Holiday lights and festive outings with kids in New York
From the day before Thanksgiving to New Year's, New York is a Christmas city. The good news is that the classics are free: the balloon inflation, the tree, the windows, skating at Bryant Park on your own skates, the Dyker Heights houses. The bad news is the crowds, so timing matters with kids.
On the afternoon before Thanksgiving, watch the Macy's balloons inflate around the American Museum of Natural History; it's far easier than the parade itself. Once the tree is lit in early December, go on a weekday morning to see it, walk the Fifth Avenue windows, and continue to the Winter Village at Bryant Park. For spectacle, the model trains in NYBG's conservatory and the lantern nights at the Bronx Zoo are ticketed but worth it, and one evening after mid-December, take the subway to Dyker Heights, where Brooklyn homeowners turn whole blocks into light.
- 6 places
- 4 free
- 6 stroller-friendly
- closest is 5 min away
6 places
Travel times from Midtown, by subway or car
Macy's Thanksgiving balloon inflation
4.0Manhattan · 15 min away
2 h · stroller-friendly
Free · Getting there: Subway B/C to 81 St or 1 to 79 St; the afternoon before Thanksgiving, entrance at 72 St and Columbus
Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and holiday windows
4.0Manhattan · 5 min away
1.5 h · stroller-friendly
Free · Getting there: Subway B/D/F/M to 47–50 Sts–Rockefeller Center; right outside the station
Bryant Park Winter Village and free skating rink
4.0Manhattan · 5 min away
2 h · stroller-friendly
Free · Getting there: Subway B/D/F/M to 42 St–Bryant Park or 7 to 5 Av; right outside the station
Dyker Heights Christmas lights
5.0Brooklyn · 60 min away
1.5 h · stroller-friendly
Free · Getting there: Subway D to 79 St, then a 15-minute walk; parking is extremely hard and surrounding streets are restricted
NYBG Holiday Train Show
5.0Bronx · 40 min away
2.5 h · stroller-friendly · reservation needed
$$$ · Getting there: Metro-North Harlem Line to Botanical Garden station; or subway B/D to Bedford Park Blvd and a 10-minute walk
Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights
5.0Bronx · 45 min away
2.5 h · stroller-friendly · reservation needed
$$$ · Getting there: Parking $20 if you drive (easiest at night); or subway 2/5 to West Farms Sq and a 10-minute walk
💡 Good to know
- Around Rockefeller Center on weekend afternoons a stroller barely moves; weekday mornings before 10 are the sweet spot.
- The NYBG train show and the Bronx Zoo lights both use timed tickets; buy weeks ahead for weekends, and pick the earliest slot so little kids get home on time.
- December nights in New York hover near freezing: snow gear for outdoor lights, a thermos, and the rain cover on the stroller as a windbreak.