Christmas and New Year's Eve in Scottsdale

Why spend Christmas in Scottsdale

Christmas in Scottsdale starts with coffee on the patio in a light sweater. By late morning someone has found a tee time. By dusk there is a fire going in the great room and the doors to the yard are still open.

Winter days here sit in the low 70s and the sky stays clear most of the season. Guests from the Midwest and the East Coast tell us the same thing every year. They step out of the car on the 23rd and stand there for a second, because they had forgotten what warm felt like.

We host a lot of families over the holidays, and the shape of the trip is usually the same. The house is home base. The lights and the dinners out are the excursions. This guide covers both.

Holiday lights in Scottsdale and Phoenix

Scottsdale takes its Christmas lights seriously. Entire neighborhoods go all in, and the big organized displays open around Thanksgiving and run into the first days of January. These are the ones we send guests to.

• Holiday Lights at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. Ride the Paradise and Pacific Railroad through the light displays after dark, then take a turn on the antique carousel. Kids can meet Santa. Go early and walk the model train museum first. Evening hours only, and the lights stay up through New Year's Day.
• ZooLights at the Phoenix Zoo. Millions of lights strung across the zoo grounds, animal-shaped displays and the 200-foot Polar Slide. Visit the animals by day and come back for the lights at night. It is a short drive from our estates.
• Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden. More than 8,000 candlelit luminarias along the garden paths, with live music and drinks for the adults. This is the grown-up version of a lights night.
• Lights of the World in Phoenix. A large holiday light and lantern festival with carnival rides and live performances alongside the displays.
• Neighborhood displays. The best known is Winter Wonderland Arizona, a residential show put on by a local DJ with more than 250,000 lights, open on December evenings. Ask us when you book and we will point you to the streets worth a slow drive.

Scottsdazzle and Christmas events in Old Town

Old Town runs a month-long celebration called Scottsdazzle through December. There is a tree lighting, carolers and sugar plum fairies wandering the streets, chainsaw ice sculpting and Nutcracker performances. The Feliz Navidad Festival and the Gold Palette ArtWalk both fall inside it. Most of it is free to wander, and it is spread across enough evenings that you can catch a piece of it on any night you happen to be downtown.

For a proper Nutcracker you have two choices. Phoenix Ballet stages the classic version. Ballet Arizona performs it with the Phoenix Symphony playing live. Either one gets the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy stuck in your head for the rest of the week.

Adults get their own tradition. The 12 Bars of Christmas Crawl takes over downtown Scottsdale on a Saturday in mid-December, running from noon into the evening. Holiday onesies and Santa suits are the dress code. It is adults only, and the bars are within walking distance of each other.

Ice skating and outdoor days in December

Yes, there is ice skating in the desert. The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess builds a 6,000 square foot rink called Desert Ice as part of its holiday program, and it is a good excuse to see the resort dressed for the season. Downtown Phoenix has an outdoor rink at CityScape, with part of the walk-up ticket sales going to local charities. CityScape also runs free City Lights Movie Nights, a double feature of family Christmas films like Elf and Home Alone. Bring a blanket.

The rest of your daylight hours belong outside. Camelback Mountain sits inside the city limits and the view from the summit takes in the whole valley. Papago Park is the easier hike with the red rock. Horseback rides run through the desert all winter. And the golf is as good as it gets anywhere in the country in December, TPC Scottsdale included. A clear 72-degree day is why people fly here to play.

Christmas Day dinner in Scottsdale

Plenty of Scottsdale restaurants stay open on Christmas Day with special holiday menus, and Old Town has the densest cluster of them. You can find a traditional roast dinner or a Southwestern take on it. Book early. Christmas Day tables go weeks ahead.

Most of our guests cook. Every estate has a full kitchen built for a crowd and a dining table long enough for the whole family. Dessert moves outside, under the stars, because it can. We can arrange staff to cook and clean if you would rather not. The fireplace does the rest.

If you are bringing everyone, Valley Vista Estate in Paradise Valley is the house we recommend. Eleven bedrooms and room for 30, all under one roof. Nobody is in a hotel across town on Christmas morning. Holiday minimum stays apply at all of our estates, so plan for the full week rather than a night or two.

New Year's Eve in Scottsdale

New Year's Eve in Scottsdale splits into two evenings: a long dinner, then Old Town. For the dinner, these are the ones our guests come back talking about.

• ZuZu at the Hotel Valley Ho. A New Year's feast with a mid-century vibe, in a hotel that looks the part.
• Prado at the Omni Scottsdale Resort at Montelucia. Choose the tapas route or the full dinner.
• Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain. An early seating and a late seating, champagne included.
• The Phoenix Symphony. The New Year's Eve concert pairs Strauss waltzes and Broadway favorites with a complimentary glass of champagne. The later Gala adds a cocktail reception, a four-course dinner and dancing to the full orchestra.

Old Town on New Year's Eve

Most resorts and restaurants publish their New Year's menus in early December. Reserve as soon as they do.

Then Old Town. Every bar and club on the strip throws something, with live music, DJs, rooftop parties and themed nights. The parties get going around 8 and many venues drop the cover charge or run drink specials. The names that come up most: Bottled Blonde, El Hefe, Maya Day and Nightclub, Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row and Riot House. Talking Stick Resort runs its own party a short drive out. Some spots require tickets or reservations, so check ahead for the ones you care about.

Topgolf is the alternative. Its New Year's Eve package usually includes a holiday dinner buffet, bottles of champagne, unlimited play and party favors, and it runs until well after midnight. Golfers in your group will lobby for this one.

For a group doing Old Town, we point people to Wild West Estate. It sits close to Old Town and sleeps 16, which means a short ride home instead of a surge-priced crawl across the valley at 1 a.m.

New Year's Day with kids

Kids get their own New Year's. The Phoenix Zoo trucks in 30 tons of snow for a daytime party with a countdown at noon. There are bounce houses, and the theme changes every year. It is the only snow most of them will see all winter, and the only countdown they will stay awake for.

The Railroad Park lights are still on through New Year's Day, so the train ride works as a last night out before everyone flies home. And the golf courses are open on the first. Some traditions are worth starting.

Questions we get asked