The Best US small towns to visit this winter

12 of the Best U.S. Winter Small Towns
Plenty of Americans are sticking with domestic trips this winter, even though international travel has begun to reopen. And, with the arrival of chilly weather, we’re all inspired to retreat to someplace cozy and, over the holidays, spend time with loved ones in a more intimate setting. During the winter, we’ll seek out quaint and homey settings that, as one seasonal song notes, are reminiscent of a classic American winter scene from a picture print by Currier and Ives. We’ve rounded up some small towns across the U.S. that could quite possibly prove ideal for your upcoming cold-weather trips.

Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Nestled in the Berkshires Hills of western Massachusetts, Stockbridge was made famous as an idyllic winter town thanks to the 1967 Norman Rockwell painting, “Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas”. It’s therefore unsurprising that the town is home to the Norman Rockwell Museum, which showcases the influential artist’s work and his Stockbridge studio, which he personally bequeathed to the museum in 1976. The town still retains the character of days gone by, and its small-town charm is enhanced by a shopping scene that includes antique shops, old-fashioned mercantile stores, rare-book shops and coffee roasteries.

Frankenmuth, Michigan
Despite its small size, Frankenmuth, known as Michigan’s Little Bavaria, boasts just about everything you’d associate with an old-timey Christmas season. It’s home to the world’s largest Christmas store, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, with over 50,000 trims and gifts. During the holiday season, the Frankenmuth Farmers Market (a weekly outdoor market with locally grown products) becomes a traditional German ChristKindlMarkt, offering locally made trinkets, gifts, baked goods and more.

Branching off of Main Street in every direction, there are over 150 trees wrapped in the warm glow of holiday lights, while the town center features a spectacular 40-foot Christmas tree lit with 23,000 synchronized lights, which bursts into a light and music show several times a day.

Leavenworth, Washington
The snow-covered, Alpine-style small town of Leavenworth turns into an especially magical small town during the winter, with its festive German fare, Christmas decorations, and glowing holiday lights everywhere. Its Bavarian village is brimming with unique holiday shopping venues, where you’ll find traditional gifts like nutcrackers, cuckoo clocks, beer steins and music boxes, but there’s also much more. Specialty shops offer meats, cheeses, sweets and chocolates. There’s also a Nutcracker Museum that boasts the foremost collection of nutcrackers on the planet, complete with a museum store where you can find your own exquisite hand-carved nutcracker. You won’t want for wintertime activities, either. There are abundant mountain trails with opportunities for Nordic skiing and snowshoeing, or go sledding at a local park.

Camden, Maine
While it’s a year-round destination, Camden transforms into a snowy wonderland in wintertime, rife with cold-weather activities like Nordic and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, hiking, ice-climbing, snowshoeing, and skating on rinks, ponds or lakes. The Camden Snow Bowl ski area and recreation park boasts unique ocean views, a dozen different trails and a one-of-a-kind toboggan chute that empties onto Hosmer Pond. It will actually host the U.S. National Toboggan Championships from February 11-13, 2022. Camden’s High Street Historic District features 19th-century homes and the Camden Public Library, with an open-air amphitheater, and there’s a 1830s lighthouse on nearby Curtis Island.

Georgetown, Colorado
Just 45 minutes west of Denver, the historic burg of Georgetown started out as a late-19th-century silver mining town, as evidenced by its enduring Victorian architecture, which lends itself especially well to creating a charming holiday atmosphere. For two weekends each December, this tiny mountain town transforms into a 19th-century Christmas market, complete with roasted chestnuts, all varieties of holiday shopping, horse-drawn wagon rides, appearances by St. Nicholas, yuletide carolers and much more. Blanketed in snow, and decorated with winter greenery and glowing lights, the European outdoor marketplace features handcrafted gifts, ornaments, decorations, art, antiques, home goods, rare books, jewelry and clothing items, as well as special food vendors.

North Pole, Alaska
Just south of Fairbanks, Alaska, in the town of North Pole, every day feels like Christmas. The streets are decorated year-round with candy cane–striped street lights. Streets named in homage to the holiday and its patron saint include Santa Claus Lane, Mistletoe Lane, St. Nicholas Drive, Snowman Lane and Kris Kringle Drive. Its main attraction, the Santa Claus House Christmas store (which served as the town’s first post office) features interior walls covered in real children’s letters to Santa. Dating back to the 1950s, the establishment is known for its massive, 40-foot fiberglass Santa Claus statue that stands outside—the world’s largest. In case you’re wondering, Santa’s official zip code is 99705.

Lake Arrowhead, California
Billing itself as the “Alps of Southern California”, the village of Lake Arrowhead sits about 90 minutes east of Los Angeles, in the San Bernardino Mountains. It’s home to Snow Valley Mountain Resort, where Southern Californians in search of snow often head for a weekend ski retreat. But, during the holidays, there is plenty of wintery fun to be had on the lakefront in Lake Arrowhead Village proper, including a nightly tree lighting, carolers and fife-and-drum bands, as well as Santa himself, who greets guests in his workshop to take selfies and share their Christmas wishes.

In the Skyforest section of Lake Arrowhead, Skypark at Santa’s Village is an outdoor adventure park that’s filled with activities, from biking and hiking to ziplining, climbing, ax-throwing and archery. Then, of course (as the name implies), Santa is also on hand this time of year to visit with kids at his North Pole Cabin.

Park City, Utah
Famous for its fabulous snow, slopes and superb skiing conditions, the historic mountain town of Park City is already an ideal winter getaway. But, for more reasons than you may realize. Besides your standard cold-weather activities, like skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, tubing, snow-biking and snowmobiling, visitors here also have access to some incredible throwback experiences, like horseback riding, dog-sledding and horse-drawn sleigh rides in the snow. Then there’s the historic downtown area—former hub of the original mining town—where you’ll find one-of-a-kind restaurants and bars, boutique shopping, art galleries, museums and more, all housed in preserved and restored 19th-century buildings.

Essex, Connecticut
The waterfront town of Essex along the Connecticut River is actually comprised of three villages: Essex Village, Centerbrook and Ivoryton. The quaint New England community has a quintessentially small-town America feel, complete with early colonial and federal architecture. Seasonal events include the 28th Annual Holiday Train Show at the Connecticut River Museum and, returning this year, the North Pole Express—a family-friendly, 90-minute round-trip train ride, featuring Santa and Mrs. Claus, festive sing-alongs, cookies and a live musical performance of “The Night Before Christmas”. At Deep River Landing, the Becky Thatcher riverboat takes patrons on 75-minute cruises to see some of the areas historic sites.

Woodstock, Vermont
Woodstock’s Wassail Weekend event runs December 10-12 this year, transforming the town into a holiday wonderland that resembles a scene on a traditional Christmas card. Filled with twinkling lights, decorated historic buildings, sleigh bells and horse-drawn buggies that fill the snow-laden village green, the celebrations evoke the charm of 19th-century small-town America. Live music and dance performances, gingerbread contests, ornament-making sessions, farm-to-table feasts, fire pit roasts, ice skating or cookies with Santa, and a December calendar filled with Victorian Christmas traditions hearkening back to yesteryear make this picturesque New England town simply magical.

Blowing Rock, North Carolina
The little town of Blowing Rock, with just over 1,000 residents, transforms into a bustling winter wonderland during the holiday season. It’s also conveniently situated along the Blue Ridge Parkway, making it an easy stopover for road-trippers, and definitely worth a visit, with its brightly lit Main Street that’s teeming with all kinds of seasonal treats, antiques, handcrafted gifts, boutique retailers, galleries and more. The annual ‘Holiday Stroll’ in Blowing Rock is like a town-wide holiday open house, with many shops staying open late. Lakeside Chetola Resort’s “Festival of Lights” is free and open to the public, complete with captivating holiday scenes and roving carolers. The open-air route taken by the town’s Tweetsie Railroad trains also features thousands of lights, Christmas trees and even Santa in his Ginger Bread House.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Okay, so this one qualifies as a city, but how could we skip the place that has branded itself ‘Christmas City USA’? The city annually a renowned open-air European-inspired Christkindlmarkt and, from November, the ‘Christmas Huts on Main’ event presents holiday-themed wooden huts filled with unique holiday gifts in the festively decorated downtown area. In a nod to the Christmas story that takes place in its ancient Judean namesake, Bethlehem also erects a giant 81-foot-wide glowing star high upon its South Mountain, overlooking the city.