Pittsburgh does the holidays better than a city its size has any right to. The hills fill with light, the rivers throw all of it back, and for about six weeks Downtown turns into the kind of place people drive in from three states to walk around in. If you are planning a holiday trip here — or hosting people who are — this is the guide.
The lights
Kennywood Holiday Lights is the big one, and the one date we can confirm for this season: November 13, 2026 through January 3, 2027. The old amusement park goes full holiday — millions of lights, the rides running in the cold, and the smell of the place unchanged since you were a kid. Buy online; the gate price is roughly double.
Phipps Conservatory’s Winter Flower Show and Light Garden runs mid-November into early January in Oakland. Inside is poinsettias and holiday trees under glass; outside is the light garden. It is the warmest hour you will spend outdoors in December, and the one stop that works for literally every age in the group.
Downtown: the rink and the market
The UPMC Rink at PPG Place opens in November and runs into late February, set in the plaza under the glass spires with a Christmas tree in the middle. It has been called the most beautiful outdoor rink in the country and that is not really up for debate once you are standing in it. Skate rental on site.
The Peoples Gas Holiday Market brings the wooden-chalet European market downtown from late November through Christmas Eve — mulled wine, roasted nuts, and a hundred small stalls selling things you did not know you needed. Good news for this season: the Market Square renovation is finished and the square is open again, so the market returns to its proper home after a stint in the Cultural District during construction.
Light Up Night is the official start of the whole thing, traditionally the Saturday before Thanksgiving: fireworks, the tree, and Downtown packed shoulder to shoulder. The 2026 date had not been announced when this page was last updated — confirm before you book around it.
The rest of the season
The Nutcracker at the Benedum is a genuine Pittsburgh institution. Add the drive-through light displays out in the county for a night the kids fall asleep on the way home from. And Highmark First Night closes the year Downtown on December 31 with fireworks over the Cultural District.
Football does not stop for the holidays either: the Steelers are home in December, and a game weekend layered on top of the lights is one of the better winter trips this city offers.
Where to stay for a Pittsburgh holiday trip
Holiday travel is the one trip of the year where a hotel room genuinely does not work. You have more people than usual, more luggage than usual, gifts you would rather not haul through a lobby, and at least one meal everybody wants to eat together. A whole home solves all four at once — a real kitchen, a table everyone fits around, a living room to open presents in, laundry, and parking so the car full of shopping bags stays put.
Where to stay. Rivers & Steel City Homes offers full homes across the Pittsburgh metropolitan area — parking, a kitchen, and room for everyone who travelled in. 2,700+ guests since 2018; book direct and save 5–15% over Airbnb and VRBO. Lock in your dates at riversandsteel.com/search.
More to plan your trip: Things to Do in Pittsburgh · Pittsburgh Food Guide. Ready to visit? Find your stay »
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