Holiday Lights, Shows & Meaningful Gift Ideas (PA Edition)

The holidays are a delicate balance of finding ways to connect with family and friends while not overbooking your schedule. It’s a balance of trying to give meaningful gifts without flooding houses with more “stuff”. If you are finding that you are still in need or some meaningful and potentially “stuff free” gifts, I have a few lists below that may help you in your search. If you aren’t already full of holiday events on your calendar, and are located or are willing to travel to central Pennsylvania, there’s a lot you can do in the area. I included light displays, shows, and other events on this list as well.

Christmas Lights

• Light Displays – A list of holiday light shows across York and Lancaster, PA.
• Longwood Gardens – A beautiful property and garden located in Chester County, PA outside of Philadelphia
• Koziar’s Christmas Village – In Bernville, PA is a farm covered in an extraordinary amount of lights you can walk through that’s a highlight for kids!
• Christmas Light Drive through in Elizabethtown – A tradition Teddy and I have done each year since we started dating.
• Christmas Magic at Rocky Ridge County Park – Another yearly tradition for us. We had our third date here!

Gift Giving

• 30 Meaningful Gift Ideas – Specific gift ideas for sharing surrounding the topics of learning, cooking, experiences, creativity/art, or memories.
• The Gift of Experience – 13 Ideas (including free ideas) on how to give an experience related gift to someone or how to relive an experience you shared.
• Kid’s Christmas Books – These are my favorite books for kiddos

Shows

• A Christmas Carol @ The Dutch Apple Dinner Theater in Lancaster
• Holiday Cabaret @ The Fulton Theater
• The First Noel @ The American Music Theater
• The Miracle of Christmas @ Sight & Sound Theater
• Trans Siberian Orchestra @ The Giant Center – We used to go to this every year and think I may need to add it back into the holiday rotation next year.

Other Events

• Multiple Events @ Stone Gables Estate including Christmas Village, Train Rides, and Shows!
• Christmas Trains @ Strasburg Railroad. Choose from various options
• Santa Express @ Northern Central Railway of York on various weekends in December
• Various Holiday Rides @ Stewartstown Railroad including the Santa Claus and Ice Princess Express

Merry Christmas!