One of the best Midwest cities for a Christmas getaway is Kansas City, especially if you’re driving from Omaha. And if you stay in the Kansas City, Kan., area (I’ll call it KCK from now on), you’ll find plenty of festive activities all within three hours of Omaha. My family and I visited the area recently to get into the holiday mood. Here’s our guide to experiencing a great KCK holiday weekend getaway.
Disclosure: Our visit was hosted by Visit Kansas City, Kan. All thoughts, opinions, and typos are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.
I’ve been to KCK a few times, so I’ll add a few tips from previous visits in this post! It helps having visited when the kids were smaller and now when they’re teens, so I have a broader perspective on what kids would like.
What to do in KCK: Holiday edition
Kansas City, Kan., covers quite a few miles, so to orientate you, a lot of the activities we did are in the western side of KCK. Two of the city’s big holiday attractions are in that western part: Jingle KC and Knights of Lights. Both are outdoor experiences.
Jingle KC is held at the Legends Field, and it’s a timed ticketed event with a sledding hill, ice skating rink and trail, live entertainment, food trucks, and tons of lights and photo ops. And Santa, of course.
It doesn’t matter how old you are, you’ll love the sledding hill with tubes , for sure. It was, by far, the popular attraction, which meant there was almost always a line. There is a VIP option when you buy tickets and that gets you to the front of the line, but technically, it’s only in front of the first line. You’ll still have a wait.
Tip: If you go at the end of the night, like we did, the line will get considerably shorter. By 10 p.m. on a Friday night, it was a walk-up kind of thing. My daughter went down several times in a row.
If you get cold easily, no worries. There are places to warm up, like fire pits and electric heaters, scattered throughout the venue, as well as enclosed areas. When we needed a break and some warming up, we got hot cocoa at the I Got Your Bah Humbug Piano Bar tent and listened to some fun, holiday songs.
Tip: Have your kid recommend “Jingle Bells.” She may get to help with the song, like my daughter did. She was given some bells to play.
Knights of Lights is put on my KC Renaissance Festival, so it had a very different feel than Jingle. The village buildings from the Ren Faire were decorated with lights for a very charming effect. There were some live entertainment options, including a Santa magic show. Admission also included cookie decorating and mini train rides.
Tip: Wear boots or shoes you’re fine with getting a little dirty. This event is almost entirely outdoors in a wooded area, which is cool for atmosphere, but if the ground thaws, it can get a little muddy. We visited on a “warm” for December and spent half the time gingerly stepping through mud so we wouldn’t slip.
There are themed weekends at Knights of Lights, and the weekend we went was Krampus. I liked the darker twist to the holidays, making it a unique experience I haven’t had anywhere else.
If you need to do holiday shopping, KCK is where it’s at. We were staying at the Holiday Inn Express near Legends Outlets, so it was hard not to think about shopping. Legends is a massive shopping center with nearby stores like NFM and Bass Pro Shops to boot. There are also entertainment options at Legends, including Dave & Buster’s and AMC Theaters.
Tip: The Holiday Inn Express near Legends is a great location for hopping on and off Interstate 435. Plus, it’s incredibly close to Jingle KC.
And last, but not least, there’s Great Wolf Lodge in the area, if your little ones want some indoor water park time. (Here are some been-there, done-that tips from other parents before you go to a Great Wolf Lodge)
The town of nearby Bonner Springs has one of the most unique shopping experiences. Moon Marble Co. is a toy store/marble shop with an added bonus of live demonstrations of marble making. They do the artist demonstrations four days a week during the holidays, so check the schedule to time your visit right. It’s a fascinating process made even more entertaining by Bruce, the marble maker. I dare you to go and not consider, even briefly, whether you could get into marble making or marble collecting.
We did a little Christmas shopping while at Moon Marble Co. You can find a lot of cute stocking stuffers there for kids.
Where to eat in the KCK area
If you want a place with some festive decor, go to Jazz at Legends Outlet Mall. While the interior is always festive since it’s modeled after New Orleans, this time of year, they have lights strung and a Christmas tree indoors. The foods great, too. Try the chicken a la mer, if you’ve never been there.
For beautiful decor and tasty food, go to 1889 Pizza Napoletana. The toppings can get pretty adventurous, like the Prized Pig that’s a bit of a KC barbecue experience on a slice of pizza. Or not adventurous…my kids got pepperoni.
Tip: The restaurant is located near Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, the KCK staple located inside a gas station.
The KCK Taco Trail is an extensive selection of Mexican eateries, so we had to try at least one on our trip. Be sure to download the Taco Trail Pass, so you can keep track of where you’ve eaten and have a chance to win rewards.
El Camino Real, located in downtown Kansas City, Kan. (there are two locations, so this is the Seventh Street location), is a small but busy restaurant known for their al pastor tacos and fresh tortillas. Every bite was flavorful, with the added touch of fresh cilantro, chopped onions and a squeeze of lime.
Tip: Another restaurant on the Taco Trail, El Toro Loco, is located near Legends Outlet Mall. We went there on an earlier visit to KCK, and loved the fresh tortilla chips.
For breakfast or coffee shop ideas, I have a few. I had some of the best coffee and breakfast tamale at Three Bees Pottery & Coffee Shop. Another great coffee coffee shop is Split Log Coffee in the historic Strawberry Hill neighborhood.
If you’re looking for dessert, stay in Strawberry Hill and go to Hey Sugar, an ice cream shop and candy store. It’s an adorable place, with a pink exterior you can’t miss.
We also got to sample a few cookies from Quarantine Cookies. It would be well worth seeking out that bakery, especially if you love thick and chewy cookies.
There’s more than enough places to visit for a weekend getaway to Kansas City, Kan., especially during the holidays. Hopefully, you’ve found some ideas to help plan your next trips.
