Find Your Cheer on Holiday Getaways Across the U.S.

Craving a getaway for the holidays? Options abound, especially when you’re traveling to one of these cities across the U.S. that are doing the holidays right. Action-packed festive events include everything from elaborate boat parades to romantic carriage rides and everything in between.

So cash in your miles while basking in the surprising array of seasonal splendor all around you.

As always, check for travel restrictions and closures before planning your trip.

Orlando

Orlando residents know to stay away from the touristy theme parks over the holidays and get into the local neighborhoods to discover the true spirit of Christmas. Avalon Aglow in downtown Avalon Park comes alive for the holidays with a festive parade, fireworks, food trucks, live entertainment and a bounce park.

The merry vibes continue during Light Up the Holidays in Altamonte Springs, where 200,000 lights and a 60-foot-tall Christmas tree vie for your attention alongside fireworks, family-friendly train rides and community-based live entertainment. Who needs Mickey, anyway?

Nashville

Music City isn’t kidding around when it comes to celebrating the holidays. Holiday LIGHTS at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens is a romantic way to heat up the seasonal chill. More than 1 million eye-popping lights twinkle throughout the 55-acre botanical garden where you’ll wander past live reindeer, holiday train displays, art installations and plenty of s’mores.

You can also explore more than a mile of seasonal splendor from the comfort of your car during the Franktown Festival of Lights at the Williamson County Ag/Expo Center, or immerse yourself in a full-scale winter wonderland at Country Christmas at Gaylord Opryland. The phrase “fun for the whole family” is terribly overused, but in this case it’s actually quite accurate.

Dallas

If you require visible proof of the phrase “everything is bigger in Texas,” you might want to stick around in Dallas for the holidays. First, hit the Dallas Arboretum for its annual 12 Days of Christmas holiday display unfurling more than 1 million lights and a Christmas Village, plus cooking demonstrations and live entertainment.

Lone Star Christmas at Gaylord Texan is another iconic annual event featuring everything from snow tubing, ice-skating and snowball throwing to replicas of props from famous holiday films.

And for a more intimate look at a local neighborhood, nothing beats a peaceful horse-drawn carriage ride through the elaborately decorated neighborhood of Highland Park. Your move, every other city.

Philadelphia

Anyone with an even passing familiarity of the City of Brotherly Love knows that residents of Philly are famously passionate about their city.

In South Philly, such love is on full display for all to see during the annual Miracle on South 13th Street, a delightfully over-the-top holiday display set up by local residents and neighbors along the 1600 block of South 13th Street between Tasker and Morris streets.

Stroll on by any evening between Thanksgiving and New Year’s to get a true taste of what community spirit is all about. You might want to keep Instagram open for this one.

Do your holiday shopping along store-filled Walnut Street in Center City, between 20th and Broad Streets. Feel the festive glow with a wander through Rittenhouse Square, where a holiday tree stands aglow and snowflake lights bedeck the park’s trees.