Christmas in New York

By early December, the department stores have revealed their holiday windows. Stroll Fifth Avenue for elaborate, museum-quality displays and Saks Fifth Avenue's light show across the street from Rockefeller Center, then head down to Macy's Herald Square for its famous windows on 34th Street.

The city's holiday markets are in full swing too. Winter Village at Bryant Park surrounds its ice rink with glass-walled shops and food stalls; the Union Square Holiday Market fills the south end of the square with local makers; and the Columbus Circle market sits at the corner of Central Park. They're ideal for gifts, hot cider and a mid-afternoon warm-up.

Nothing says Christmas in New York like skating under the skyscrapers. The rink at Rockefeller Center is the famous one, small and magical, and best booked ahead. Bryant Park's rink is bigger and free to use if you bring your own skates, while Central Park's Wollman Rink comes with a skyline backdrop.

Then there's the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, where the Rockettes have been kicking in perfect unison for generations. Add a Broadway show, a holiday concert or a performance of The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center and you have a very merry evening.

Some of the city's most joyful holiday sights are outside Manhattan. In Dyker Heights, a quiet residential corner of southwest Brooklyn, homeowners cover their houses in lights, inflatable snowmen, animatronic reindeer and towering nutcrackers. Some families hire professional decorators; others have been building their displays for decades. The lights are typically up from around Thanksgiving to New Year's and are best seen after dark.

Dyker Heights is a long way from Manhattan and a long walk from the nearest subway, and the best displays are spread across a handful of blocks, so the easiest way to see them is on our Dyker Heights Christmas Lights tour, which handles the round trip and brings the stories behind the famous houses.

Up in the Bronx, the New York Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show sends model trains past miniature city landmarks built from bark, leaves and other plant materials. It usually opens in mid-November and is a favorite with kids of every age.

New York celebrates every tradition, and the season is richer for it. During Hanukkah, giant menorahs are lit at Grand Army Plaza in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, with candle-lightings each night of the festival. Kwanzaa, which runs from December 26 to January 1, is marked with music, dance and storytelling at museums and cultural centers across the city.

Even Grand Central Terminal gets into the spirit, with its Holiday Fair of local makers in Vanderbilt Hall and, in some years, a holiday light show in the Main Concourse. It's worth a detour on any December evening.

The season ends with the most famous countdown on Earth. At midnight on December 31, the crystal ball descends above One Times Square in front of around a million people packed into the surrounding blocks, and billions more watching at home.

If you want to be there in person, arrive early in the afternoon, dress in serious layers and bring snacks: there are no public restrooms, large bags aren't allowed, and once you leave your viewing pen you can't get back in. Prefer a gentler finale? Watch the fireworks over Central Park or from the Brooklyn waterfront instead.