There's so much to behold in the greater Wilmington region and the Brandywine Valley during the winter holidays. Visitors to the northeast should keep this area at the top of their wishlist when looking for magical holiday destinations. The Wilmington and the Brandywine Valley region twinkles and glows during this time offering visitors the chance to experience the wonder of holiday traditions of the past and brand new experiences in the Garden Capital of the U.S.

New Magical Experiences and Delightful Standbys

This year, renowned Longwood Gardens, one of the world's preeminent botanical gardens, is offering a reimagined Christmas experience. A Longwood Christmas boasts hundreds of thousands of lights and holiday decorations around its sprawling gardens (the property is more than 1,100 acres). Trees draped in lights, light tunnels, and festive displays dot the property, and the Conservatory is decorated with a new theme each year. This year will prove to be extra special with the recent opening of the highly-anticipated Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience, a 17-acre expansion of the Conservatory and grounds, featuring new attractions like The Fountain Room, an airy, inviting space where guests can warm up, recharge, and savor the season with holiday hospitality while enjoying an array of chef-prepared sweet and savory treats.

It's hard to beat the extravagant Nemours Estate during the holidays. Alfred I. duPont built “America's Versailles” for his wife on a 3,000-acre plot in Wilmington in the early 20th century, and they started opening their home at Christmas from the year they moved in. Today, visitors can tour dazzling, festive displays inside the 77-room mansion, the chauffeur's garage, and select areas of the gardens. Noël at Nemours offers live music performances on view throughout the season. This December, guests can bask in the splendor of the estate before it closes during the winter months.

The halls of the duPont mansion at Winterthur Museum, Gardens & Library are also decked for the holidays. Yuletide at Winterthur is where Christmas charm meets contemporary creativity in the historic mansion, and woodland whimsy awaits outdoors. With so much to see and do throughout the season–guests will delight in beautifully decorated trees and marvel at a large-scale gingerbread “house” and a magical 18-room dollhouse while enjoying enchanting decorations and outdoor lighting inspired by the woodlands of Winterthur.

The Hagley Museum and Library rounds out the festive group of stately du Pont estates with festive happenings in December. The Holidays at Hagley celebration runs through January 1 featuring Holiday Home and Garden Tours, the seventh-annual Gingerbread House Contest, Santa Day, Holiday Nights Tours, and more. Holiday Nights at Hagley offers a rare opportunity to see Eleutherian Mills, the first du Pont family home built in America, dressed for the holidays.

Holiday Happenings

Further south, the historic villages of Odessa and New Castle go all out for the holidays. Visitors with a particular interest in history will be delighted by these small towns. Guests take a step back in time to a simpler, more leisurely era in these historic communities, steeped in colonial heritage dating back to the 1600s. Historic New Castle and Historic Odessa celebrate the holidays with a spirited nod to their storied past.

Historic Odessa invites visitors to experience a Colonial Christmas, where this colonial townscape steeped in history celebrates the holidays in pre-Revolutionary style. Each year, the historic houses of Odessa — many dating back to the Colonial era — put on their festive finery for a day of old-fashioned Christmas fun in December. The Corbit-Sharp House serves as a centerpiece for the Historic Odessa Foundation's lineup of holiday events and tours.

Every December visitors can experience The Spirit of Christmas in New Castle allowing visitors to tour historic homes decked out for the holidays in historic New Castle. Guests can stroll through private homes and museums (like the Amstel House and New Castle Court House Museum) adorned in period holiday decorations to get a sense of Christmas in years gone by. Plus, New Castle has live music throughout the town to help spread holiday cheer.

For overnight visits, guests should book a room at the historic HOTEL DU PONT for a festive and luxurious stay. HOTEL DU PONT is a Wilmington landmark and has been Wilmington's most luxurious address since its opening in 1913. The hotel offers brunch with Santa and holiday Afternoon Tea with a signature French flair in the hotel restaurant, Le Cavelier.

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