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Bethlehem

Christmas trip · Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

The blast furnaces at SteelStacks lit up at night. (Photo: Maurice jon, CC BY-SA 4.0)

The old Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces at SteelStacks.

Getting there

Bethlehem sits in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, roughly 90 minutes by car from New York City or Philadelphia — the perfect college-break road trip. Lehigh Valley International Airport is just minutes away if you fly. The Christkindlmarkt is held at SteelStacks, on the old Bethlehem Steel site south of the river.

Famous for

Bethlehem calls itself ‘Christmas City USA’ — a nickname it earned in 1937 — and it takes the title seriously. The town was founded by Moravians on Christmas Eve 1741 and named for the biblical Bethlehem. Its Christkindlmarkt, run by the charity ArtsQuest, has run since 1993 and moved to SteelStacks in 2011, where the market stalls sit in the shadow of five rust-red blast furnaces — the most dramatic Christmas market backdrop in America. Around 150 artisans sell their work; the market runs on weekends from mid-November to the weekend before Christmas, and entry is ticketed (free on Friday evenings).

A glowing Moravian star — Bethlehem's signature Christmas symbol. (Photo: JerseyThroughandThrough, CC BY-SA 4.0)

A Moravian star — Bethlehem's signature Christmas symbol.

Where to eat

German comfort food at the market — bratwurst, schnitzel, potato pancakes, strudel and Glühwein — plus Pennsylvania Dutch treats from local bakers. Main Street's historic inns and taverns do hearty winter dinners, and the Hotel Bethlehem's restaurant is a local institution.

What to do

Walk the SteelStacks site and look up at the blast furnaces — they made the steel for the Golden Gate Bridge and the Chrysler Building. Spot the Moravian stars glowing all over town (the town's signature decoration), stroll historic Main Street past the 1922 Hotel Bethlehem, and visit the Moravian old town, some of it dating to the 1740s.

The historic Hotel Bethlehem on Main Street.

The historic Hotel Bethlehem on Main Street.

The Christmas City Village banner in historic downtown Bethlehem. (Photo: Doug Kerr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

The industrial walkway at SteelStacks, home of the Christkindlmarkt.

Jess's favourite

Lehigh Valley Zoo: Winter Light Spectacular

Jess's favourite: the nearby Lehigh Valley Zoo puts on a Winter Light Spectacular each Christmas — woodland trails glowing with lights, perfect after a day at the market. The penguins, as ever, are completely unbothered by the cold.

Good to know: the Christkindlmarkt is ticketed (around the price of a cinema ticket), with free entry on Friday evenings from 5 to 8. It runs Friday to Sunday from mid-November to the weekend before Christmas. Book tickets online — December weekends sell out.

Jess plans her trips carefully and always checks official transport websites before travelling. Driving times and bus routes change, so confirm yours before you go — and book Christkindlmarkt tickets in advance for December weekends.

Read Jess's diary of the day ↓

Jess's Christmas Adventures · Diary No. 9

Bethlehem: Steel, Stars, and the Christmas City

Christmas, six years ago

There is nowhere else like it. I walked into the Christkindlmarkt at SteelStacks and stopped dead — because towering over the little wooden stalls, lit up against the night sky, were five enormous rust-red blast furnaces. This is where they made the steel for the Golden Gate Bridge. And now it holds a Christmas market. Only in America.

Bethlehem has called itself ‘Christmas City USA’ since 1937, and the whole town commits. Moravian stars — those beautiful geometric stars the Moravians brought with them centuries ago — glow from porches and lampposts everywhere. The town was founded on Christmas Eve 1741, so Christmas isn't a season here. It's an identity.

The market itself, running since 1993, is all artisans: glassblowers, woodcarvers, potters, jewellers. I watched a glassblower make a bauble in about three minutes and nearly bought the whole stall. (I bought two. Restraint is a virtue I'm still learning.)

Main Street is storybook-pretty, all 18th-century stone and brick, with the grand Hotel Bethlehem standing over it since 1922. I had dinner in a tavern that felt about two hundred years old — in the best way — and walked back under the stars thinking about furnaces and Moravians and how a steel town became Christmas town.

The zoo's Winter Light Spectacular finished the night: glowing trails through the trees, lights reflecting off the water. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania — you strange, wonderful, steel-and-starlight place. I'll be back.

Barnaby's text“A town built on steel that chose starlight instead — there's a lesson in that, Jess. The strongest things can hold the gentlest light.”

— Jess

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