The Christmas Vacation / Holiday Season school break is peak time for travel, and planning ahead is essential for popular spots.
Holiday Season - Family New Year's Eve
Decorate your own mini-Christmas tree, in your room at a Vermont inn; visit Christmas Candylane in Hershey PA; and more ideas, in Colorado, Virginia, New Mexico...
The theme parks and resorts light up at Disney World and major celebrations get underway in November: Magic Kingdom festivities include tree-lighting, special parade, Very Merry Christmas Party; Epcot has Holidays Around The World, and Candlelight Processional that retells the Christmas story; Disney's Hollywood Studios has the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights... And that's not all.
Whether you're at home or away for your Christmas vacation, you'll find plenty of festivities: Christmas festivals, markets, train rides; tree-lightings and holiday lights; Kwanzaa and Family New Year's celebrations, too.
Overview of suggestions for a great Christmas vacation / holiday season: Christmas festivals, markets, train rides; tree-lightings and holiday lights; Kwanzaa and Family New Year's celebrations, too.
As you'd expect, this city knows how to celebrate the holiday season. A great place for family Christmas vacation.
It's the world's top family vacation spot year-round, but Orlando at Christmas means even more fun: add the dazzle of holiday lights plus special events in all the theme parks.
In the US, the "Holiday Season" starts at Thanksgiving in late November and continues to New Year's Eve.
What better time to experience the traditions that fascinate North Americans? A time of special celebrations, decorations, and seasonal warmth... read about German Christmas markets, London at Christmas, Italy, France... (And enjoy low-season airfares, too.)
Celebrations, events and ideas for getaways for the Holiday Season.
Many scenic railroads run Christmas trains. "
The Polar Express" train rides recreate the experience of the classic children's story about a train ride to see Santa at the North Pole; such rides take place at multiple locations. Many other tourist railroads run Santa Special train rides or a "North Pole Express".
More special celebrations that make the Christmas vacation season bright: tree lightings, holiday lights, Christmas windows, festivals, Christmas markets in Europe, and more.
Photos of traditional department store Christmas Window displays.
Any family Christmas vacation probably includes seeing Santa
somewhere; but some places are more special than others. How about The North Pole (NY), or Orlando, or Chocolate Town USA, Bethlehem CT, Santa Claus Indiana? Check out fine places to see the jolly guy in red.
For traveling babies, kids, teens, and moms and dads.
Take along some classic and/or fun books on your Christmas vacation, to help with plane rides or car rides, or to catch the holiday spirit in a tropical clime. See also: the Grinch, Charlie Brown, and more seasonal fun on
DVD's.
At some phases in life, December 31st is the wildest partiest date on the calendar. At other phases, December 31st is still a night for celebration, but the festivities include the kids. Below are ideas for getaways for a memorable family New Year's Eve.
Polar Express - Photos of the special Christmas train ride experience, "The Polar Express", on the Grand Canyon Railway.
Christmas Break - aka that late-December holiday season couple of weeks without school -- is a peak time for family getaways. See some of the most popular spots.
Towns big and small have Christmas Tree light-ups to start the holiday season. Check out some standout light-ups in NYC, Chicago, Boston, and DC.
A fun -- and free - family activity during the Holiday Season is to stroll along a sidewalk beside a big department store, and look at Christmas window displays created to delight children: tableaux of elves in Santa's Workshop, with moving parts; traditional Victorian Christmas scenes; maybe a humorous Santa Claus...
The North Pole, Orlando, New York City, Chocolate Town USA... and other fine places to see the jolly guy in red.
Kwanzaa -- from a Swahili phrase for "first fruits of the harvest"-- is an African-American celebration of culture and family that takes place from December 26th to January 1st. Many cities have family-friendly public events.
A special kind of family-style New Year's Eve: "First Night" events celebrate New Year's with family-friendly non-alcohol-imbibing festivities-- and as if that weren't good enough, they're low-cost, too. Find events in your area.
Many towns celebrate the season with a Christmas Festival: holiday lights, maybe a parade, entertainment, general festivities...
Three hours from NYC, two hours from Phillie and DC, "Chocolate Town USA" is a popular place for the holidays. Hersheypark (theme park) reopens for "Christmas Candyland", visitors can drive through holiday "Sweet Lights", and Hershey Hotel and Hershey Lodge put on special events such as Teddy Bear parade and Chocolate Town dinner musical; special seasonal packages too.
Each December, thousands of people make a pilgrimage to this pretty town, to mark their Christmas mail with not only the Bethlehem postmark, but also with special rubber-stamps known as "cachets". Visit during the Bethlehem Christmas Town Festival in early December, with candlelight processional, and arrival of Santa to light a 75-foot Christmas Tree.
"The Polar Express" is a classic children's book about a child's train ride to see Santa at the North Pole. At several locations in the US, families can ride a real-life train that re-creates the storybook experience.
Ten ideas: "Home for the Holidays" package in Vermont with Christmas trimmings, including your own tree to decorate in your room; The Polar Express train in New Hampshire; 12 Days of Christmas at Sea Island...
More Great Places to Visit Santa Claus.
It sounds like something out of a picture book: quaint European settings, small wooden stalls selling marionettes and wood carvings and Christmas toys, smell of toasted chestnuts and gingerbread...
