New York City holiday experiences for families, travelers and daytrippers

"Christmas is for children" goes the old Glen Campbell song, a sentiment that too often leaves Gotham-bound parents like you singing the blues. But you’re a great believer in places that delight adults and their progeny in equal measure, and you find them at the Winter Village in Bryant Park, which plays host to tons of kiosks just perfect for those seeking unique and/or conversational gifts, from artistic arrangements of actual butterflies (Flutter by Katie) to sequential discovery puzzles (Kubiya Games), to baskets made of recycled bamboo chopsticks (Chopstick Art), to one-bite French truffles in tons of flavors (No Chewing Allowed). Kids will love the large and raucous rink where ice skating is free (reserved time slots necessary, skate rental extra) and you’ll love the adjacent Lodge, a large and raucous bar specializing in potent potables disguised as Starbucks fare: spiced chai tea with bourbon, hot chocolate with Frangelico.

Satisfy your sweet tooth

After that, you dine at Serendipity 3, which recently opened a Times Square location and offers a menu of burgers, hot dogs and salads, all of them mere prelude to the Shop’s legendary frozen hot chocolate dessert; or at the nearby Sugar Factory, whose holiday menu bizarreness includes sliders on green and red hamburger buns, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer mac ’n cheese pops and Grinch green Fettuccine Alfredo. But don’t overlook yet another eatery a few blocks uptown, Papillon, with its pub fare menu and walls dripping with Christmas decorations, an ideal spot for family holiday photos.

See a holiday show

As you’re well aware, "The Nutcracker" is so crucial to a proper American childhood, not taking your kids to at least one performance of the Tchaikovsky would be a shame.  And if you can see only one, then make it the George Balanchine choreographed version at the New York City Ballet, where Clara’s love affair with the title character and battle with the nasty Mouse King come to life with the aid of some of the finest dancers in the world. If you can see only two, the second should be the "Brooklyn Nutcracker," playing in that borough through Dec. 15, its setting Victorian Flatbush and its performers the Brooklyn Ballet. And if you can see only three, it’s off to the "hip-hop Nutcracker," also in Brooklyn and staged at the fantastically restored Kings Theatre.

There’s probably a fourth Nutcracker out there somewhere, you surmise, but only two elves, "Elf in Concert," a screening of the 2003 Will Ferrell movie in Lincoln Center with a live performance of the score by the New York Philharmonic; and "Elf The Musical," a Broadway version of the same film.

While you’re dismayed to discover that most of what passes for family holiday entertainment is a retread of some sort, you can’t say that about the Edge at Hudson Yards, also known as the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere, with its vertigo-inducing glass floor. But you’re not there for the thrills. You’re there for those moments when the snow of the artificial variety falls every 20 minutes or so on weekdays, dusting the Edge roof’s trees and snowmen, parents and kids — 1,100 feet above the ground.

Let them call you a Grinch all they want — it’s not the holidays you loathe but the crass commercialism of the season, the morphing of Christmas into Xmas, with its consumption-heavy present exchanges and unremitting Instagrammable moments. You long for the Christmases of old, for more meaningful seasons and the more meaningful New York that came with them. You’re about generosity, gratitude and "The Gift of the Magi," and your bar is Pete’s Tavern, the very spot where, in the span of a few hours in 1905, Edgar Allan Poe penned the classic holiday short story. Yes, the crowd can be touristy, but there’s also house-made eggnog, a rare exception to the milk carton-sizing of most bars, available in both virgin and boozy versions.

Travel back in time for a festive meal 

You’re Currier and Ives and Lillie’s Victorian, where nary an inch of real estate is devoid of spinning snowflakes, flying Santas or living snow globes. It’s a gleefully over-the-top 19th-century time capsule, albeit one that serves pork buns, calamari and nachos. Or perhaps you’re nostalgic for the holiday homeyness of Keens Steakhouse, born in 1885, where you can dine on mutton chops, still as huge as ever (and fret about the restaurant’s future after its recent acquisition by the guy behind Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and the Rainforest Cafe), or make pilgrimages to Tavern on the Green in Central Park — which dates to 1934 — for brunches of roasted figs and potato pancakes in a dining room whose holiday decor is supremely tasteful.

Sing and dance to childhood favorites 

To you, Christmas is for rediscovering your childhood innocence. This is why you’ll never tire of performances of Handel’s "Messiah" by the New York Philharmonic or the kicklines of the Rockettes’ "Christmas Spectacular" at Radio City Music Hall, holiday sing-alongs like the one at St. John the Divine or watching model trains race past mini versions of landmarks, like the holiday-themed course at the New York Transit Museum inside Grand Central Station, even if you grouse at the modern touches — a small-scale Hard Rock Cafe and CBGB, say.

Go window shopping 

It’s not that you don’t want change, it just has to respect tradition. Maybe Saks Fifth Avenue can’t always mount a jaw-dropping display, you tell yourself (in fact, they’re not even doing one this year), but some other retailer simply must. A retailer like Louis Vuitton, which this season has marvelously transformed its facade into a 240-foot-tall stack of luxury suitcases. They and the light show projected onto them must be seen to be believed, and don’t miss displays by other stores nearby, particularly Cartier and Bergdorf Goodman, the latter celebrating the 200th anniversary of Fifth Ave. with a salute to New York City landmarks.

Take a photo at the Rockefeller Center tree

And of course, no traditionalist’s visit is complete without a stroll south — the air redolent of roasted chestnuts and the pleadings of pedicab drivers in Santa drag — for a glimpse at the Rockefeller Center tree, which can’t help but be different every year. But as long as they’ve knocked down something strong enough to support 50,000 lights and stately enough to sport a Swarovski topper, you’re never disappointed, and you won’t be this year. The season’s specimen, a glorious 74-foot Norway Spruce from Massachusetts, is a veritable stunner.

For you, Christmases past, present and future are about meeting the moment with a cocktail in hand, and December marks the beginning of a monthlong party that doesn’t end till the clock strikes  midnight on Dec. 31. Some of you are young revelers, some young at heart, some old and in denial — and all ready to trade the tinsel, garland and Santa-ness of the holidays for the storied and citywide Santa Con, an annual epic bar crawl that this year takes place on Dec. 14. There, you’re not just the hat — you’re the hat, the beard, the cherry red microfleece jumpsuit and everything else, because no self-respecting Kriss Kringle would go on a bender any other way.

Have holiday treats and cocktails at pop-up bars, restaurants

Unless you’re in the mood to celebrate the holidays in a (marginally) more mature way, that is, which is allegedly one reason reservations are hard to come by at Mariah Carey’s Black Irish Holiday Bar at the Virgin Hotel near Koreatown, which offers you the chance to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the singer's hit "All I Want for Christmas is You," and even pen a holiday letter to the self-anointed Queen of Christmas herself.

And Mariah isn’t the only one taking up residence in New York with a Christmas pop-up. You’ll also want to visit the season-long Miracle on Ninth St. in the East Village, where festive cocktails in mugs resembling Santa’s pants are the order of the day and those lucky souls with advance reservations are rewarded with a light-up winter hat; and the even more kid-unfriendly Santa’s Secret Speakeasy, a 26,000-square-foot "immersive holiday experience" in Chelsea featuring live music, art installations, "naughty" snow angels and risque takes on gingerbread. Novelties all, but cocktailing can be both creative and serious, of course, as demonstrated this season by Max Brenner in Union Square (sugar cookie martini), the East Village, where Romeo’s plus lots of Christmas gnomes equals Gnomeo’s (pistachio mai tai, Amaretto eggnog sour), and at Great Jones Distillery’s Whiskey Wonderland in NoHo (Krampusnacht Nip, composed of rye whiskey, Earl Grey tea and molasses).

At some point you’re going to want dinner with those drinks, at which point you head to sleek and scene-y Valerie in midtown for steak frites or salmon bouillabaisse in a heavily decorated environment, or the even more heavily decorated Rolf’s in Gramercy Park, where you can chow down on sauerbraten, Wiener schnitzel and other German fare under the glare of hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights.

Marvel at festive displays and exhibits 

You shop and imbibe amid the glow of holiday displays like the spangly "Holiday Under the Stars" at the Shops at Columbus Circle and Hudson Yards’ "Shine Bright," in which a bevy of fanciful hot air balloons are supported by 115 miles of string lights. And cap off the adult fun nearby with a visit to a most adult amusement park at The Shed, an art and performance space. Its current exhibition, "Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy," features a fascinating collection of faux rides and carnival attractions created by some of the 20th century’s best-known artists, from David Hockney to Jean-Michel Basquiat to Keith Haring. Each was channeling their inner child and, well, you are too.