There aren’t many places in New England where you can spend a morning watching reindeer, an afternoon on a roller coaster called Rudy’s Rapid Transit, and an evening eating wood-fired pierogi two blocks from your room. Lancaster is one of them. Santa’s Village is fifteen minutes from Red Fox Inn’s front door, and Lancaster is the small, walkable downtown that anchors the visit.
If you’re planning a Santa’s Village trip — especially with kids who will be wired by 9 PM — the question of where to base yourself matters more than people realize. This is a guide to doing it right.
The park: 1953 and counting
Santa’s Village opened in 1953, two years before Disneyland. A young couple from Buffalo, Glenn and Pat Gilbert, bought a stretch of forest in Jefferson, New Hampshire and built a Christmas-themed park around the simple idea that kids should be able to meet Santa year-round. Seventy-plus years later it’s still family-owned, still operating on the same patch of land, and still doing things its own way.
The park is meaningful precisely because it hasn’t been rebuilt into something flashier. The Yule Log Flume is still the Yule Log Flume. The reindeer are real. There’s a water park (Ho Ho H₂O) for hot August afternoons, a covered carousel, more than a dozen rides, daily live shows, and — yes — Santa is in residence whenever the park is open.
Practical: when to go
- Mid-June through Labor Day — the main season. Open daily; this is when the water park runs.
- Mid-September through October — weekends only, "Halloween in the Village."
- Late November through mid-December — weekends only, the holiday season at the actual North Country Christmas park. Worth the drive.
Why Lancaster is the right base
Most visitors to Santa’s Village stay either in Jefferson itself (a few small motels and Airbnb cabins) or south at Bretton Woods (45+ minutes one way). Lancaster sits in the sweet spot: fifteen minutes north of the park, with a real downtown, a grocery store, three good restaurants you can walk to, a brewery, and a coffee shop. After a long day chasing kids around the park, you want a place to land that has more than a vending machine.
Red Fox Inn is on Main Street in Lancaster, a 27-room independently operated inn that used to be the 1955-vintage Lancaster Motel. We park you at your door — important when you’re unloading sticky kids and a stroller — and the lobby has Wayfarer coffee and a continental breakfast that opens at 7:30 AM. The fire pit out back is lit on cool evenings.
The day-of plan
Before the park
Polish Princess Bakery is one block from the inn and makes the best naturally-leavened breads and pierogi in the North Country. Open early. Grab a loaf and a couple of pastries for the road — the park sells food but you’ll save money and the kids will eat better. The Granite Grind is another minute’s walk for a real breakfast (bacon, eggs, pancakes — adult portions).
During the park
Plan for five to seven hours. The park is large but walkable. Reindeer first thing in the morning before the lines build; rides through midday; the water park in the afternoon if the weather cooperates. Bring a swimsuit and towels even if you don’t think you’ll use them. The park has a free reusable straw program and a lot of shade — both rare in family parks.
After the park
The drive back to Lancaster is fifteen minutes through some of the prettiest countryside in New Hampshire. Once back at the inn, the choices are good and short:
- Dinner walk: Scorpio’s Pizza & Sports Bar for an easy, kid-friendly dinner. Pizza, wraps, salads, full menu.
- Brewery on the river: Copper Pig Brewery is in the basement of an old brick bank beside the Israel River. The kids’ menu is real, the beer is excellent.
- For the parents, after bedtime: The Den, our cocktail bar, opens at 5 PM Thursday through Monday. Velvet chairs, classic cocktails, jazz on weekends. Babysitter optional but recommended.
Which room for which family
A few quick recommendations based on who you’re traveling with:
- Two adults + two kids under 12: the Retro Suite with Kitchenette. Queen bed, sofa pullout, mini-kitchen for snacks and bottle warming. Ground floor, easy in-and-out.
- Two adults + two kids who each want their own bed: the Deluxe Double. Two double beds in one room, sleeps four.
- Multi-day trip with grandparents: the Extended Stay (Ground Level). Full kitchen, living room, private entrance. Better than two hotel rooms for a long weekend.
Seasonal tips
The park is busiest in mid-July through mid-August and during the holiday weekends in late November and December. If you want quieter crowds, target early June or the last week before Labor Day. The Halloween in the Village weekends in October are an underrated sweet spot — the foliage in Coös County is at its peak, the park is decorated, and you’ll have shorter lines.
One real detail worth knowing: a few miles from Santa’s Village, Six Gun City has been permanently closed. Don’t plan around it. If your kids have outgrown Santa’s Village, the Mt. Washington Cog Railway (50 minutes south) is the next-step day trip.
The bottom line
Santa’s Village is one of the few unironic family attractions left in New England. Going there is a small act of preservation — kids see something genuine instead of corporate, and they remember it. Lancaster is the small town that lets you make a weekend out of it without the visit feeling like a hotel parking lot.
Check availability for your Santa’s Village weekend, or call us at (603) 788‑4921. We’ll help you pick the right room.