1.Frankenmuth, Michigan (Bronner’s)
From humble beginnings in 1945, Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland has grown to become the World’s Largest Christmas store. With more than 50,000 different items, Bronner’s is the size of nearly two football fields and is open 361 days a year.
Even the most diehard lover of the spirit of Christmas will be overwhelmed by the size of it. The store has its restaurant for you to take a break and eat some traditional pub-style offerings. Bronner’s is also highly religious – the full name is Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland – and many items reflect that.
2. Santa Claus, Indiana
Santa Claus is a town in southwestern Indiana, year-round dedicated to Christmas. The city has a Santa Clause statute since 1935, a Santa Claus Post office, Santa Claus Museum & Village, and Santa Claus Church since 1880. You can stay at Santa’s Lodge, shop during the day, go to Frosty’s Fun Center with the kids, and at night take a 1.2-mile drive through one of the best lights displays in the country.
3. Rhinebeck, New York
Rhinebeck is a tiny town in upstate New York where Chelsea Clinton was married, a small place brimming with wealthy people who keep summer homes there or are active residents.
Some celebrities like singer Natalie Merchant or Paul Rudd live in Rhinebeck. The town features the oldest inn in America, the Beekman Arms, which dates to the Revolutionary War. The town is also just a few miles north of Hyde Park and the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidential home and library.
But its most famous for its Christmas centuries-old festival traces back to Rhinebeck’s roots when the Dutch first settled it in the 1600s – Sinterklaas.
The Festival is a non-denominational event that joins residents and visitors alike, people of all ages and backgrounds, in a memorable celebration of children, art, and the light of the winter season.
The annual event is always celebrated on the first Saturday of December. You cannot miss the Dancing Bear, the Pocket Lady, the Mother Holly, or the fantastic Children’s Starlight parade that takes place around 6 pm every year. The event closes by featuring two-story tall, animated puppets carried by hundreds of volunteers.
4. Williamsburg, Virginia (Christmas Town, Busch Gardens)
Williamsburg was the Virginia Colony capital from 1699 to 1780 and played a significant role in the American Revolution. Its Colonial historic district is a living-history museum where actors in period costumes depict daily Colonial life in the streets, stores, and workshops.
During Christmas Season, you can visit the seasonal attraction of Christmas Town, Busch Gardens, which is the most fun in Williamsburg where the city itself plays host to Christmas traditions, including caroling through the town by torchlight. This celebration should not be mistaken for the one with the same name in Florida.
At the amusement park, Christmas Town is a wonderland for kids with play areas and an ice show featuring former Olympian skater Elvis Stoijko, not to mention a visit to the North Pole to chat with Santa. The more than eight million lights will also wow grownups at Christmas Town, plus it is signature peppermint fudge hot chocolate.
5. Newport Beach, California
Besides the lack of snow in Newport Beach, California, Christmas’s miracle also occurs every year. The town has organized more than 109 annual Christmas Boat Parades.
That is how far back the tradition goes. The parade in the harbor is a reverse drive-thru light display; only the decorated boats drive by you instead of the other way around.
You can also walk around to admire the lovely Balboa Island Christmas decorations of the ring of lights.
6. Durango, Colorado.
If you are looking for a place with fantastic shopping and winter activities such as skiing and snowboarding, Durango is the place. At Durango, hundreds of kids line up in pajamas every night to take a real-life Polar Express steam engine train to visit “The North Pole,” drinking hot cocoa or singing Christmas carols.
But the most fantastic thing is, to take that same train to a Christmas tree farm, cut down your tree, tag it, and have it transported to be hoisted on your car’s rooftop to take it back home.
7. Red Wing, Minnesota
The annual Holiday Stroll is one of the great places to go during the winter holidays. Just remember to wear comfortable shoes! The Stroll is a long walk. It is a day-long extravaganza that starts with a pancake breakfast at the local Elks Club.
The Festival of Wreaths allows people to bid on some of the most extravagant holiday wreaths ever made. A Christmas-based movie is shown at the theater in the afternoon. Also, there is an ice-sculpting display, a tree-lighting ceremony, cookie-decorating classes, reindeer sleigh rides, a live Nativity scene, parade, and fireworks close the night. And that is not even half of it.
