Photo by K. Kelly for VISIT PHILADELPHIA®

There’s no shortage of ways to make merry in Philly this December. Everywhere you look, there’s some holiday attraction or fun activity celebrating the season, and—happily—many of the best options happen right around our historic boutique hotel. This means you can plan for some holiday fun while you’re here … or make a night or weekend of it, and tack a stay at Guild House onto your holiday merrymaking!

For whatever way you do it, we’ve curated a Guild House list of some of the best, most festive and fun holiday activities in Philadelphia. There’s something for everyone here (skating! Shopping! Singing! Santa!), more than two dozen ways to create your own very Philly holiday season. Merry, merry!

Light Shows

Photo by J. Fusco for VISIT PHILADELPHIA®

If holiday light shows are your thing, you are in luck in Philadelphia in December: There are boatloads of options, all over (and beyond) the city — and nearly all of them are free. Traditionalists will tell you that the Macy’s Holiday Light Show is a must-see: The free, old-fashioned show inside the old Wanamaker department store features classic holiday music that features the famed Wanamaker pipe organ, a recorded reading from Julie Andrews, and the store’s nearby Dickens Village animatronic display and Santa just a few steps away. (Though heads up: for those last two activities, which are also free, you do need a reservation!) If you want something a little more modern, then the immersive, expansive, jaw-dropping display at Longwood Gardens is famous for a reason. (Alas, not free OR in the city limits … but still worth it.) If you need something a bit closer to the city that still packs some wow-factor, the Philadelphia Zoo’s LumiNature is a popular go-to, especially for families with little ones, because it’s flat, highly walkable and a totally different way to see the zoo we know and love.

Meantime, an equally beloved Philly holiday tradition—also outdoors—is the Miracle on 13th Street, a three block stretch of South Philly that draws revelers from all over the city, who come to take in the residents’ spectacular decorations. And not one but two major city parks offer major holiday light displays (well beyond just your usual festive twinkly lights): Franklin Square has its popular Electrical Spectacle, a whole winter festival (including this year’s NEW street curling!), while FDR Park is debuting a new Tinseltown Holiday Spectacular, with an amazing display of lights, which you can view while skating down an “ice trail.” Finally, if you don’t mind a drive—indeed, if you prefer to stay in your car—then you’ll want to check out Shady Brook Farm, which offers an opportunity to take a drive or an open-air wagon ride through more than three million lights displayed over acres of Bucks County farmland.

Winter Sports, the Great Outdoors, and/or Getting Everyone Out of the House

Photo by J. Fusco for VISIT PHILADELPHIA®

Every winter, both the Rothman Rink (and accompanying Wintergarden and Made in Philly Holiday Market hoopla) at Dilworth Park and the Independence Blue Cross RiverRink at Winterfest on the Delaware offer an excellent outlet for burning off some of some eggnog calories—and the surrounding merry scenes at both of those spots (shopping! Food! Hot beverages! Lights!) make the trip worth it, even if you prefer just to watch the skaters. Nearby and surrounding Dilworth is the Philadelphia Christmas Village, a fantastic Philly tradition with food, drink, and more than 100 artisans and vendors selling their wares in charming little huts that wind from City Hall to Love Park.

Meantime, Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill offers a stunning place to stretch your legs and walk throughout the year … but this is especially true this season, when it also offers the Holiday Garden Railway, an enchanting Philly-themed model train done up for the holidays. (And you can visit during the day or at night.) And finally: the aforementioned Tinseltown Holiday Spectacular at FDR Park—brand-new this year! —promises to be a truly great addition to the lineup of Philly holiday activities, with an ice slide in addition to ice skating, lights, food and drink, Santa (and Gritty Santa!), storytime, special events and more. A whole holiday extravaganza! (Not to mention a very cool new playground nearby.)

Photo by R. Kennedy for Visit Philadelphia™

Music, Dance and Theater

Photo by B. Krist for VISIT PHILADELPHIA®

The Kimmel campus in December provides just about everything you could ever hope for in terms of holiday-themed entertainment, beginning with two versions of that winter classic, The Nutcracker. (One is courtesy of the Pennsylvania Ballet; the other is presented by the renowned Rock School.) And speaking of classics: There’s also the Philadelphia Orchestra’s annual performance of Handel’s Messiah and their “Glorious Sound of Christmas” show, featuring classical masterpieces, traditional hymns and folk songs, and more. The free Comcast show

You can enjoy still more holiday classics in the form of the No Name Pops, which offers its own Very Philly Christmas, a round-up of familiar holiday tunes, complete with dancing and singing. Meantime, a few blocks over, at the vaunted Walnut Street Theater, you can also catch a one-hour performance of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, part of the WST Theater for Kids season. Even shorter than that— and free, to boot—is the awesome annual Comcast Center Holiday Spectacular, a 15-minute family-friendly show on the giant LED-screen wall of the Comcast Center.

Photo by Alexander Iziliaev

If you’re in the mood for something more interactive, though, then you’ll appreciate the one-night-only (December 15th!) Silent Night Sing-Along in the Kimmel’s Commonwealth Plaza. For those who prefer the singing to be done by others, there’s Soulful Christmas, an “uplifting union of regional choristers” singing holiday spirituals and gospel music … culminating in a “finale of lights.”

Finally: Up for a laugh? Catch comedian Matt Rogers on his “Have You Heard of Christmas?” tour or the comedy/musical duo of Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme for The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show—both at the Miller Theater. Or grab the kids, and go check out Elf in Concert (yes, the Will Ferrell film!), with music performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Want to book a room or suite at Guild House, a historic Philadelphia hotel in the heart of the city? Click here to plan your stay!