Festive events and things to do in Mystic, Connecticut during the holiday season
Mystic Seaport Museum hosts an annual Lantern Light Village featuring holiday cookies, carolers, a horse-drawn carriage ride and a visit from Santa. Credit: Mystic Seaport Museum / Joe Michael
The main drag in Mystic, Connecticut, is nearly empty of people and cars on a recent morning. On a typical summer Friday, crowds glacially migrate between Mystic Pizza and Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream, with stops at a couple dozen shops, bars and restaurants in between.
But now, with the view unobstructed, you can actually catch a glimpse down West Main of the famed Mystic Drawbridge.
From the bridge looking north, you can just make out Mystic Seaport, which like Old Bethpage Village Restoration, is a vast living history museum.
Along with Boston and New Bedford, Massachusetts, Newport, Rhode Island, and a couple of other places, Mystic -- derived from the Pequot "Missi-tuk," or "Great Tidal River" -- held a prominent role as a shipbuilding and whaling port during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The west side of the Mystic River is lined with immaculately restored homes from the 19th century -- many of them once belonging to Mystic's many seafarers. That other huge draw in town, the Mystic Aquarium, is a mile north, just off exit 90 on I95.
The views of the bridge and Seaport are familiar because they couldn't be otherwise. "Mystic Pizza" (1988), "little slice of heaven!", was filmed in both places. (1990s "The Hunt for Red October" and 1997's "Amistad" also shot scenes here.)
Mystic Seaport Museum features a recreated 19th-century waterfront village with historic ships and a museum. Credit: Jessica Hill
Then there are the Hallmark Christmas movies set in Mystic — a total of four, most recently "Mystic Christmas" (2023), which was in fact shot at the Mystic Aquarium and Seaport. Hallmark doesn't just love Mystic — it can't seem to leave.
Nevertheless, the real trick is to get away from the cars and crowds and familiar landmarks that Hallmark has loved to death. The trick is to discover the essential Mystic, which is best done on foot, while finding a few good places to eat in the process.
So let's start from (where else?) West Main Street and Mystic Pizza.
Getting there
Getting there
Twenty-two miles due north of Montauk, you can get to Mystic by car (I95), boat (Cross Sound Ferry) and train (Amtrak.)
Car: 134 miles from, say Garden City — might seem the most convenient except that Connecticut's I95 is worse that LI's 495. The traffic is almost always abominable. Best to take the train or ferry instead.
Amtrak: (coach one-way starting at $25, but midmorning $75) from Penn Station's Moynihan Train Hall gets you to Mystic in just under three hours.
Ferry: The ferry from Orient Point to New London leaves on the hour starting at 7 a.m., while the peak fare for car and driver is $88.25. The trip takes an hour and 23 minutes. It's only about a 10 minute drive from New London to Mystic via I95, but here's a tip: If you are going to downtown Mystic, take the Allyn Street exit (89). That's a straight shot to the center of town, and bypasses the bridge which frequently stops traffic to a dead stop during the summer months.
Heading South
Heading South
Boats docked along the Mystic River in Mystic, Conn. Credit: Jessica Hill
Starring (a still largely unknown) Julia Roberts and Matt Damon (his first movie), "Mystic Pizza" didn't make that much of a stir in town during production 37 years ago. The eponymous parlor at 56 W. Main St. opened in 1973, but most scenes were shot elsewhere in town.
Nevertheless, the little place where you could get a "little slice of heaven" (a line from the movie) was about to become a much bigger place.
Mystic too. Who would've imagined that an '80s rom-com would come to define Mystic above everything else? But one did.
Marilyn Comrie, a lifetime resident of Mystic and town historian who helps run the Mystic River Historical Society up the road at 74 High St., said: "I know a lot of people who were extras in it. I'd be watching and go, 'Oh there's so and so.'" She said most residences have long since come to terms with all the changes it brought to town (most of them now avoid the downtown, for example) but "the movie is really popular. When we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the bridge back in '22, the Society put out a book for visitors to log comments, and people came from all over the world, including Australia. It was amazing the number of times they commented on 'Mystic Pizza.'"
Restaurant and tourist attraction Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Conn., is a must-visit destination. Credit: Jessica Hill
You don't have to go far to escape Mystic Pizza's pervasive (or to some critics oppressive) influence. You just have to cross the street, in fact.
Due south on Water Street is what's called the Fort Rachel section. A stretch of seaport that was commercially important during the War of 1812, Fort Rachel was later filled with abandoned buildings and dilapidated docks until about 30 years ago.
Grab a sweet treat at Sift Bake Shop on Water Street in Mystic, Conn. Credit: Jessica Hill
Now, on the left side of the street is Sift Bake Shop, another Mystic landmark that specializes in croissants — classic, chocolate, almond, you-name-it. Each runs about $4.50 and up (they're excellent.).
A short distance away is a pair of other locally celebrated restaurants — Oyster Club and Port of Call, which is right next door. They're part of a regional dynasty, with sister establishments in nearby Noank — Haring's Noank, which was formerly Ford's, a beloved lobster joint — and Engine Room (think comfort food and a lot of craft beer) across the river on the other side of town.
Both are run by chef/partner Renee Touponce, a James Beard Award Finalist for Outstanding Chef 2024, who's placed an emphasis on (what else) oysters at Oyster Club and "port city cuisine from around the world" at Port of Call. Port of Call also has a "nautical themed" bar (it's something to behold), with live jazz on Fridays and "Sea Queens Drag Show & Disco" on some Sundays.
Roasted oysters with pork fat, jeow som, and scallion and The OC Burger with cheddar cheese, umami mayo, lettuce and potato chips from the Oyster Club. Credit: Jessica Hill
Yet something else surprising about Mystic: This has become a foodie destination, and seemingly overnight. Port of Call opened just a couple of years ago, while across the street in a converted 19th century mill factory called "Factory Square" are four other newish notables — Margaritas (Mexican), Milestone ("classic comfort") and Friar Tuck's (a burger specialist with "classic" English/Irish cuisine). There's also Mystic River Chocolate Cafe, which boasts "bean-to-bar craft chocolate" and craft ale brewed in the back, with flights of "Nitro Brew Chocolate Stout" and chocolate ale.
(And something else: the Mystic food scene has become trendy.)
Captain Daniel Packer Inne houses an English Pub on its lower level and refined dining upstairs. Credit: Jessica Hill
About a quarter-mile south of here is a genuine town treasure — the Captain Daniel Packer Inne. A square-rigger captain, Packer built this for ferry travelers in 1756, and it remained in his family for generations until new owners in the 1980s restored both the downstairs tap room, and two-floor restaurant above. There's a prevailing sense that nothing much has changed here over the past couple hundred years, except the food — quite good, with dinner entrées beginning in the mid-$20s.
Heading back to West Main and the center of town is another Mystic treasure, and this one is free.
The Mystic Museum of Art in Mystic, Conn. Credit: Jessica Hill
The Mystic Museum of Art was launched as an art colony by American Impressionist Charles Harold Davis in 1891, with the permanent collection now housed in the Schuster Gallery set well back from the street. It's a remarkable space, full of light and silence — but hardly any people.
The current exhibit, running through mid-December, features four local artists — Beatrice Lavis Cuming (1903-1974), Carl Emerson Lawless (1894-1964), Nathaniel Stanton Little (1893-1971), and Paul Lowell White (1917-1997)
Across the River
Across the River
Mystic is actually two towns — or three, if you count the original settlement from 1654, 3 miles up the river. On the west side of the river is Groton, best known for the submarine base on the Thames, and on the Eastern Shore is the Stonington side of Mystic, which stretches to the Rhode Island border.
Both Mystics share a name and history, but not much else. There's a reason for that, said Comrie, who also published a history of the bridge linking both villages in 2022 ("Walk Your Horses" — the title refers to a speed limit sign that was long posted at its entrances.)
"The thing to know about Mystic," she saids, "is that they are two separate towns. The Stonington side does not have a historic district and you can build whatever you want, while the Groton side does have a historic district, and the facades have to look as they originally did."
There was a huge fire on the Stonington side in 1960 that destroyed a half-dozen historic buildings, then a wind-whipped fire two years ago destroyed several more businesses south of the bridge, including parts of a marina.
What's left is a pair of towns with the same name, but not much else in common. But there are still plenty of good reasons to explore this side of town, including Mystic River Park on Cottrell Street just south of the bridge.
There are also other fine restaurants on this side too, most notably a so-called tide-to-table one, the Shipwright's Daughter. David Standridge, its executive chef who was named best of New England in 2024 by the James Beard Award, said in his acceptance speech that "we do sustainable local, wild seafood, in a town where people want lobster rolls and fried clams." That wild seafood isn't cheap (but don't come to Mystic for bargains.) Entries here include seared local squid ($36) and "Local scallop a la Plancha" ($41).
A Great Horned Owl at Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center in Mystic, Conn. Credit: Jessica Hill
From here you can easily walk north to the Seaport but you'll need a car to get to the Coogan Farm Nature and Heritage Center and the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center (109 Pequotsepos Rd.), a couple of miles due east of there.
Along with 350 wooded acres and 10 miles of trails, the Denison also has six, large aviary enclosures for injured raptors, including one that houses a huge Great Horned Owl.
There's also the annual Luminaria: A Winter Walk in the Woods (Dec. 13, 14, and 15.) This is a self-guided tour of trails lit with a thousand luminaria (decorative lanterns) with free cider and hot chocolate afterward.
Christmas in Mystic
Christmas in Mystic
Mystic Seaport Museum hosts an annual Lantern Light Village featuring holiday cookies, carolers, a horse-drawn carriage ride and a visit from Santa. Credit: Mystic Seaport Museum / Joe Michael
Christmas is big in Mystic, and you don't need Hallmark to tell you as much. The many events the town has to offer can be its own special walking tour — but that one will be crowded. Bruce Flax, president of the Chamber of Commerce that organizes many of these events, said "20,000 people come for the Lighted Boat Parade" alone.
Mystic, Connecticut is filled with holiday magic this time of year. From Santa arriving by tugboat to the village decked in festive décor. Credit: Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce
That particular tradition lands on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 30, 6:15 to 8 p.m.), with hundreds of decorated and brightly lit boats heading down the Mystic River. (Prizes are awarded — "best dressed vessel," "most holiday spirit," and so forth.) A couple of other big Mystic traditions take place that day at the Mystic River Park starting at 2 p.m. — the annual tree-lighting and "Santa Arrives by Tugboat."
On Dec. 3 and Dec. 5-9, there's the Downtown Mystic Holiday Stroll and Lantern Luminaries. (Think more Santa, lots of luminaria, and those crowds.)
Families can ring in the holiday season at the light show.
And in the meantime, you've come this far — what's a trip to Mystic without a stop at the Seaport?
Founded in 1929, the last surviving wooden whaling ship (the Charles W. Morgan) is docked there, along with a fully re-created fishing village, museum, library, photography and art collections, and much more.
Christmas will not go unnoticed at the Seaport either. The annual Lantern Light Village event takes place Dec. 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21 and 22 (you'll need tickets for staggered times at 5 and 7:30 p.m.; $30, $24 for ages 4-12). Expect lots of lanterns lining the streets, horse-drawn carriage rides, music, theatrical performances, and food — lots of food.
Overnight stay
Overnight stay
Finding a place to stay in Mystic is easy — hey, this is a tourist town — but the price range can be dramatic. Almost all the major chains are off Exit 90. These include the Hampton Inn, Residence Inn, Spark by Hilton, and (south of the exit) Howard Johnson, Holiday Inn Express, Hyatt Place, and directly across from the Mystic Aquarium, the Hilton. The Mystic Marriott Hotel and Spa, one of the biggest hotels in the immediate area, is down a couple exits (88.)
In downtown Mystic, you've got a couple of midsize hotel options — the Steamboat Inn (standard rate around $315 per night), and the Whaler's Inn (around $295.) The former is next door to the Mariner which boasts "the best lobster roll in town." You'll probably need reservations for the Shipwright's Daughter, which is in the Whaler's (75 Steamboat Wharf; 860-536-8300, steamboatinnmystic.com).
Then, there are the boutiques, and Mystic has some beautiful ones. These include Captain's Mansion (15 Elm St.; 860-245-4085, captainsmansion.com) which was refurbished last year; Eileen of Mystic (180 Cow Hill Rd., 860- 910-5653, eileenofmystic.com); House of 1833 Bed & Breakfast (72 N. Stonington Rd., 860-536-6325, houseof1833.com); 1853 Captain Wheeler House (159 High Street., 860-245-1145, mysticseacaptain.com); and Carriage House (26 Pearl Street, 860-884-9994, chnyc.com). Check their websites for rates and availability, but most boutiques in town start at around $300 per night.
