This Indiana city completely transforms into a Christmas wonderland complete with a Christmas light train ride.

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Charlestown, Indiana

Located just outside of Louisville, Kentucky is Charlestown, Indiana.  Charlestown is a relatively small city with a population of around 8,000 per CityTownInfo.org.  But don't let this city's small size fool you, there's plenty to do in Charlestown and it's just a short drive from Louisville (about 14 miles away).  Every year Charlestown transforms into Christmas City, and it's a totally magical holiday experience!

Christmas City

Charlestown, Indiana is known for having one of the best Christmas light displays in the Hoosier state, and taking one look at the photos from Christmas City and you'll see why.  Not only do they have a ton of stunning Christmas lights, Charlestown also hosts numerous Christmas-themed events throughout November and December, and they have a Christmas light train ride aboard the Christmas Express that takes you all around the light displays of Christmas City.

When Does Christmas City Start?

The annual Christmas lighting ceremony will take place on November 24th at 6 PM.

To kick off the holidays, Light Up Charlestown takes place Friday, Nov. 24, 2023 at Greenway Park, starting at 5 p.m. Gather for sounds of holiday music, food trucks and the flipping of the light switch at 6 p.m. From that moment forward, the City of Charlestown will glow with lights at Greenway Park, the City Square and the Family Activities Park.

Then all season long Christmas City will be busy with plenty of fun events.  Live reindeer will be stopping by Christmas City, there will even be character visits, a winter holiday market, and the Christmas Express train rides each weekend through Christmas.

You can check out the entire schedule of events that will take place during Christmas City through the Charlestown Parks website, here.  When I did a quick Google Maps search, Charlestown is only a 2-hour drive from Evansville, so I don't know about you, but I'll be planning a visit to Christmas City!