Kansas City is your quintessential midwest town with historical buildings, lots of great shopping areas and of course BBQ restaurants. Winter time can be pretty cold (and grey if there isn’t any snow), but it’s perfect for cozy holiday traditions. If you happen to be spending Christmas in Kansas City, there are lots of fun, festive things to do for the whole family!
Kansas City is a borderline city that actually lies in Missouri and Kansas. It also happens to be where I was born and raised and where I still return to visit my parents and extended family.
Most people assume I’m from Kansas since it’s in the name (and I usually don’t correct them since I don’t typically want to go into a geography lesson on the midwest). But actually, most people live on the Missouri side and the downtown area is in Missouri as well.
Christmas in Kansas City
I have to say that Kansas City has some pretty great things to do for the holidays. Having grown up in Kansas City, I’ve done a lot of things on this list from a young age. But as an adult, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve been back to some of these even through I’ve been back for Christmas the past few years.
This time around I recruited my mom and dad (and some childhood friends) to have a week full of Christmas activities since Imre and I would be spending Christmas in the Netherlands instead.
Here are some of the best things to do in Kansas City at Christmas–just make sure to bundle up because it will be cold!
The Plaza Lights
A popular place to go is the Country Club Plaza because of its beautiful buildings and many fountains (over 200!) which has given Kansas City the nickname ‘City of Fountains’. But for Christmas, the Spanish-style buildings are adorned with Christmas lights all down the street.
It’s a beautiful place to walk around and do some shopping before having dinner or getting a drink. Once the sun goes down, you’ll want to walk a bit to see the lights! You can also go to a lighting ceremony after Thanksgiving where they turn the whole city on at once with the flip of a switch!
Zona Rosa for shopping
Zona Rosa is an outdoor shopping center that’s located just down the road from the airport. The location is ideal if you need to kill some time before a flight out or before picking someone up. They decorate for the holidays and it’s a cute spot to walk around, especially after dark when the lights come on.
You can also attend the lighting ceremony towards mid-November to see the tree–which has a crown towards the top–and all the lights turned on!
Winter Magic
There are several drive-thru Christmas light displays in Kansas City and a popular one that’s near the city is Winter Magic. This particular light show is synchronized to their own station that you can tune into once you’re there.
I hadn’t been to a light show in forever and was anticipating the traditional Christmas carols but this was not that haha. The music was more like being in a Christmas club and that’s the best way I can describe it. I mean, I thought it was great, I just wasn’t expecting that.
Enchant at Legends
Going to Enchant Christmas at the Legends field was the first thing we did and it was the best thing we did. I cannot tell you just how magical this place is. Even for two adults going with no kids, ha!
Enchant Christmas has a holiday village to walk through with cute shops full of local crafts, a food truck area, several bars for drinks and snacks, ice skating and the main event: a giant maze of lights.
We walked through the village and food trucks while the sun was still going down and then went to the ice skating rink for our time slot. Part of the rink takes you around a white, ‘snow’ forest that is magical in itself. Not that my mom nor I are very good ice skaters but this was hilarious to do as no one seemed to be able to stay on their feet.
The light maze takes you around looking for toys made out of lights that are very cute to find. In the center is the giant Christmas tree surrounded by presents that are all made out of frames and lights too. It was SO fun and there are several Enchant locations around the country.
Winter Wonderland at KC Pumpkin Patch
Winter Wonderland at the KC Pumpkin Patch is a festive walk-thru light show at the farm. There are fun lights and light tunnels, plenty of photo ops (including with Santa and the Grinch) and festive food and drinks. This event is only on select weekends leading up to Christmas so you’ll want to make sure to check the dates.
Crown Center
Another festive shopping center to visit is Crown Center. Just outside is where you’ll find the mayor’s Christmas tree right next to the fountains. There are some giant toys under the tree that kids can play on and an ice skating rink as well.
It’s a fun place to go ice skating and fun for a date night as the crowd is slightly older here (not as many flailing kids as Enchant had).
Head inside Crown Center to do some Christmas shopping, grab a bite to eat or bring some Topsy’s popcorn home!
Hallmark Visitor Center
Nothing says Christmas like a Hallmark movie! While you’re visiting Crown Center, hop over to the Hallmark Visitor Center which is attached to the shopping center. You can find interactive displays and exhibits to walk through including a bow machine where you can watch a Christmas bow made in front of you (and take home!).
During the 1960’s, Mr. Hall would unveil a new Christmas tree in his office just before Christmas. You can walk along the Christmas tree hall to see the collection.
Union Station – Holiday Reflections
Union Station is a beautiful, old train station that once had nearly 300 trains running through this station. It’s since been restored and is a stunning building to walk around, especially during Christmas in Kansas City.
The main hall has a giant Christmas tree and garlands hung about, but they also have a Christmas pop-up event: Holiday Reflections.
Holiday Reflections is a walk-thru Christmas light display with lots of photo ops, Christmas trees and even a Virtual Reality Sleigh Ride. The littles can ride a cute train around some very festive decorations and if you love toy trains, they have 10,000 sq. feet of holiday trains to look at.
North Pole Acres Light Show
Another drive-thru light show to see is the North Pole Acres in Oak Grove. It’s an animated light show synched to a radio station to listen along as you drive. The entrance is a lit up castle and you’ll drive through a light tunnel as well.
Christmas in the Park
Christmas in the Park has been around for over 30 years and is a staple light show. There are light tunnels, lots of animated lights (like a skier going down a slope and landing on the other side of the road) and lots of trees lit up as well.
I remember going here as a kid, but hadn’t returned in quite awhile. The line for this one can get backed up because of its popularity and the fact that there’s no fee–only donations accepted at the end. We went in early December on a Tuesday at about 8:15pm and drove right in!
Vaile Mansion
If you like history and touring old mansions, head to the Vaile Mansion in Independence. You can visit here throughout the year to tour the house, but from the end of November to the end of December, you can take one of their holiday tours. The mansion is all decorated for the holidays with Christmas trees and garlands.
Festival of Lights at Powell Gardens
The Festival of Lights at Powell Gardens was another one that surprised us. This is a walk through light show that takes you along the paths through the garden. There were light tunnels, curtain lights and themed areas that matched the garden like a lit up apple core near the apple trees and some flowers and critters out of lights.
Midway through is a warming hut where you can buy warm drinks before continuing on. The last section has a grid of lights which is really pretty and a tower you can go inside to get a bird’s eye view. We weren’t sure what to expect at this one but they did such a great job with it!
We also really liked going at twilight as the sun was setting. The darkening sky looked purple at times and it looked really cool against the lights.
Kansas City Ballet: The Nutcracker
I don’t know about you but I loveee seeing The Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol around Christmas time. And you can see the Kansas City Ballet perform The Nutcracker at the Kaufman center for the Performing Arts up until Christmas. It’s an annual event and such a great show!
Pop-Up Christmas Bars
There’s no shortage of Christmas pop up bars in the area and there’s even several in my hometown suburb. Miracle is a popular pop up bar with two locations in Kansas City: one on Main Street and one on Jefferson Street.
The one below is from Main Street and apparently Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were at this location about 3 nights before I was! The drinks were ok, the food was edible but the festive vibes were 10/10.
Some other options are Snowglobe at Calavares, which had a really good sangria and good Mexican food or The Tipsy Taco, which is a more laid back/casual Mexican restaurant in Lee’s Summit. Station 7 also has a lot of Christmas lights up and is supposed to be a cute pop up, or you can head to Jolly at Faulkner’s Ranch for a country Christmas popup.
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