Filled with hot chocolate, warm clothes, gift giving and caring, Winter is one of the best seasons to enjoy, especially in the Bay Area. Already a place of excitement and tourist attractions, the Bay Area offers many winter wonders. From San Francisco to Berkeley to San Jose, people of all ages have popular shopping locations, amazing restaurants, and gorgeous Christmas displays at their fingertips.

Union Square

With its ice rink, magnificent Christmas tree and Menorah, surrounding high-end stores and hotels, Union Square in downtown San Francisco is lit up with both christmas lights and cheer, including nearby Macy’s, which decorates each of its windows with extravagant wreaths.

Ghirardelli Square, Pier 39, Embarcadero

On San Francisco’s waterfront, visitors will find Ghirardelli Square, Pier 39, and the Embarcadero. Decorated windows and trees fill warm shops, while at the Embarcadero, you can find an ice rink and lots of people to share the christmas cheer.

San Francisco Symphony

This December, the San Francisco Symphony’s schedule is jam-packed with exciting events, including throwbacks to classic Disney songs and the song scores of both “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and the movie “Home Alone”. On New Year’s Eve, keep an eye out for acclaimed singer, songwriter, actor and producer, Seth MacFarlane because the Symphony will host a concert with him on December 31. The Symphony will have countless events with Christmas and holiday music to enjoy and close by are places for dining and shopping after the productions. To reserve tickets for shows like Peter and the Wolf with Rita Moreno or Bobby McFerinn’s performance of George Gershwin’s go to: http://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/Calendar.aspx#mo=2014:12 .

Tilden Park in Berkeley

Tilden Park is a regional park in the East Bay. It is extremely kid friendly, with its antique Herschell Spillman merry-go-round, train rides on its Redwood Valley Railway, and horse drawn train rides in and out of the park from Ardenwood Historic Farm. Other activities during December include holiday cookie tasting, hiking, and animal feeding. Times and fees for these activities can be found at the East Bay parks website, http://www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden .

Santana Row

Like Pier 39, Santana Row is not only a fantastic area to shop, eat, and enjoy an evening out, but where you can admire dazzling christmas lights. It is an avenue in West San Jose which provides a nice environment for family and friends, offers high end restaurants as well as quaint cafes, and boasts lit up christmas decorations from its annual tree lighting ceremony in November. Some of its special holiday events include its “Santa Paws” pet photo shoot on Sunday Dec. 7, a family oriented arts and craft fair in Park Valencia on Tuesday Dec. 9, and a winter Jewish Festival of Lights also at Park Valencia on Dec. 17. Times and directions to these and other events hosted by Santana Row can be found at http://www.santanarow.com/events .

Golden Gate Park in San Francisco

Contrary to the hustle of holiday shopping downtown, Golden Gate Park is a great opportunity to enjoy nature and its beauty. From its trees to the bike paths and lakes, it’s a nice location to simply walk around. If you aren’t up for the cold weather, the park also holds the Conservatory of Flowers. The warm building contains an array of colorful flowers and plants, unlike the foggy climate outside. There’s also the Academy of Sciences and the De Young museums, which are both great places to go to escape the cold outside.

Muir Woods in Mill Valley

For those who love the outdoors, the Bay Area has other extraordinary visiting places as well. Muir Woods National Park, is a wonderful place for families to visit. Located at 1 Muir Woods Road, Mill Valley, CA 94941, only 30 minutes north of San Francisco, the park is relatively close to Marin County and is one of the only places left on the West coast that preserves so many native coastal Redwood groves. Beautiful and serene, it is a wonderful place for anyone to visit, including families with children, who are capable of walking semi-wooded trails to view the changing colors of fall. To receive more information about park alerts and shuttle times go to http://www.nps.gov/muwo/planyourvisit/index.htm .