Holiday lights and Christmas markets with kids around Chicago

Once Thanksgiving passes, Chicago becomes a city of lights: a mile-long light trail at the arboretum and another at the botanic garden, a zoo with millions of bulbs for free or a few dollars, a German market downtown with hot chocolate and the Macy's windows, and a museum full of Christmas trees from around the world, all running into early January.

Do the free ones first. The Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza has no admission, and the Aurora edition is 15 minutes from Naperville; Cosley Zoo's Festival of Lights in Wheaton is free on December evenings. The closest ticketed show for west-suburban families is Illumination at the Morton Arboretum, where the trees change color when you shout. ZooLights in the city is a stroller loop with hot chocolate, and Lightscape up north is the grandest and the priciest. For rain or snow, MSI's Christmas Around the World has more than 50 trees indoors.

• 6 places
• 1 free
• 5 stroller-friendly
• closest is 15 min away