5 Quaint Indiana Towns That Go All-Out For Christmas

The holiday season is upon us, inspiring us to find ways to celebrate this joyous time of year. And when you're deciding where to spend your time, don't overlook a Midwestern state that, according to Innerbody, is among the most festive in the country. Indiana may be known for its love of basketball, but did you know that it's also home to a town named after Old Saint Nick himself? While Santa Claus, Indiana, is considered "America's Christmas Hometown" and may celebrate Christmas the entire year, it's not the only Indiana spot to make it on the "nice" list.

Indiana is actually home to a host of charming small towns that come to life during the holidays. From just after November through the New Year, you'll find local parades, light shows, and Christmas markets that instill Christmas spirit throughout the community. We narrowed down the top five most festive holiday towns in the state, a difficult feat, given how many Christmas destinations there are in Indiana. To do so, we looked to local news sources and the r/Indiana subreddit to find towns that help elevate Christmas to a new level.

We then cross-checked these recommendations with the event listings on Indiana's official tourism website to give you only the best destinations to visit the next time you are in the Midwest around the holidays. So, get ready for this Christmasy tour of the Hoosier State, where you'll find yourself swept away by the magic of the holidays.

With a name like Santa Claus, there's no way this charming village wouldn't make the list. Located about an hour east of Evansville, this town of 2,600 residents is nicknamed "America's Christmas Hometown" for good reason. After residents decided to give the town this festive name in 1856, they have dedicated themselves to embodying the joy of the holidays all year long.

While attractions like the Santa Claus Christmas Store, where you can stock up on holiday ornaments and other trinkets, and the Santa Claus Post Office, which receives thousands of letters to Santa from children around the world, are open even outside of winter, some special events only take place in December. During the holiday season, sip a hot cocoa and watch chestnuts roasting on an open fire at Santa's Candy Castle. Then, take a drive through incredible light displays at the Santa Claus Land of Lights. Every year, the Santa Claus Parade rolls through town, and there are plenty of opportunities to mingle with Santa. You also won't want to miss the Santa Claus Museum & Village, which preserves the history of this unique town.

While in town, don't forget to mail your letter at the Santa Claus Post Office, which gives out a special holiday postmark throughout December. If you want to spend the weekend enjoying the town's unique Christmas spirit, you can do that, too. While the Santa's Lodge is the only hotel in town, it has mixed reviews, so you may also want to consider the highly rated Lincoln Pines Lakefront Resort, just a five-minute drive from town.

If you've ever visited Europe during the holiday season, particularly Germany, you know the magic of a Christmas market. Luckily, you don't have to fly overseas to experience this special holiday tradition. Instead, just visit Carmel in the heart of Indiana. This suburban city, just 30 minutes from downtown Indianapolis, is known for the annual Carmel Christkindlmarkt. Based on a traditional German Christmas market, both locals and visitors mark their calendars for the event.

Visitors can sip on hot mulled wine while perusing more than 60 small huts run by vendors selling German handicrafts. There are also musical performances and plenty of food to sample, all based in the German tradition. The Christkindlmarkt is wonderful for families, as there is a dedicated area where kids can make holiday crafts and a playhouse with a full schedule of storytimes and special performances for children. And, thanks to the ice rink that sits at the heart of the market, the entire family can lace up their skates and go.

There is also an area dedicated to Indiana's German-American history, building the connection between the German traditions that help shape the Christmas holiday as we know it. Even if you can't make it before Christmas, Carmel is still worth a stop. The fun carries on all winter, even after the market closes, with the ice rink hosting a professional ice sculpture competition and fun winter games in the new year.

If you love Christmas lights, there's only one place to go in Indiana: Charlestown. Each year, millions of lights create a spectacular holiday atmosphere for Light Up Charlestown. This town of 8,500 residents close to the Kentucky border hosts southern Indiana's largest Christmas light festival, part of its Christmas City event. Three parks across the town are lit up for all to enjoy, each providing holiday cheer in their own way.

Greenway Park is the festival's gathering place with a fully lit 55-foot Christmas tree. Nearby City Square plays host to an animated light show with festive Christmas music, while the Family Activity Park is where you'll find the Winter Holiday Market. Running until December 20 from Thursday to Sunday (as of 2025), it's a great place to pick up holiday decor or handcrafted items for a special Christmas gift. 

Throughout the season, there are also holiday film screenings, as well as the chance to ride the Charlestown Express Train, which drives past all three parks to give you the full Christmas wonderland experience. Just bundle up, grab a hot chocolate at one of the concession stands, and sit back and enjoy.

Just 30 minutes outside of Indianapolis, the charming small town of Zionsville transforms into a winter wonderland during the holiday season. Recommended by people in the r/Indiana subreddit, who call the town "quaint and cute," Zionsville has a full roster of events throughout December.

Christmas in the Village is an annual tradition run by the Zionsville Chamber of Commerce, which starts with a holiday parade shortly after Thanksgiving and runs through the days leading up to Christmas. Highlights include pictures with Santa, as well as the adults-only Christmas Crawl in mid-December. For this event, everyone is invited to break out their best ugly Christmas sweater and sample seasonal offerings by Zionsville's restaurants and bars.

Another well-loved event is Winterfest, a family-friendly offering that includes Christmas in the Park. Taking place in mid-December, children go through elf boot camp for the chance to work with Santa and, along the way, learn about winter animals at the town's Nature Center. During the event, everyone can visit with Santa and his reindeer and participate in a wide range of seasonal activities. Nature lovers will also appreciate the luminary walks through various town parks, where hundreds of small lights shine on paths through the woods. As of this writing, the next walk takes place on December 30 in Overley-Worman Park, just in time to close out the year.

In the heart of Indiana's Amish Country, the town of Shipshewana lights up for the holidays thanks to its annual Christmas lights drive-thru experience, which is open seven days a week until December 31. Shipshewana Lights of Joy spans nearly 2 miles and uses 2 million LED lights to bring a little Christmas spirit to its visitors. Illuminated carriage rides and an additional walkable lights display only add to the experience.

The Shipshewana Blue Gate Theatre also gets into the holiday spirit with a host of events, including breakfast with Santa and several Christmas concerts. If you happen to be in town on December 17, check out the weekly antiques auction at Shipshewana Trading Place for some last-minute holiday gifts. For something a little different, visitors can also stop by the Dutch Creek Animal Park for a special barnyard Christmas experience that allows interaction with animals in a living Nativity scene.

As you can see, there's no shortage of towns in Indiana that are filled with the holiday spirit. This makes the state the perfect destination for anyone who loves Christmas and appreciates the charm of Indiana's small towns. To narrow down our list of five towns in the state to visit during the Christmas season, we used local news websites and Indiana's official tourism website to gather up-to-date events and prioritized the ones that take place every year. We also used recommendations from locals, such as on Reddit, to identify which Indiana towns are known for their Christmas festivities.

To select five, we did further research on each town, choosing towns that have multiple events that span at least several days, if not weeks. Finally, we made sure our list offers a variety of options ranging from kid-friendly visits with Santa to light shows and bar crawls that would appeal to adults.