Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Back in 1741, a religious group settled in the Lehigh Valley, and, on Christmas Eve, after a bishop visited a two-room log cabin housing both people and animals, the Pennsylvania city had a name: Bethlehem. Today, Bethlehem delivers on its reputation as “The Christmas City” with a German-style Christkindlmarkt, a Rude Elf Belgian-style beer brewed during the winter, and a large outdoor ice skating rink at the SteelStacks, which is a former steel manufacturing plant made over into an arts and culture gathering place. If you stay in town until New Year’s Eve, you’ll witness the Peeps Chick Drop, a tradition in which a 400-pound replica of the marshmallow candy is lowered from the sky by a crane. Bethlehem, by the way, is also the headquarters of Peeps-maker Just Born Confections.
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Bardstown, Kentucky
Leave it to a small town to get its residents and businesses on the same decorating schedule. Bardstown holds the annual Hanging of the Greens, which culminates with the whole town "flipping the switch" on Christmas to make Bardstown a dazzling display of lights and decor that visitors can take in on a special driving route. To drum up even more Christmas cheer, My Old Kentucky Dinner Train transforms into the North Pole Express, and an ice skating rink pops up at the Farmer's Market Pavillion. Plus, with a nip of bourbon, Bardstown's fruit cakes might even win over the staunchest critics of the divisive dessert.