Smithfield Christmas Stroll and Downtown Holiday Lights

If you’re planning your night around the stroll itself, start at Christmas In Smithfield — it’s the event’s own home base, and the natural first stop before you decide how to round out the evening. Everything else on this list is a genuine add-on, not a substitute: a walk, a meal, a bit of history, or a tree to take home.

Related reading: Where to Brunch in the Newport News Area This Weekend.

Confirm the plan before you drive down

Downtown holiday events shift year to year, so before you commit the evening, check the Smithfield & Isle of Wight Convention & Visitors Bureau alongside the event page itself. It’s the town’s own visitor information center, and it’s the more reliable place to double-check anything about the stroll that isn’t nailed down on the event site. Treat the two together as your planning step, not your destination — the actual evening happens on the streets and at the stops below.

Best addition if you want a scenic walk, not just a stroll

Windsor Castle Park is the strongest single add-on on this list, and it’s not close. With a 4.8 rating across more than a thousand reviews, it’s clearly a local favorite — woodland trails, a boat launch, a fishing pier, and the historic Windsor Castle manor house give you a reason to arrive early and walk before the downtown lights pull focus. If your idea of a Christmas stroll includes actual trees and water, not just storefronts, this is where you build in that time.

Related reading: James City County Holiday Lights and Christmas Town.

For a different kind of stop nearby, the Manor House at Windsor Castle Park functions as an event venue rather than a walking destination — worth knowing about if you’re coordinating a private gathering around the holiday weekend, but it’s not where you show up to wander. Keep the park for the walk and the Manor House in mind only if you need indoor event space.

If you want to turn the night into a weekend

Smithfield Station is the pick if the stroll is really an excuse to get out of town for a night rather than a quick evening trip. It’s a riverside resort with a marina, a pool, a rustic-chic restaurant on site, and continental breakfast included — the kind of setup that makes sense when you’re staying over instead of driving home after the lights go off. With 2,804 reviews and a 4.4 rating, it’s also the most reviewed, most tested option here, which matters if you want some certainty about what you’re booking. Day-trippers can skip it; anyone building a two-day holiday weekend around Smithfield shouldn’t.

For history beyond the lights

Fort Huger is the choice for anyone who wants their holiday visit to include something older and quieter than storefront displays. It’s the site of an abandoned Civil War fort’s ruins, set in green surrounds, and it rates well (4.6 from 78 reviews) among people who’ve actually gone looking for it. This isn’t a stop for the stroll crowd generally — it’s for the subset of visitors who’ll use the daylight hours before the lights come on to get a different kind of local history than downtown offers.

A practical bonus, not a main event

Celtic Knot Acres Christmas Tree Farm & Gift Shoppe carries a perfect rating, though from a small number of reviews, so treat that more as a good sign than a guarantee. If you’re already in the area for the stroll and want to leave with an actual tree or a gift picked up locally, it’s a reasonable detour. It’s not a reason on its own to make the trip — it’s the kind of stop that makes sense only because you’re already in Smithfield for the lights.

How to sequence it

Start at Windsor Castle Park while there’s still daylight, swing by Celtic Knot Acres if a tree is on your list, check the visitors bureau and event page for what’s actually running downtown, walk the stroll itself, and either head home or settle in at Smithfield Station if you’ve made it a two-day trip. Fort Huger is worth carving out separate time for, rather than squeezing into the same evening as the lights.

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From Newport News This Week.