Candlelight Tours Light Up December Nights

Washington Irving’s Sunnyside in Tarrytown and Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, are offering candlelight tours on select December evenings. All Sunnyside and Van Cortlandt Manor tours during December are holiday themed and the sites are fully dressed in traditional holiday attire.

At Van Cortlandt Manor, the evening begins with a tour of the decorated Manor House, which features a harpist in the formal parlor. A guide carrying a candlelit lantern then brings visitors to the site’s Ferry House, where a first-person account of Twelfth Night takes place, featuring the Lord of Misrule who leads the festivities. Inside the Ferry House, visitors are encouraged to dance to fiddle music. Afterwards, it’s time to toast the season with cider and cookies near the warmth of a bonfire.

At Sunnyside, candlelight tours bring an 1850s Christmas to life. Visitors are escorted down a lantern-lit path and the house is decorated with holly, evergreens, and candles. Excerpts from Irving’s Christmas tales and family letters are the evening’s theme. Visitors can also participate in caroling. Hot cider is served beside a roaring fire.

Both sites, part of the Historic Hudson Valley network, offer evening candlelight tours on Saturdays, Dec. 11 and 18, and Sunday, Dec. 26. These tours begin at 4 each evening and the last tour is 8pm. Reservations are a must. Tickets — $14 for adults, $6 for children 5-17, free for those under 5 — may be purchased online at www.hudsonvalley.org or by calling 914-631-8200.