New York City Christmas Attractions – What You Must See

If you’re anything like me, then you absolutely love the holidays and everything related to Christmas cheer.  Decorations, music about reindeer flying and snowmen coming to life…every corny little holiday thing lightens my mood.  However, if you’ve never been to Manhattan during this bustling time of the year, that’s where you and I are different. Manhattan is perfect for all you Christmas lovers out there, so be sure to get into the bustling city at some point between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

Christmastime is probably one of the craziest, busiest times of the year for New York City with people from all over coming to buy presents, see plays, see the famous holiday attractions, and participate in other cute date ideas.

My family, for example, goes into the city each year to see all the attractions.  No matter how many times you’re able to go see them, you won’t get sick of them, it’s just not possible.  Let’s go through the main holiday-spirited events happening in New York City as we speak.

1. NYC Christmas Attraction – Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center Christmas Time

Although people frequent Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan year round, it is most commonly associated with housing the giant, vastly decorated Christmas tree during the month of December.  The tree is cut down from somewhere in New York State – this year it’s from the Mahopac area – and is strung with many different lights, attracting a number of visitors.  Some years the lights are blinking, other times they are multi-colored, and sometimes they are plain white and simple. But the tree is not the only part of Rockefeller’s Christmas wonderland. There are gold angel statues in two parallel lines leading up to the tree on either side of the festive holiday plants. It makes for an awesome picture.

Not only will you get a great view, but if you have enough time to wait on line for quite some time, you can ice skate right near the big tree. It’s so cool to watch. Everybody is bundled up warm, Santa is usually on the ice and holiday music is playing for the skaters to dance to. The only problem with this, like I said, is the line quickly becomes overwhelming since so many people want to get on the ice.

2. NYC Christmas Attraction – Macy’s Santa Land

Macy's Santa Land Christmas Time

Okay, so everybody thinks Santa Land is a children’s attraction, which it primarily is, especially because a picture with Santa in his workshop is the only way out, but it’s also enjoyable for people our age…and our parent’s age (my dad loves it). But what makes it enjoyable enough for me to recommend, is the effort put into the displays. You walk through whole scenes, with props everywhere – on the walls, floor and ceiling – some made out of Legos and others made from legit materials. It’s something worthwhile to do if you can get yourself to New York City for the holidays.

3. NYC Christmas Attraction – Window Decorations

NYC Window Decorations Christmas Time

I’m a little biased with this one because I used to want to be a window decorator, so I notice pretty windows. However, this activity is enjoyable for everyone. If you go to New York City for Christmas and don’t stop to see the Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and Lord and Taylor window displays on 5th Avenue, there is something wrong with you. Each year, the three department stores display holiday-themed stories around the outside of their store by showing different scenes in sequence in each window. No clothes can be repeated within each store or from year to year, and neither can themes. So this is something that literally changes every year, but what remains constant is it is always awesome.

Obviously there are many, many more attractions in a city as large as Manhattan. These are just three of the biggest ones that are definitely worth your time. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Big Apple!

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