The Complete Maryland Holiday Guide (DMV Edition)

Every year at the end of October, I start making the list. Four kids, one minivan, and a whole DMV full of tree lightings, train rides, ice castles and light shows — if I don't plan early, the season just happens to us instead of for us.

This is that list: our family's master guide to the 2026 holiday season across Maryland, DC and a little of Northern Virginia. It's the hub we'll keep coming back to all season — every post in this series links back here, and I'll keep updating dates as they're announced.

A quick note on how to read it: ✅ means the 2026 dates are confirmed. 🕐 means it's an annual tradition whose 2026 dates weren't out yet when I published.

How we do the holidays

Some of the outings in this series we’ve attended post years were comped in exchange for honest coverage: photos, video and my real opinion. But most events, we pay for ourselves, just like you. Either way, what I share is what actually happened — and if an outing was comped, I'll always tell you.

Baltimore & Central Maryland

Christmas Village in Baltimore — West Shore Park, Inner Harbor. ✅ Nov 21 – Dec 27, 2026. Free entry. An authentic German Christmas market with 70+ vendors, a Ferris wheel and carousel. Easy, festive, and free to wander.

The Polar Express™ Train Ride — B&O Railroad Museum — Baltimore. ✅ Nov 28–29, Dec 5–6, 12–13, 19–22. $45–$125 by class. A two-hour immersive ride with dancing chefs, hot cocoa and Santa handing out silver sleigh bells. Sells out fast — book it early.

Festival of Trees (Kennedy Krieger Institute) — Maryland State Fairgrounds, Timonium. ✅ Nov 27–29 (Thanksgiving weekend). Advance: adults $22, kids 5–12 $10, 4 & under free. Hundreds of designer trees plus kids' rides, carnival games and Santa Land.

Symphony of Lights — Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia. ✅ Nov 27, 2026 – Jan 2, 2027. $25/vehicle. A mile-long drive-through of 300,000+ bulbs benefiting Howard County General Hospital.

Maryland Holiday Light Spectacular — Maryland State Fairgrounds, Timonium. ✅ Dec 3–30. Adults $20, kids 4–13 $10, 3 & under free, free parking. A walk-through half-mile trail of a million-plus lights with Santa and a winter carnival.

Miracle on 34th Street — Hampden, Baltimore. 🕐 Dates not yet announced — the pattern is lights on from the Saturday after Thanksgiving through Jan 1. Free. One famous block of rowhomes going gloriously over the top since 1947.

Washington, DC & National Harbor

ICE! + Christmas at Gaylord National — National Harbor, Oxon Hill. ✅ Nov 14, 2026 – Jan 3, 2027. Ticketed from $41; children 3 & under free with a paid adult. Two million pounds of hand-carved ice (parkas provided!), ice slides, tubing, a Cirque show and Santa photos. The big splurge of the season.

Enchant DC — Nationals Park. ✅ Nov 20 – Dec 27, 2026. Around $29.50/ticket. A walk-through light-maze experience inside the ballpark.

DowntownDC Holiday Market — F St NW, downtown DC. ✅ Nov 13 – Dec 23, 2026. Free entry. 115+ vendors in the market's 22nd season — my favorite place to bang out gift shopping in one trip.

Montgomery & Frederick Counties

Winter Lights Festival (Seneca Creek Winter Lights) — Gaithersburg. ✅ Nov 27 – Dec 31, 2026 (closed Dec 25). $15/vehicle weekdays, $25 weekends, advance purchase required. A 3.5-mile drive-through with 450+ displays.

Garden of Lights — Brookside Gardens, Wheaton. ✅ Nov 20, 2026 – Jan 3, 2027. $13.99 Sun–Thu / $16.99 Fri–Sat; ages 4 & under free; advance online tickets only. A half-mile walk through a million-plus lights.

Santa Trains — Walkersville Southern Railroad — Walkersville. ✅ Select days Nov 27 – Dec 24, 2026. Ticketed (recent seasons from ~$20; kids from ~$28; under 2 free on a lap). A 70-minute heritage ride; Santa and Mrs. Claus visit every family, with free cocoa and cookies after.

Southern Maryland

Annmarie Garden in Lights — Solomons. ✅ Nov 27, 2026 – Jan 1, 2027. 2026 price not yet announced (last season $18 advance / $23 at the gate, 2 & under free; advance tickets required). A walk-through light show across 30 wooded acres, plus a holiday train display and LEGO village.

Christmas on the Square & Tree Lighting — Leonardtown. ✅ Fri Nov 27, 2026, festivities from 4:30 PM. Free. Santa lights the town tree, with sleigh rides, train rides, hayrides and a live nativity.

Eastern Shore

Winterfest of Lights — Northside Park, Ocean City. ✅ Nov 19, 2026 – Jan 2, 2027. $6 (ages 12+); 11 & under free. Walk-through animated displays around a 50-ft musical tree, with fire pits and hot chocolate.

Festival of Trees — The Tidewater Inn, Easton. ✅ Nov 28 – Dec 1, 2026. $10/person; kids 6–12 $5; under 5 free. 45+ decorated trees benefiting Talbot Hospice.

Dickens of a Christmas — Chestertown. ✅ Fri–Sat Dec 4–5, 2026. Street festival free (some ticketed elements). The historic district becomes 1840s London — carriage rides, costumed characters, street theater.

Christmas in St. Michaels — St. Michaels. ✅ Sat–Sun Dec 12–13, 2026. Parade and Lighted Boat Parade free; Tour of Homes $35 advance.

Western Maryland

Festival of Trees — Garrett County Fairgrounds, McHenry. ✅ Fri Nov 27 – Sat Nov 28, 2026. $5/person. A forest of designer trees benefiting the Dove Center, plus Breakfast with Santa and kids' crafts.

The Polar Express™ Train Ride — Western Maryland Scenic Railroad — Cumberland. ✅ Nov 20 – Dec 24, 2026 (select days). Ticketed. A one-hour ride to the North Pole with hot chocolate and a silver sleigh bell for every passenger.

That's the map. Save this page — I'll update it as more 🕐 dates land, and each week we'll zoom into one corner of it: lights, trains, Thanksgiving weekend, December's biggest days, and the final recap of where we actually went. have a wonderful holiday season!8

If you're a brand, PR team, or tourism board

Planning a holiday outing, event, or stay you'd love our family to experience? I'd love to hear about it — reach me at misschriscash.pr@gmail.com. I share only outings we genuinely enjoy, with honest coverage and clear disclosure when a visit is comped.