There’s a shift in the air that seems to happen every November as cities around the country begin to snap into holiday mode: Festive lights are (untangled and) hung with care, skating rinks start to appear in parks and plazas, and carols and standards take over radio stations.
Each of these cities across the United States has its own unique ways of ringing in the holidays, including tamale-making in Texas and quirky spins on The Nutcracker in New York. Just in time for the holiday travel rush, these eight cities invite you to get into the local spirit.
1. Go on a Nutcracker crawl in New York City
George Balanchine revolutionized the holiday season with the 1954 debut of his staging of The Nutcracker at New York City Center, a neo-Moorish performing arts venue in Midtown. New York City Ballet still performs his original work at Lincoln Center each winter, but the Big Apple is also brimming with newer versions of the classic ballet. At City Center, for example, you’ll find a jazzy version choreographed by tap-dancing icon and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Michelle Dorrance. Described as a “tap ballet,” The Nutcracker Suite (November 22–24) features an arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s tunes by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with scenes like a tap battle with the Rat King and a big band Waltz of the Flowers.
Across the bridge, the Brooklyn Academy of Music hosts The Hard Nut (December 12–22) by the Mark Morris Dance Group, a modernized version with heaps of drag, confetti, and humor. And Kings Theatre, a gorgeously restored 1929 movie palace deep in Brooklyn, welcomes both the Grand Kyiv Ballet production (December 14) and Hip Hop Nutcracker (December 23). Finally, be sure to leave the kids at home for Company XIV’s Nutcracker Rouge (November 14 to February 1), a boozy burlesque take on the classic with plenty of risqué wit and sex appeal.
Where to stay
- Book now: The Plaza Hotel
Few lodging options in the city can match the festive atmosphere of the Central Park–side Plaza, where you can ask to have your suite decorated with a seven-foot-tall Christmas tree. And there’s even a Home Alone 2: Lost in New York–themed package, complete with a four-hour private limousine tour of the city, a large cheese pizza, and a 16-scoop ice cream sundae.
The San Antonio River Walk hosts festivities during the holiday season.
Photo by Richard A McMillin/Shutterstock
2. Celebrate a feliz navidad in San Antonio
The San Antonio River Walk runs through the heart of Alamo City, and it looks especially spectacular when strung with 100,000 lights. Festivities kick off on November 29 this year with the Ford Holiday River Parade, which sees 27 floats gliding through the water, decked out with Mexican folk dancers and themed decor—including one covered in oversize Mexican pastries like conchas and bigotes.
Throughout the festive season, south-of-the-border inspirations continue with events like the Ford Fiesta de las Luminarias (select weekends in December), in which the banks of the river are lined with traditional lanterns made from candles in paper bags, and Las Nuevas Tamaleras (December 5–8), a holiday comedy about a trio of women throwing their first tamalada, or tamale-making gathering. Speaking of which, you’ll definitely want to pick up one of the seasonal specialties before checking out the lights displays around town (remember the Alamo!). They’re delicious, and they make for great hand-warmers.
Where to stay
- Book now: Hotel Havana
One of the coolest stays in the Lone Star State is Hotel Havana, which occupies a 1914 Mediterranean revival building on a quieter section of the River Walk. Its on-site boutique is also ideal for picking up last-minute holiday gifts, like wool-stuffed animals from Chiapas, Mexico, or cactus soaps from the Chicana-owned brand Nopalera.
Disneyland’s Christmas Fantasy Parade occurs during the holiday season.
Courtesy of jordissmall/Unsplash
3. Live out your favorite holiday films in Los Angeles
Southern California’s theme parks, unsurprisingly, put a cinematic spin on the holiday season. Universal Studios Hollywood busts out the fake snow for Grinchmas, Christmas in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and the new Holidays in Super Nintendo World (think Mario- and Luigi-shaped snowmen). Farther afield in Anaheim, Disneyland adds a Nightmare Before Christmas overlay to the Haunted Mansion as part of its blowout holiday festivities.
You can immerse yourself in the world of your favorite holiday films anywhere in Tinseltown. The Walt Disney Concert Hall, for instance, will host performances of John Williams’s whimsical (and Oscar-nominated) Home Alone score as part of its Deck the Hall concerts series, while Rooftop Cinema Club will be showing films like Home Alone andThe Holiday and marathons of wintry episodes from The Office and Gilmore Girls.
Where to stay
- Book now: Conrad Los Angeles
Located across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Conrad Los Angeles offers stunning views of Frank Gehry’s architecture and a cozy lobby fireplace for those chilly SoCal nights, when temperatures drop below . . . 60ºF.
Around the winter holidays, places like the Gaylord Opryland Hotel show off their decorations.
Photo by rylansamazingphotography/Shutterstock
4. Add some twang to your Christmas carols in Nashville
If your holiday playlist just wouldn’t be complete without Willie Nelson’s “Pretty Paper” or Dolly Parton’s “Hard Candy Christmas,” you’ll want to make a seasonal pilgrimage to Nashville.
Here, the Grand Ole Opry hosts 10 nights of holiday concerts, with performances by big names like Mickey Guyton, Charlie McCoy, and Chris Young, at the Grand Ole Opry House, a massive venue outside of town that celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024. Back in town, the institution’s original home, the historic Ryman Auditorium, welcomes married country legends Amy Grant and Vince Gill for a 12-show residency called Christmas at the Ryman. You can’t find a better duo to remix the holiday classics: The couple has 28 Grammys between them.
And at the end of the month, the Ryman stage will host two nights of New Year’s Eve concerts from Old Crow Medicine Show to help ring in 2025.
Where to stay
- Book now: Graduate by Hilton Nashville
The Graduate Nashville, near the Vanderbilt University campus, has a Dolly Parton–themed rooftop bar called White Limozeen, and the halls get decked appropriately with spangly tinsel and garland.
The McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park is among the places people can enjoy ice skating in Chicago.
Photo by Nejdet Duzen/Shutterstock
5. Strap on some skates in Chicago
Many cities install seasonal ice-skating rinks come holiday season, but few are as, well, cool as the Ice Skating Ribbon in Chicago’s Maggie Daley Park. Think of it as a lazy river that’s been touched by Elsa from Frozen—a quarter-mile loop that meanders past the park’s climbing wall, backed by impressive skyline views.
Elsewhere around the Windy City, you can glide to your wintry heart’s content at the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park, which is free (minus skate rentals) and attracts about 100,000 skaters annually; the Midway Plaisance Ice Rink in Hyde Park, on the site of the 1893 World’s Fair; and Winterland at Gallagher Way, which brings a European-style holiday market and Santa’s workshop to the area in and around Wrigley Field.
Where to stay
- Book now: The Peninsula Chicago
Guests of the Peninsula Chicago won’t even need to leave their hotel to partake in the winter revelry: The five-star property on Michigan Avenue plays host to the city’s only hotel skating rink, the Sky Rink, which sits high above the bustle of the shopping street below.
Visit Seattle’s waterfront locales to get in the holiday mood.
Photo by John Morris Photography/Shutterstock
6. Celebrate a nautical Noel in Seattle
With more than 200 miles of freshwater and saltwater coastline, Seattle puts a decidedly nautical spin on its holiday happenings. The city hosts the Seattle Christmas Boat Parade on December 14, which sees festively decorated vessels circling Lake Union. Hit the water yourself with the Argosy Cruises Christmas Ship Festival, which has been going strong since 1949; covered in strings of white lights, the Spirit of Seattle sails to about 40 coastal communities on Puget Sound, as guests are serenaded by a choir aboard. Revelers who are 21 and older can opt for the “Follow Boat,” a rowdier, ugly-sweater party at sea on a boat that sails closely behind the Spirit.
In the city’s former shipbuilding hub of Ballard, the National Nordic Museum hosts the annual Julefest: A Nordic Holiday Celebration along NW Market Street. It’s a Scandi take on the Christmas market, complete with handcrafted gifts, cozy knitwear, and snacks like aebleskivers, or Danish pancake balls, served with lingonberry sauce.
Where to stay
- Book now: The Edgewater
Set on a pier over Elliott Bay, the Edgewater is Seattle’s only over-water hotel, and December events include holiday-themed karaoke and a pop-up Merry Little Christmas Bar serving seasonal cocktails like the gingerbread martini and barrel-aged eggnog.
The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree is sourced from a different national forest each year.
Photo by Belikova Oksana/Shutterstock
7. Take a winter wander around the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
While the mall may be a source of stress and anxiety back home (to-do lists! crowds!), the National Mall in D.C. is a rather lovely place to embrace a patriotic version of the holiday season. At the United States Botanic Garden, for instance, the Conservatory is filled with poinsettias and models of D.C. landmarks made from plants, while outside, model trains zip through scenic displays, this year depicting oversize pollinators (bats, bugs, birds) and plants.
Each year, a different national forest is selected to source the towering conifer used for the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree; this year’s is a Sitka spruce from Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. Just across the National Mall, the National Gallery hosts a rink in its Sculpture Garden, allowing you to skate surrounded by works from Alexander Calder and Louise Bourgeois. While you’re in the neighborhood, stop by the White House Ellipse to see the National Menorah.
Where to stay
Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C. pulls out all the stops during the winter season, with a roster of activities that includes nightly caroling and holiday afternoon tea in the opulent Peacock Alley.
Boston has come a long way since the Puritans banned Christmas for 22 years in the 1600s.
Photo by Marcio Jose Bastos Silva/Shutterstock
8. Channel the ghost of Christmas Past in Boston
Boston leans into its centuries of history with colonial-tinged celebrations. On the Freedom Trail, for instance, you can book an hour-long Historic Holiday Stroll, in which you’ll be led by a guide in Dickensian-era costumes. And the Omni Parker House, where Charles Dickens first introduced A Christmas Carol to American audiences, will stage a live reading of the novella (December 8 and 19), complete with musical accompaniments and a discussion before the reading by the house historian.
For something truly magical, snag a coveted ticket to the Candlelight Concerts series. They happen all around the world, but the venues in Boston are especially breathtaking. Lit only by flickering candles, these string quartet concerts will be held in the Gothic revival Old South Church in the Back Bay neighborhood, the First Church in Cambridge, and Temple Ohabei Shalom on Beacon Street.
Where to stay
- Book now: Omni Parker House
Lodging options don’t come more historic than the Omni Parker House, which opened in 1855 and ranks as the nation’s longest continuously operating hotel. If the Omni Parker House was good enough for Dickens, it’s good enough for you!
This story was originally published in 2023 and was most recently updated on November 4, 2024, to include current information.
