Set out to pick the best Christmas towns in Ohio, and you’ll quickly find it’s a daunting task.

After all, Ohio is a sprawling state, with picturesque villages dotting the landscape in all directions. Just about any of them would make a perfect setting for the next great Hallmark holiday movie.

But even among so many charming holiday destinations, these ten stand out as among the very best Christmas towns in Ohio.

Located on the Hocking River, Athens is a truly historic city — not just for Ohio, but for the entire nation. It was there in 1804, just a year after Ohio became a state, that Ohio University was founded, becoming the first public college in the Northwest Territory.

Today, OU remains a thriving institution, and it’s also a hub for Christmas celebrations in southern Ohio. The school regularly puts on holiday concerts and performances of classics like A Christmas Carol, and the campus is always alive with the lights and sounds of the season each December.

Head off campus and into the city, and the celebration continues with Uptown for the Holidays. Beginning with the town tree lighting the first Friday in December, you could spend the entire month frolicking in horse-drawn carriage rides, visits with Santa, holiday films at the historical Athena theater, street-corner carols…and still not run out of yuletide activities.

Bellefontaine was first established as “Blue Jacket’s Town” by the Shawnee chief of the same name in 1777. No one then, in the throes of the American Revolution, could have predicted that the new city would someday become a holiday hotbed. 

But if you like your Christmas celebrations with a side order of quaint little shops, then Bellefontaine just might be the perfect December destination for you.

From a coffee shop that also serves up eggnog, to antique shops that feature local handmade goods, to a small-town toy store with its own Yellow Brick Road, Bellefontaine offers something for every shopping taste.

And, of course, once Thanksgiving is in the rearview mirror, the picturesque downtown comes alive with the sights and sounds of the season. 

Beginning with the Christmas parade on the first Friday night of December, you can look forward to a dazzling array of lights throughout the town, frequent visits from Santa, and yuletide shows at the historic Holland Theatre all month long.

If all that isn’t enough, you can even head down the road a few miles to Mad River Mountain, where you can – believe it or not – ski! 

Yes, Christmas in Bellefontaine offers everything you could possibly imagine, all with an authentic Ohio style.  

Maybe best known for the glass company that bears the town name, Cambridge was founded in 1806 as one of the stops along the newly-constructed Zane’s Trace. In the decades that followed, the town attracted new commerce and residents as the National Road, and then railroads, connected Cambridge with east coast urban centers.

That new money led to the construction of a vital downtown and many beautiful and classic Victorian homes.

And it is this history that makes Cambridge such a stellar holiday destination today.

Each December, downtown transforms into the Dickens Victorian Village, a living celebration of Christmases past featuring more than 90 scenes straight from old-world England.

As the name implies, the Dickens Victorian Village draws on imagery from the works of Charles Dickens, whose A Christmas Carol is the standard against which all other holiday tales are judged. 

So, if you ever had a hankering to step into Ebenezer Scrooge’s enchanted world, you won’t find a more authentic experience than Cambridge at Christmas.

Tucked away between Dayton and Columbus, about 10 miles south of Interstate 70, the historic village of Clifton is one of Ohio’s most important and beloved treasures.

Situated where the Little Miami River cuts deep into the earth, Clifton was founded as a mill town, making it a key strategic inland port in the 19th century. The town grew up around this industry, and the village that remains today reflects much of the early mill culture.

Indeed, the centerpiece building of the area is Clifton Mill, originally built in 1802 and still operating today. There, you can watch the giant wheel harness the river’s power, buy fresh-milled flours, and eat at the restaurant.

But the town’s real calling card is Clifton Gorge, and the state nature preserve that bears its name. With towering cliffs, rushing water, and dense forest, the place is a nature-lover’s dream.

And, come December, the entire area explodes in the lights of the season.

With more than 4 million lights centered at Clifton Mill and encompassing much of the spectacular natural surroundings, this little village packs one of the most powerful Christmas punches in the nation.

Named for Colonel James Findlay and built to shelter troops during the War of 1812, Fort Findlay became a town of the same name following the war.

In its early years, Findlay served as a frequent safe stop along the Underground Railroad before the discovery of oil and natural gas reserves helped fuel a population boom in the late 1800s.

But the growth of Toledo to the north and Fort Wayne to the west eventually slowed Findlay’s own expansion, and today the town is home to about 40,000 Buckeyes.

All of that leaves Flag City with the sort of historic downtown and small-town vibe that makes for a great Christmas destination all on its own. And Findlay certainly fits the bill, shape-shifting each December into a twinkling winter wonderland.

But Findlay reaches well beyond the typical Christmas village setting thanks to its deep industrial history and ties to the nation’s railway system.

Each holiday season, the Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation fires up its North Pole Express miniature train (quarter scale) to give merry makers of all ages an unforgettable and unmatchable view of the town’s festive Christmas lights and decorations. 

One of the first Ohio cities established by European settlers, Lebanon was chartered in 1802 by a group of pioneers that included Ichabod Corwin, whose brother Thomas would go on to be the state’s 15th governor.

Nestled in the southwest corner of the state, Lebanon couldn’t quite compete with the nearby river towns of Dayton and Cincinnati when it came to attracting industry and growing the local population.

But what Lebanon lacks in volume (with a population of about 20,000), it more than makes up for in small-town charm. Indeed, the historic downtown area is filled with enchanting shops and restaurants, and even a fountain or two.

Delightful all year long, the village really springs to life at Christmastime. 

The festivities get rolling – literally – the first Saturday in December, when the annual horse-drawn carriage parade ushers in the Christmas Festival. 

It’s all enough to charm the scowl right off the Grinch’s face.

In fact, Christmas in Lebanon is not just like a Hallmark movie, it was the inspiration and setting for an actual Hallmark movie. The Christmas Spirit, starring Nicolette Sheridan, was filmed among the downtown delights back in 2013.

And as an added bonus, it’s just a 15-minute ride through the countryside from Lebanon to the unparalleled Christmas Ranch in Morrow.

Founded in 1818 as part of the Connecticut Western Reserve, Medina eventually developed into a bedroom community for two local industrial hubs, Cleveland and Akron.

Along the way, though, Medina maintained much of its original quaint village feel, with vintage homes and shops that light up the place like a movie set when December rolls around.

But it’s a relative newcomer that really makes Medina stand out like Rudolph in a snow storm.

Founded in 2013 in a vacant church less than a block from the historic town square, Castle Noel bills itself as the largest year-round indoor Christmas attraction in the United States, and it’s hard to imagine it has many serious challengers.

Part museum, part amusement park, and all nostalgia, Castle Noel features thousands of square feet of tributes to classic holiday movies like Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story, among many others. 

And, while there are plenty of display pieces to wow your senses, there are also interactive exhibits, including a Ralphie-inspired slide.

If all that doesn’t quite satisfy your Christmas hunger, the house featured in A Christmas Story is a short commute away in Cleveland, and open to the public.

Located about 15 miles north of downtown Columbus, Powell is at once a quaint village and desirable suburb. But when the holidays roll around, this town of about 15,000 transforms into a cheery hub of Christmas activity.

In Powell proper, you can take in the town tree lighting ceremonies on the first Saturday in December. While you’re there, be sure to visit Santa’s workshop and stick around for the holiday concert that follows.

But Powell also serves as a sort of launching pad for a much more ambitious Christmas voyage if you’re the adventurous sort.

Travel a few miles up the road, and you’ll find yourself in historic Delaware, where Christmas in Downtown is an explosion of lights and festivities.

And, of course, Columbus itself offers all the splendors of a big-city Christmas.

But the real gem of any Powell-based holiday celebration is a trip to the nearby Columbus Zoo. Not only is this one of the premier zoos in the United States, their Wildlights celebration is an amazing Christmas spectacle that few other venues in the world can match.

With more than 3 million lights, and activities ranging from animatronics shows to visits with Santa to rides on the Polar Bear Express to encounters with reindeer, Wildlights offers something for kids of all ages.

Situated on the eastern branch of the Ohio River, Steubenville was an important fort city for the fledgling United States in the late eighteenth century and a key port for the new state of Ohio in 1803.

Today, Steubenville is known as the “City of Murals,” courtesy of the 25 sprawling works of art that give downtown its unique flair.

As a historic small town (population of less than 20,000) in a picturesque river setting, Steubenville is about as ideal a setting as you’ll find if you want to experience a Hallmark-type Christmas.

But, though Steubenville delivers the typical downtown lights and cozy shops you would expect from a Christmas village, the festivities don’t stop there. Because, from before Thanksgiving and stretching about a week into the New Year, Steubenville remakes itself into The Nutcracker Village.

As the name implies, The Nutcracker Village is dominated by giant, human-size nutcrackers: standing on street corners, “talking” to each other on scaffolding surrounding construction projects, greeting you as you go about your Christmas shopping.

They’re everywhere – more than 200 of them in all!

And the whole experience is nothing short of magical.

Not far down the road from Cambridge, known for its glassworks and Christmas celebrations, stands Zanesville, known for its pottery…and Christmas celebrations!

The Ohio state capital from 1810 through 1812, Zanesville certainly is not lacking in historical significance. From textile manufacturing to heavy bootlegging during the Prohibition to the more than a dozen pottery manufacturers that once called the town home, Zanesville played an important role in the state’s economic development.

Zanesville is also home to the Muskingum River Canal, adding to the backdrop of a historic river village that really twinkles to life when the temperatures turn cold each holiday season.

Indeed, the town fully embraces its magical storybook qualities during Christmastime, with a celebration they dub, appropriately, the Storybook Christmas.

Head on over to Zanesville during December, and the town will enchant you with decorated neighborhoods, festive storefronts, horse-drawn carriage rides, holiday concerts, and a dazzling courthouse light show.

Heck, you can even get a bit more interactive by diving into the holiday scavenger hunt.

The only drawback to celebrating Christmas in Zanesville? You may never want to leave!

International Christmas Towns

Looking to travel abroad?