New York City is a pretty magical place to be at Christmas time. The city is full of Christmas trees, angels, ice rinks and even some giant ornaments. In this post I share where to find the best Christmas decorations in New York City.
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We arrived in New York City on the night of 25 December (Christmas day), so we spent our first day looking for the magical Christmas decorations before they were gone. In hindsight, we had a bit more time than we thought, because the Christmas decorations were still up after New Year’s Eve.
Map of the best Christmas Decorations in New York City
To make it easy for you to find the best Christmas decorations inΒ New York City, I’ve put them all in this map:
Best Christmas Decorations in New York City:
Get the famous Christmas picture at the Rockefeller Center in New York City
By far my favourite Christmas decorations in New York City can be found at the Rockefeller Center. The giant Christmas tree arrives at the Rockefeller Center as early as the beginning of November, and there is an annual tree lightning ceremony in the beginning of December. This event is free to attend on a first come first serve basis.
After the tree lightning ceremony, the Christmas tree lights up daily from 6 am until midnight. On 25 December, the lights are on for 24 hours, and on 31 December the lights are on from 6 am until 9 pm. The tree is taken down again somewhere mid January.
For those of you who love a bit of ice skating, there is also an ice rink next to the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center. The pictures above are all made with our tripod.
We had to pay to get a picture with the famous Christmas angels at the Rockefeller Center. We went for the digital package, which cost us $45 plus tax.
We specifically told the photographer we wanted to do different poses for that money, and to give us a sign when we could change our pose:
With the digital package, we got a code we had to enter on a website to download our pictures. The pictures were available within 24 hours, and stayed online for 90 days. We got a total of 18 pictures to download.
Although the pictures were a bit pricey, we didn’t want to leave New York without these epic Christmas pictures.Β
Giant Red Ornaments
Within walking distance from the Rockefeller Center are the giant ornaments. I was surprised at how easy it was to take pictures with the giant red ornaments. Can you believe that below pictures were taken at 11:45 am?
The left picture was taken with a wide-angle lens camera, and the right picture was taken with a normal phone camera.
Macy's
Department store Macy’s is also full of amazing Christmas decorations – both inside the store and outside the store:
How pretty is this Believe sign outside Macy’s?!
Oculus shopping center
The Oculus shopping center is close to the One World Trade center, so we visited it after the One World Observatory. It was 9:50 am when we took this Christmassy picture:Β
Bryant Park
Bryant Park is close to New York’s Public Library, and the winter village at Bryant Park is also called Manhattan’s winter wonderland. This is where you’ll find New York City’s only free admission ice skate rink, a cozy Christmas market and a wonderful tree:
Wall Street
Last but not least, you’ve got to admire the pretty Christmas decorations in Wall Street. Below picture was made with a wide-angle lens camera.
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Great list! I just moved to NYC and I’ve been so excited to see all of the amazing Christmas decoration! I would also add 5th ave near the Plaza Hotel to the list, as well as the Cartier store on 5th Ave! Oooh and Saks! For 2020 that is, 2019 looks like it was amazing as well!
Christmas in New York looks absolutely magical! I’d love to experience it one year! Like everyone, I’d love to see the Rockefeller tree! But it’s great to know where to find other beautiful decorations too. Thanks for the great guide!
I would love to visit NYC at Christmas time. All of the decorations look amazing – your photos are making me very jealous!