Christmas in New York-a Walking Tour

[Travel Features Syndicate]

"Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," a boy learns to his delight at the Macy's Christmas display © 2010 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

One of the most marvelous ways to experience the Holidays in New York, is just to walk around, and take it all in - from the enchanting animated windows in department stores, to the ice skaters at Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park and Central Park. Buy hot chestnuts from a street vendor.

The City twinkles with holiday spirit, particularly as its famed stores and iconic hotels strive to outdo the previous year’s celebration. Bloomingdale’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor and Macy’s spruce up their window displays with beautiful holiday-themed decor that awes visitors year after year.

Start your walking tour at 34th Street and Herald Square, home to Macy's, where moving displays on 34th Street retell the story of "Miracle on 34th Street" and continues to exact sheer delight from kids. Move around the corner and the windows tell the compelling story of "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus," based on a letter from an 8-year old Virginia O’Hanlon, who was skeptical, to "The Sun" (at the time, the authority on "truth") and the reply, in an editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church, published Sept. 21, 1897....Read more and see slideshow