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Santa’s Village has always been my family’s favourite. I went as a kid, I now visit with my sister’s three kids. In summer it’s a lovely little Christmas-themed amusement park. In November and December, when it opens on weekends and the entire place is buried in lights, it becomes utterly magical. This is the trip I’d point you towards if you want a proper Christmas weekend with kids in New England — and since it pairs perfectly with North Conway, which does a mountain Christmas better than almost anywhere, I’ve included that too.
Here’s exactly when it’s open, what it costs, what you’ll do there, and the rest of the Christmas weekend around it — including one activity I’d think twice about before booking.
Jump To:
- Why Go at Christmastime
- Dates, Hours & Tickets
- What You’ll Do There
- What to Eat
- Tips for a Winter Visit
- North Conway at Christmas
- Where to Stay
Why Go at Christmastime
Christmas is special at Santa’s Village; the stunning lights covering every inch of the park, the coool temps aqdd to the magic and make yoou appreciate the warm hot chocolate, cinammon sugar donut bites and warm gingerbread cookies. It really is the perfect November/December weekend trip.
Dates, Hours & Tickets
Christmastime is weekends only, plus the Thanksgiving stretch. These are the 2026 dates:
- November: 7, 14, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29
- December: 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20
- New Year’s Eve: December 31, a separate ticketed event
Hours are 11am–7pm on Saturdays and 11am–6pm on Sundays, which is what gives you the lights. New Year’s Eve runs 4–9pm.
Tickets are $60 for ages 4 and up at Christmastime, and 3 and under go free — worth knowing if you’ve got a toddler in the group. New Year’s Eve is priced separately at $69 for 13+ and $59 for ages 4–12, and that one includes all food and drink, which makes it better value than it first looks.
There are only thirteen Christmastime days in the whole season and they sell out, so book as soon as you know your dates rather than deciding the week before. Everything is on the Santa’s Village website.
What You’ll Do There
Almost everything is included in your admission, which is one of the nicest things about the place — there’s no constant upselling once you’re through the gate. These are the highlights:
Visit Santa
The obvious one, and done well. You visit him in his house rather than queuing at a grotto in a shopping centre, which makes an enormous difference to how it feels. Go earlier in the day if your kids are small and the queue matters; go later if you want the house lit up.
Feed the Reindeer
Real reindeer, and you can feed them.
The Elevated Sleigh Ride
A sleigh on a track that runs above the park, and my pick for the best thing to do after dark — you get the whole place lit up beneath you. Do it once in daylight and once at night if you have the time.
The Rides
The Midnight Flyer is the coaster and a favorite for the ten year old. Along with the bumper cars, the flying sleighs, and the tubing hill.
Decorate a Gingerbread
Indoors, warm, and it buys you a solid half hour of everyone sitting still. Pair it with a hot chocolate and you’ve got the middle of your afternoon sorted.
The Lights After Dark
This is the reason to come in winter rather than summer, and the reason the hours run to 7pm on a Saturday. Don’t burn the whole day and leave before the light goes — plan your afternoon so you’ve still got energy for the last hour, because it’s the best one.
What to Eat
Better than park food has any right to be, and in December the food is doing double duty as a way to get everyone indoors and warm.
- Cinnamon sugar donut bites — don’t skip, trust me.
- Hot chocolate — the backbone of the entire day.
- Homemade fudge and s’mores — both made on site.
- Gingerbread — whether you decorate one or just eat one.
- Actual meals — made-to-order pizza at Nick’s, plus wraps, salads and the usual burgers and nuggets.
Tips for a Winter Visit
- Bundle up properly. This is the Northern NH in late November and December and it is genuinely cold. Winter coats, hats, gloves, warm boots — and spares for the kids, because wet gloves end a day fast.
- Book early. Thirteen days in the whole season, and the Thanksgiving weekend dates go first.
- Stay for the lights. If you only take one thing from this post: don’t leave at 4pm.
North Conway at Christmas
Santa’s Village is a day, not a weekend, so base yourself in North Conway and build the rest of the trip around it. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas the whole town leans into it — the downtown genuinely looks like a Christmas postcard, and it’s one of my favourite times of year to be there.
Downtown North Conway
You don’t need a plan here, you just need an afternoon to wander. The things worth building it around:
- Zeb’s General Store — the one everyone goes to, and rightly. Packed floor to ceiling with New England everything, and a genuine sensory event for a four-year-old.
- The penny candy store — cheap, delightful, and buys you goodwill for the rest of the day.
- The Christmas Loft — a whole shop of Christmas, which at this time of year is exactly the right amount of Christmas.
- The train station and the tree — the old station in the middle of town is the prettiest thing in North Conway, and with the tree up in the main square it’s where the postcard comparison comes from.
For everything else in town, my guides to the best restaurants in North Conway and the best bars cover the grown-up half of the weekend.
Journey to the North Pole — My Honest Take
This is the Christmas train ride out of North Conway station, and I want to be straight with you about it because it isn’t cheap.
What’s good: the old-timey train itself is genuinely lovely, and the grounds at the “North Pole” end are properly done — decorated, atmospheric, and there’s a post box where the kids mail a letter to Santa, which they loved.
What wasn’t: the lights were out in our carriage for the journey, which took a lot of the magic out of the ride there. I’d expected livelier music and elves working the aisles handing things out — the sort of thing you see in videos of these New England Christmas trains — and instead it was very basic. The show once you arrive was underwhelming too. None of it was bad, exactly. It just didn’t feel like $75 a head of effort, and with more enthusiastic performers it could be genuinely brilliant.
The practical bits: tickets from North Conway are $75 coach, $90 first class and $105 for the restored dome car, with departures at 4:30pm and 7:10pm on selected dates from late November through 23 December. First class and dome tickets get you priority seating in Santa’s Workshop and a colouring book on board.
Worth knowing for 2026: they’ve moved to fully assigned seating so you pick your own seats and carriage, they’re now selling single tickets, and the site says carriages at both locations are being renovated. Some of what bothered me may well have been addressed — if you go, I’d genuinely like to know. Details are on the Journey to the North Pole site.
Would I do it again? Probably not at that price, unless the reviews change.
Where to Stay
Stay in North Conway. It’s a little over an hour from Santa’s Village, it’s where everything else on this list is, and it has by far the best choice of places to stay in the area — I’ve written up my favourite hotels in North Conway separately, and several of them are properly festive in December. North Conway Grand Hotel and Grand Summit Lodge at Attitash both have outdoor heated pools in the winter which is SO fun for kids.
With a group our size we usually take a house or a condo rather than hotel rooms — more space for kids, somewhere to dry out wet coats, and a kitchen for breakfast before an early start.
Two nights is the sweet spot: one full day for Santa’s Village, one for North Conway and whatever else you add.
