Ultimate 2026 St. Louis Holidays Bucket List

Imagine a holiday season where time pauses, and your wallet knows no bounds. Welcome to the dream holiday experience in St. Louis, a place where magical moments await at every turn. In this festive bucket list, I’m tossing aside the usual constraints of time and money, inviting you to indulge in the ultimate St. Louis holiday extravaganza. From the twinkling lights of the Botanical Garden to the extravagant feasts in the finest eateries, let’s daydream about a Christmas experience like no other.

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The popular hotels and spacious rentals fill up quickly on holiday weekends, so before you start daydreaming what you’ll do on a visit, book your stay far in advance.

See iconic St. Louis attractions’ aglow

I’m the kind of person who wants to see all the unique things a city has to offer when I visit. I would need a week (or more) to fit in a visit to all the places in St. Louis with holiday lights and decorations. Maybe more!

One of the big ones I’d recommend seeing is the Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden, which runs Nov. 14 through Jan. 2, 2027. We’ve been to MoBot in the summer on a hot day, and it’s a whole other experience walking around the stunning gardens when there are 2 million twinkling lights — event adorning the Climatron — and beautiful projections throughout. It’s only open a limited time, in the evenings, and it is ticketed. Drink stations are set up along the trail, which helps keep you warm on particularly cold nights.

Note: From experience, I can say parking can be a bit of a pain at this night event. If you can take a Lyft, I recommend it.

Any day is a good day to visit Saint Louis Zoo, but I think a night-time visit during the holidays is extra special. The U.S. Bank Wild Lights is epic with huge light displays and themed areas. The seasonal activity runs on select nights from Nov. 27 to Dec. 30, 2026, and is ticketed.

Tips: The zoo is free during the day, so if you are on a budget, plan your visit at the end of the day, and you can get a feel of what’s planned that night without buying a ticket.

For the Holiday Lights at Grant’s Farm, there’s the option of driving through the holiday displays that are synchronized to holiday music or walking through it. Since it’s a bucket list, let’s just say I want to do both! And to make it extra, I’d add a carriage ride that takes my family through a special section of the property. I think the walk-through sounds great because you can then stroll around the German-inspired Bauernhof (AKA farm yard).

In addition to the festive light displays, the experience includes getting a photo with the famous Clydesdales, and of course, meeting Santa and Mrs. Claus. Holiday Lights at Grant’s Farm’s 2026 details haven’t been announced yet.

Addresses:

• Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, Mo.
• Saint Louis Zoo, 1 Government Drive, St. Louis, Mo.
• Grant’s Farm, 7385 Grant Road, St. Louis, Mo.
• BONUS LIGHT DISPLAY: While not a year-round attraction, I heard that the Candy Cane Lane is a must-see for lights. Candy Cane Lane at 6500 Murdoch Ave., St. Louis, Mo.

Feel like a kid at Christmas 

Every time I go to City Museum, I feel like a big kid and love every minute of it (except crawling through the tunnels because my knees can’t take much of that these days). But after Thanksgiving, City Museum kicks the holiday spirit up a notch with Weirdly Wonderful Holidays and I’m ready for it.

We visited the City Museum on November and got to experience just how festive the already unique museum becomes. For adults, there are holiday pop-up bars that will serve up some indulgent frosty specialty cocktails. And for the kids, there’s a chance to meet Santa, storytime with Mrs. Claus, and a circus performance. Weirdly Wonderful Holidays is included with admission.

Believing (or at least wanting to believe) in fairies is about as childlike as it gets, so I think it would be a truly enchanting experience to go to the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House to see Enchanted Fairy Gardens. The celebration features elaborate fairy gardens scattered among the butterflies’ exhibit. It runs Nov. 23 to Jan. 3, 2027, and is included with butterfly house admission.

Addresses:

• City Museum, 750 N. 16th St., St. Louis, Mo.
• Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, 15050 Faust Park, Chesterfield, Mo.

Ride the Polar Express Train

Fitting for the category of “Feeling Like a Kid Again,” a ride on The Polar Express™ Train would be one of the ultimate bucket list items, right? So much so, it needs its own category. St. Louis Union Station has the fantastical experience this winter. This is very much a childhood dream of mine.

The experience includes interacting with characters (including Santa and elves), sipping some hot cocoa and nibbling on cookies. They encourage holiday jammies for the night, and since I’m such a sucker for that sort of thing, I bought my family matching pjs.

This year, the Polar Express Train runs from Nov. 13 through Dec. 30, 2026.

Address:

• St. Louis Union Station, 1820 Market St., St. Louis, Mo.

Ice skate under the Gateway Arch

When I heard Winterfest takes place by Gateway Arch National Park, I immediately envisioned the ice rink right under the Gateway Arch. I don’t think that’s where it is, but close enough.

Winterfest, presented by Bank of America and World Wide Technology, runs from Nov. 21 through Jan. 3, 2027, and the chance to ice skate underneath 100,000 lights — and hopefully, with the Gateway Arch in view — sounds magical. There are a lot of other things planed during the celebration, like character meet & greets and New Year’s Eve fireworks, too. And there will be igloos to reserve and s’mores stations…and now that I think of it, maybe my bucket list item is more of the “warm by the fire and eating a s’more” than ice skating.

Address:

• Winterfest takes place at Keiner Plaza, 500 Chestnut St., St. Louis, Mo.

Celebrate the Howl-idays

The Endangered Wolf Center has a cheery event in December just for the holidays. Deck the Howls – Winter Howliday Howl is held on two Saturdays in December, and is an evening of s’mores around the campfire, holiday refreshments, and singing carols with the wolves under the night sky. OK, the wolves don’t sing. But according to the center, “the howls from our American red and Mexican wolves are some of the rarest sounds in the animal kingdom, so you won’t want to miss this spectacular symphony.”

Address:

• Endangered Wolf Center, 6750 Tyson Valley Road, Eureka, Mo.

Toast to the holidays with pop-up bar crawl

My bar hopping days are long gone, but I love the idea of a holiday pop-up bar with festive decorations and specialty cocktails. I’ve come across a couple such pop-ups in St. Louis. LIT: A Christmas Pop-Up Experience at Molly’s in Soulard sounds intriguing. The bar has had an immersive Christmas pop-up experience for several years now and it includes outrageous décor and a holiday-themed menu. It’s open Nov. 28 to Dec. 23, 2026, and it strikes me as a place that just demands you wear your best ugly sweater when you visit.

Just only slightly more subdued than LIT is the pop-up at the Train Shed restaurant at St. Louis Union Station. During the holiday season, it’s transformed into Sleigh Shed, a glittering holiday pop-up bar with creative cocktails and food. In 2026, it opens on Nov. 7.

Addresses:

• Molly’s in Soulard, 816 Geyer Ave., St. Louis, Mo.
• Train Shed at Union Station, 201 S. 18th St., St. Louis, Mo.

YOUR TURN: What would you add to this St. Louis holidays bucket list?