tickets for the Journey to the North Pole cruise, milk and cookies delivered to their room and an evening story time for children in the hotel lobby.

Cleveland

Cleveland may not be the first town that comes to mind when you are deciding where to spend the holidays, but that’s until you remember it’s where one of the most popular Christmas films of all time was filmed.

Travelers can visit the house from “A Christmas Story,” where the movie was filmed. It has since been restored to look much as it did in the movie and features all kinds of original memorabilia. The house functions mostly as a museum and gift shop, but overnight stays are available on the days the museum is closed to guests.

During the holiday season, visitors can also enjoy ice skating at Cleveland’s WinterLand and seeing performances of Langston Hughes’ “Black Nativity” and “A Christmas Carol” at Playhouse Square.

Additionally, guests of the Hilton Cleveland Downtown can stay in the Mr. Kringle Suite. The Mr. Kringle Suite accommodates up to four guests and features two Christmas trees, tabletop Santas and nutcrackers, garlands, lights and enough holiday decor to make even the elves jealous. Plus, each guest receives a personalized letter from Santa alongside a delivery of delicious milk and cookies.

Newport, Rhode Island

For more than 50 years, Newport has kicked off the holiday season with a citywide celebration called Christmas in Newport. Many of the festivities, like the tours of the historic Newport Mansions, harken back to the coastal New England city’s Gilded Age heyday; others like the Annual Re-Tree art contest, where community members make holiday trees from upcycled materials, are more modern.

While in town, you may be able to catch a performance of the Newport Nutcracker at Rosecliff, a unique production that takes place within the halls of the Rosecliff Mansion. Or, you can take a Holiday Lantern Tour with the Newport Historical Society. You’ll learn more about Newport’s history and early holiday traditions.

If touring the city’s historic mansions isn’t enough, you can stay in one during your visit. The Vanderbilt, an Auberge Resort in downtown Newport, has 33 rooms and suites. During the holiday season, guests and visitors alike can gather for a Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meal and listen to carolers as the tree gets lit for the season.

Ocala, Florida

You don’t have to be a snowbird to spend the holiday season in Ocala. You also don’t have to be an equestrian enthusiast, but you might become one before you leave.

You’ll find holiday happenings like “A Dickens Christmas: The Urban Family Holiday Exhibition” at the Appleton Museum of Art. There are also orchestral performances of music from “Elf” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” plus popular holiday tunes by the Ocala Symphony Orchestra. And your Christmas tour isn’t complete until you pay a visit to Ocala’s World Equestrian Center.

Each weekend of the World Equestrian Center’s annual Winter Wonderland event has a different theme, including a Christmas market, pet activities, “Nutcracker”-inspired performances and a weekend of “Frozen”-themed activities. No matter when you visit, you’ll enjoy more than 1 million holiday lights, meet-and-greets with Santa and the Grinch, a Christmas tree maze, live entertainment and more.

The best way to enjoy this event is to book a stay at The Equestrian Hotel, which is on the grounds of the World Equestrian Center. The hotel has 248 rooms, many of which overlook the center’s Grand Arena. During November and December, you may have the opportunity to catch events like the Annual Arabian & Half Arabian Holiday Festival Horse Show, which is free to the public. If you happen to have a room overlooking the arena, you’ll have the best seat in the house.

Greenville, South Carolina

If your favorite part of the holidays is cozying up on the couch to watch Hallmark Christmas movies, it’s time to get off the couch and become the star of your own Hallmark movie in Greenville. The charming town becomes even more so in November and December when visitors can ice skate in the heart of downtown, visit an outdoor Christmas market and stroll the streets of downtown to see the lights, window displays and 30-foot Christmas tree. They can also view dozens of culinary creations at the “Greenville Gingerbread Exhibit.”

If you are feeling competitive, you can visit the city’s “putt through” Very Merry Mini Golf, a miniature golf course and holiday light show.

Speaking of holiday movies, when you stay at The Westin Poinsett, Greensville, you can book The Greenville Home Alone Experience. In addition to your overnight accommodations, you’ll get an enormous ice cream sundae delivered to your room, a limousine ride around town (cheese pizza included, of course), a visit to O.P. Taylor’s toy store for a shopping spree and more.