There is truly nothing comparable to celebrating Christmas in New York. This is the time of year when I get the most homesick, and I always look forward to coming home for Christmas and seeing the decorations throughout the city. Whether you’re local or from out of town, here are some suggestions for what to do around the city during the holidays!
Walk Down Fifth Avenue
One of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season is to go for a stroll down Fifth Avenue. Cartier and Tiffany always decorate their exteriors, and Bergdorf Goodman has a really nice window display. Many stores on Fifth Avenue are known to be expensive, so take advantage of being able to enjoy all of their holiday decorations for free!
Visit the Saks Fifth Avenue Window Display
Saks Fifth Avenue is famous for having one of the most intricate and ornate holiday window displays. This year, Saks partnered with Disney to celebrate the release of Frozen 2. The windows include animatronic versions of all of the film’s favorite characters and depict the journeys they undertake throughout the new movie. The store also runs a light show with its exterior decorations (seen above) which run every ten minutes from 5-11 PM. The window display and light show will be up until January 2, 2020, and I highly recommend you stop by!
Visit the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree
Visiting the Rockefeller Christmas Tree is a classic activity for anyone in New York during the holidays. If you’re someone who would rather avoid the crowds and enjoy it from afar, you can see the 77-foot tree during your walk or car ride down Fifth Avenue! It will be lit on December 4th and stay up until January 17, 2020, so there’s plenty of time to see it.
Walk in the Snow in Central Park
Whether it’s with your family, significant other, or even by yourself, a stroll through the snow in Central Park will instantly bring a smile to your face. Central Park is already beautiful during any other time of the year, but there’s truly something magical about seeing it covered in a fresh layer of snow. Families especially love going sledding on the hillier parts of the park directly after a heavy snowfall. Virtually every part of the park is picturesque, so there are plenty of perfect photo opportunities too!
See the Nutcracker
While this is, admittedly, something that I haven’t done, it’s on my to-do list for this year! I’ve always loved Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, and I hope to see the ballet at Lincoln Center for the first time this year with my mom. I think this could be a great way to bond with family, friends, and loved ones.
I hope you enjoyed these suggestions, and let me know if you try any of them out! What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions and activities?
New York is the most magical place during Christmas time. I love the big Rockefeller tree (and the radio City Christmas spectacular), and all the decorations on fifth Avenue
Ash | https://thisdreamsalive.com
I wholly agree! The Rockefeller tree and 5th avenue decorations are absolutely stunning 🙂
I’ve never been to New York but oh my, those shops really do know how to put on a magical festive display, don’t they? I used to live in London and Fornum & Masons windows were amazing too. There’s something about being in a big city at Christmas, it’s very special. Thank you for sharing this! Lisa
So glad you enjoyed!
I’ve been to New York in December before and everything about it is magical. I love Central Park at this time of year, more so than in summer. I wish I’d seen The Nutcracker while I was there x
Sophie
I think after movie ”Home Alone” Christmas time in NY have always been overbooked! And also I have catched myself about thinking Christmas there! But it really looks worth it! Decorations are amazing!
The decorations are beautiful!
Going to New York during Christmas time is a dream of mine! Literally everything you listed is something i wanna do. I hope to be able to make my dream come true one day!
I hope so too! It’s the best 🙂
I went to New York in July this year and absolutely loved it! It looks magical at Christmas time, I would love to be able to go back for then! ✨🎄 xx
I hope you get to come during Christmas! It’s truly magical 🙂
I would absolutely LOVE to go during Christmas/New Years it is something I have always wanted to do 😊
Don’t have much holiday traditions with the exception of family dinners. But NY looks great! I’d like to do the Macy’s parade and Christmas in one year.
I love watching the Macy’s parade too!
New York is just one of those places that seems like it would be wonderful at Christmas – like even if you are visiting at another time of year, it has that vibe! I love New York so much and definitely have it on my list to visit over (or at least a bit before) the Christmas period. Everything looks spectacular 🎅🏼☃ x
I hope you get to come here during Christmas one day!