A Few of Our Favorite Things

Christmas is my favorite holiday. It has been for years! I love the lights, the decorations, the traditions, the places we only get to visit between Black Friday and December 23rd. Each year we have our favorites that we visit, and I wanted to share some of our favorites with all of you. 🙂


Market Square is our favorite! There are various vendors to shop from. The entire square is illuminated with beautiful lights, and there is live entertainment every day. If that’s not enough, Santa is also there!

Bonus, He is inside a warm building! Santa’s House has different hours than Market Square so make sure to visit there first! Especially because sometimes there is a line to see the jolly man! All the details are listed online so hop over to their site before driving down.

http://downtownpittsburghholidays.com/peoples-gas-holiday-market/

We also LOVE going to the Wintergarden at PPG Place. First, its indoors so you can take a break from being outside in the cold. Inside there are life-size Santa’s and paintings which depicts celebrations around the world. It is so neat to be able to read these various traditions to our kids and and share how other countries celebrate. My absolute favorite part of the Wintergarden is the 32ft tall Christmas tree! It is absolutely beautiful! The Wintergarden is open till 8 p.m. every day and it is FREE! For more information, go check out their webpage:

Spirits of Giving From Around the World

Adjacent to the Wintergarden is the Ice Rink. Now while we have not taken our kids ice skating there yet, we love going to watch everyone skate around the beautiful Christmas tree. 

It does get busy on the weekends so plan accordingly for that! I’m including the link here so you can read more about the other events happening, and check out the hours!

MassMutual Pittsburgh Ice Rink at PPG Place


We also love the Drive Thru lights in Clinton! Not too far from the airport and very reasonable! Only $10 per car. Very well done, and you can drive around as many times as you like!

http://www.findlaytwp.org/291/Christmas-Light-Up


A little farther away is Shadrack’s Christmas Wonderland! First thing you need to know about Shadrack’s- they get very busy! If you decide to go on a weekend, make sure you are there by 5:45pm otherwise you will be in line for a while. It is $25 per car, but very well worth the money spent.

The drive thru light display is wonderful! The music and lights are synchronized perfectly! They also have Santa’s Village where you can write a letter to Santa,  ride a few rides, grab some food and even see Santa!

http://shadrackchristmas.com/pittsburgh-pa/


Last, but certainly not least, is Overly’s. Now, this is a good drive out to Greensburg but it is by far our favorite place to go.  You drive thru and see a beautiful light display, but then you can park and walk through the charming Christmas Village. They have Horse-Drawn Wagon rides, Sleigh Rides, and Kids Express Train Ride and you can get your pictures with Santa! Make sure you have cash on you, as it is $20 to get in and only the gift shop accepts credit cards.

http://overlys.com/

If you get a chance to visit any of these places, I would love to hear what you thought!