The Holiday Season in the Big Apple

Posted bybeyondthemilestravelblogPosted inNew York, US 50 States TravelTags:, , , , , , ,

Updated November 2021

Each year on Thanksgiving morning, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place in New York City and signals the beginning of the holiday season in the city. After a year hiatus, the parade was back on in 2021and it was so nice to watch it on tv and see New York City ready for the Holiday Season. It’s definitely a magical place to visit between Thanksgiving and New Years.

Here are some of my favorite things to see and do during the holiday season in New York City.

Radio City Music Hall

Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes: What is more iconic than seeing the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall? The first show was on December 21, 1933. Since then it has grown so much in popularity that there are multiple shows a day from November thru the beginning of January each year. The music and dancing will definitely get you in the holiday spirit. After a year hiatus, the Christmas Spectacular is back in 2021. It runs thru January 2, 2022. Due to current New York City mandates, proof if vaccination is required for everyone over 12.

Rockefeller Center: Nearby Radio City is Rockefeller Center. This is a must visit during the holiday season. There is no more iconic New York City holiday view than the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. Every year the Wednesday after Thanksgiving, they have a tree lighting ceremony. The first ceremony took place in 1931 and it has been televised since 1951. I’m sure most of you have seen the photos of the tree arriving in Rockefeller Center last year from upstate New York. In full 2020 fashion, the photos of the tree looking more like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree were all over social media and then there was an owl stuck in the tree. You just couldn’t make this stuff up in 2020! Well, luckily, the owl was saved and the tree was as beautiful as ever for a somewhat different lighting last year. This year the tree is from Maryland and will be lit on December 1st and televised on NBC.

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and Skating Rink

Beneath the Christmas tree is the popular ice rink. The rink will be open thru March 2022 and will require a timed ticket to enter. Since it is outdoors proof of vaccination is not required.

Wollman Rink in Central Park

Ice skating in Central Park: Speaking of ice skating, the Wollman Rink at Central Park is another great place to skate off all the delicious holiday treats. Ice skating is the only thing I enjoy about winter. It’s such a fun winter activity and pretty much the only athletic thing I did as a kid. Ice skating in Central Park with the New York City skyline creating a beautiful city backdrop is just amazing. The rink is open this season until April 2022, or earlier, depending on the weather.

Bryant Park Ice Rink

Winter Village in Bryant Park: Another great place to ice skate in NYC is Bryant Park. The great thing about skating at Bryant Park is it’s free if you have your own ice skates.

While at Bryant Park, make sureto check out the holiday shops which are a great place to find unique gifts to buy from local artisans. Great place to support small business and find that special one of a kind gift. Both the ice rink and shops are open this season with face masks required and sanitizing and social distancing protocols enforced.

Shopping: We all have Christmas shopping to do and what better place to do it than New York City. The city has every store you can possibly imagine. From the high end stores of 5th Avenue to the iconic Macy’s in Herald Square to the holiday markets spread throughout the city, there is something for everyone. And even if you aren’t up for the shopping crowds, just walking down the street and checking out the many holiday window displays is a great way to spend the afternoon.

Window displays and holiday decorations
Holiday decorations

Food: No trip is complete to New York City without food! The holiday season is a perfect time to find a great independent cafe and grab a hot chocolate and a sugary snack to warm up from the cold weather and fuel up for more holiday activities.

New York City is the perfect place to visit during the holiday season. It will definitely get you into the holiday spirit! Let the holidays begin!

32 thoughts on “The Holiday Season in the Big Apple”

  1. My favorite tree is the one at Bryant Park, I like the red, white, and blue ornaments. I am hoping to see some of the trees this year. My office is a few blocks from Rockefeller so I always stopped by on my lunch break last year.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. December in NYC is definitely on my travel bucket list and you’ve just moved it up near the top! Thanks for sharing all the amazing things to do and the lovely photos which accompanied.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. What a fantastic city to be able to visit at Christmas time…hopefully one year! Love reading about all the wonderful things to do at Christmas, even though this one will be very different for all of us! I’ve been in the summer and loved it…so much to see and so many wonderful neighbourhoods. Bryant Park was actually a favourite place of mine to just sit and people watch! Stay safe.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. Skating in NYC is such a bucket list item! You always see it in all the movies, and it would be so fun to do in person. I love how big cities get really festive around the holidays!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. What a lovely post to read! My husband is from NYC and heard a lot of fun stuff you can do around the Big Apple! Can’t wait for our family to spend our 1st Christmas in NYC soon.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  19. Pingback: Running into 2022 – NYRR Midnight Run – Beyond The Miles Travel Blog

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: