It’s Never Too Early for Holiday Spirit: CountryLiving Magazine Names New Hope a ‘Best Christmas Town’

The North Pole Express is one of the New Hope holiday traditions leading to its naming as a 2021 Best Christmas Town.Image via New Hope Railroad at Instagram.

As Halloween nears, the November-to-December slide will quickly follow. This annual evaporation of calendar pages means it’s not too early to make plans to get into the upcoming holiday spirit. Ann Shields, of CountryLiving magazine, has a notable recommendation for a great place to do just that: a 2021 Best Christmas Town, New Hope.

Locales nationwide were evaluated on their light displays, decorations, shopping experiences, specialty foods, and jolly experiences.

The New Hope attraction that Shields found particularly magical is the North Pole Express, a special excursion on the New Hope Railroad.

Passengers sit in cars that hail from a century ago but that have been restored to be plush and decorated to be festive. Refreshments include hot chocolate and cookies, and there’s music, too, accompanying seasonal singalongs.

Santa, of course, makes an appearance as passengers disembark.

New Hope was not the only Pennsylvania site to get a mention for Christmassyness.

No. 23 on the list is Bethlehem, a.k.a. Christmas City USA. It was noted for the annual Christkindlmarkt (a must-visit for shoppers), horse-drawn tours of downtown, and its 91-foot-tall illuminated star on South Mountain, which can be seen 20 miles away.

The No. 33 recommendation is Bernville, where Kozair’s Christmas Village — a farmstead that glitters with more than 1 million lights — has attracted holiday fans since 1948.

More locations named a 2021 Best Christmas Town are at CountryLiving.

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