Spend Christmas at 5 Open-Air Historical Villages

Historical villages are favorite summer destinations for family travelers, but many are also open during December, with programs and decorations reflecting different eras. Other villages become venues for light shows, activities and entertainment with a Christmas theme.

Perhaps the best for portraying how Christmas was observed in the early 1800s is Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. This restored New England village is decorated for Christmas-by-Candlelight Friday–Sunday evenings throughout December, when families can visit houses and workshops where costumed interpreters are busy preparing for the holidays.

Inside the historic houses, treats bake on wood fires and people are busy decorating and making gifts; in the shops, the tinsmith is making lanterns and other artisans are busy printing and making pottery. Glowing lanterns and twinkling lights guide visitors along the Christmas Tree Trail, and lively programs include period music, familiar carols, and stories about the origins of American and other Christmas traditions. Mulled cider and gingerbread are hits with kids.

Just outside Milwaukee, Old World Wisconsin is an open-air village of 65 historic pioneer-era buildings constructed in styles of the homelands of the area’s first settlers, including Germany, Denmark, Norway and Finland. Costumed staff recreates the different customs and traditions as they portray life in a pioneer community.

A St. Lucia procession recalls Finnish traditions, while in a Czech household, children’s shoes are set out awaiting gifts from St. Nicholas. In other houses, you’ll discover Irish and New England traditions. Hands-on workshops create greenery and decorations to take home, and kids can get help writing letters to Santa (whom they can visit in his workshop as he makes toys). Rides in a horse-drawn wagon, holiday story time and meeting characters from Nordic and German mythology all add to the fun.

Greenfield Village, in Dearborn, Michigan, brims with Yuletide cheer during Holiday Nights. Ride on a historic carousel or in a horse-drawn wagon or historic Model T as you explore the 80-acre village of restored houses and buildings. Fireworks are a nightly highlight.

In Cooperstown, New York, Fenimore Farm becomes a venue for a holiday light show called Glimmer Nights, when the farm is covered in holiday light displays. Carousel rides are free, and so is admission for kids aged 6 and under. Some weekends have special themes.

Connor Prairie, in Fishers, Indiana, becomes the venue for light shows, activities and entertainment with a Christmas theme. Thousands of lights decorate trees and buildings, and 3-D projections transport visitors into the story of ’Twas The Night Before Christmas. Kids can ride the carousel, careen down the 150-foot tubing hill or ice skate in stocking feet on a specially polished surface. Warm up around a campfire, listen to performers and learn about holiday traditions around the world.