Seattle, Washington

This city is one of the most under-rated Christmas destinations in the US. There are lots of Christmas events and activities that happen from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. Pike Place Market has its Magic in the Market event yearly, where visitors can take photos with Santa and seek all the festive pig statues in the market.

There’s also a giant carousel in the middle of Westlake Park that’s fun for the whole family, and the Sheraton holds their annual Gingerbread Village. At Woodland Park Zoo, there’s an event where they have enormous lanterns in the shapes of different animals. There’s also the Pacific Northwest Ballet that produces The Nutcracker performance every year.

But the best place to get into the Christmas spirit in Seattle is at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel. They have their Teddy Bear Suite, where guests take photos in a room filled with hundreds of teddy bears. In the lobby, there’s a Festival of Trees where people can wonder at the Christmas trees. And there’s even a life-size gingerbread house that people walk through.