Every light trail, holiday tour, vacation camp and museum class worth your December — across Westchester County and Long Island's North Shore. Honest about which ones are free.
The holiday season splits into three problems: evenings out, days to cover while school is closed, and somewhere warm when it's too cold to be outside.
Lantern festivals, drive-through light shows, candlelit village evenings and mansion holiday tours.
December and February break — nature centres, coding studios, band camps and aquarium day camp.
The museums that actually teach — planetariums, drop-in studios and hands-on workshops.
Each has its own page with dates, ages, location and a direct link to tickets. Seasonal dates shift every year — always confirm before you drive.
Towering illuminated lantern sculptures turn Eisenhower Park into a walk-through fairytale, with new themed installations each season.
A drive-through light spectacular along Ocean Parkway with themed LED tunnels and digital animations, adding new displays each year.
Stroll a 19th-century village by lantern light — Victorian carolers, an 1866 decorated tree, brass and fiddle music, contra dancing and Christmas-past storytelling.
A free walk-through animated Christmas story — Santa, his elves and friends getting ready for the big night — a Long Island tradition spanning generations.
The Gothic Revival mansion decked out Gould-era style — elaborate trees, period tableaus and objects, named by USA Today among the ten best historic holiday tours.
A live, interactive planetarium show on the winter night sky — and the real astronomy behind the Star of Bethlehem, holiday lights and yule logs.
Elaborate model-train layouts in multiple gauges fill the historical society — themed scenes, historic settings and local Westchester landmarks in miniature.
The botanic garden's family holiday weekends — seasonal crafts, garden trails and winter activities in a twelve-acre setting.
A holiday-week dinosaur carnival at Long Island's hands-on science centre — fossils, games and science activities for the dino-obsessed.
Westchester's historic indoor rink at Playland — public skating sessions, rentals in every size and learn-to-skate lessons all winter.
The county's holiday village at the foot of the Kensico Dam — light displays, rides, a market and seasonal family entertainment.
Candlelit holiday tours and seasonal programmes across the Hudson Valley's historic estates, including Washington Irving's own Sunnyside.
Westbury House decorated for the season — period rooms, trees throughout the Charles II mansion, and holiday programming on the Gold Coast estate.
The Engeman's professional children's theatre series runs a holiday production each December — short, bright and pitched squarely at small children.
The single most useful thing we can tell you about December around here.
December-week places at Greenburgh Nature Center, Teatown and the Long Island Aquarium's Winter Fun-cation camp.
Weekend timed-entry slots for LuminoCity and Historic Hudson Valley's candlelight tours, and Lyndhurst's holiday mansion tours.
Hicks Nurseries' animated Christmas story and the Kensico Dam winter village need no tickets — only a parking plan.
For lights: LuminoCity at Eisenhower Park (walk-through lantern sculptures) and Magic of Lights at Jones Beach (drive-through). For tradition: the free animated Christmas story at Hicks Nurseries and Candlelight Evenings at Old Bethpage Village Restoration. In Westchester: Lyndhurst Mansion's holiday tours and the Great Holiday Train Show in Chappaqua.
The animated Christmas Children's Story at Hicks Nurseries in Westbury is free and has been a Long Island tradition for generations. Westchester Winter Wonderland at Kensico Dam Plaza is a low-cost county-park option with proper parking.
The Playland Ice Casino in Rye is Westchester's historic indoor rink, with public sessions, rentals in every size and learn-to-skate lessons all winter — indoors, which beats every outdoor rink on a windy January Saturday.
Museums add break-week programming (Long Island Children's Museum, Science Museum of Long Island, Cradle of Aviation), the nature centres and the Long Island Aquarium run day camp, and every light display stays open through the first week of January. See our winter vacation camps page.
For anything ticketed, yes. Timed entry at LuminoCity and Historic Hudson Valley's candlelight tours sells out on December weekends, and Lyndhurst's holiday tours book up early. The free walk-throughs need no tickets — only a parking plan.
Classes, camps, museums and family days out across Westchester and Long Island's North Shore.