GOTTA SEE: Colonial Williamsburg (www.history.org/christmas) goes all-out with 1700s holiday celebrations through Jan. 3. Especially prime is the Dec. 6 Grand Illumination (live music and fireworks) and the Dec. 24 Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.

GOTTA TRY: Rough it at Jamestown Settlement (www.historyisfun.org), the living-history museum about the hard life in pre-Williamsburg times. "A Colonial Christmas" (through Jan. 3) has guided tours of the rough-hewn and primitive settlement and the Powhatan Village. There are cooking demos, too. Re-enactors abound, including the Lord of Misrule, a comic holiday figure who leads a procession ($13.50; $6.25 for ages 6-12; 5 and younger, free).

FOR THE KIDS: Busch Gardens Williamsburg opens for the first holiday season ever with evenings-only Christmas Town, Friday-Sunday plus Dec. 21-24, through Dec. 27. Displays, lights, dining, live shows and select rides ($19.95; www.christmastown.com).

GOTTA BUY: Williamsburg is home to Whitley's Peanuts (800-470-2244; www.whitleyspeanut.com), whose lightly salted goobers are astoundingly stellar junk food (20-ounce can $8.50; $16 and up to have shipped). Williamsburg store is near Colonial area, on Richmond Road.

DETAILS: Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance: 800-211-7165; www.visitwilliamsburg.com.

GOTTA SEE: Historic Old Salem is prime throughout the season, especially Dec. 19, with a variety of "Salem Christmas" activities - candlemaking to puppet shows - 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. (336-721-7300; www.oldsalem.org).

GOTTA TRY: Old Salem's Christmas Candlelight Tours evening rambles of the historic district led by a guide and lit by participants' candles - emphasize holiday traditions of those who lived there in the 1700s (Dec. 18) or 1800s (Dec. 4-5, 11-12). All include music, games, food/drink; limited spots available (reservations required: 336-721-7350; $18; $12, kids).

FOR THE KIDS: Tanglewood Festival of Lights is a sprawling drive-through outdoor light show - 72 displays - famed throughout the Southeast. 6-11 p.m. daily through Jan. 3 ($10 or $14 per car, depending on day). 336-778-6300; www.co.forsyth.nc.us/tanglewood/fol(underscore)info.aspx.

GOTTA BUY: Moravian sugar cookies made/sold at Winkler's Bakery in Old Salem ($4 and up). ... Gift shop at Wake Forest University's Museum of Anthropology (336-758-5282) stocks pottery, jewelry, etc., by artisans in Africa, Asia and the Americas. For holiday sale (Monday-Saturday, through Dec. 18), get 15 percent discount with $5-plus total purchase.

DETAILS: Winston-Salem Visitor Center, 866-728-4200; www.visitwinstonsalem.com.

GOTTA SEE: Blowing Rock's swanky Chetola Resort ($160 and up; lower in January; 800-243-8652; www.chetola.com) is a gorgeous getaway - and its Festival of Lights, through Jan. 31, is free to see. Get a brochure at the gatehouse and drive the route, which sports 50,000 lights in 25 or 30 displays (including Rudolph fishing in Chetola Lake). Through Dec. 31, drop into the manor house for a complimentary hot apple cider.

GOTTA TRY: Dec. 12-13, Sugar Mountain Resort stages SugarFest, with skate/ski events and Dec. 12 fireworks (800-784-2768; www.skisugar.com).

FOR THE KIDS: In Beech Mountain, 12 and younger sled free on the town's sledding hill (800-468-5506). Bring a plastic sled or rent/buy one there.

GOTTA BUY: As a well-heeled resort burg, Blowing Rock has a downtown loaded with cool boutiques that sell pet items (Barking Rock), dulcimers (Dulcimer Shop), home decor (The Brass Exchange), cookbooks (W.I.N.O: Women in Need of Sanity), etc.

DETAILS: High Country Host, 800-438-7500; www.mountainsofnc.com.

GOTTA SEE: Asheville Seasonal Sizzle (www.ashevilleseasonalsizzle.com) is a large downtown-wide, fireworks-and-carolers event that begins at 7 p.m. the first three Saturdays of December.

GOTTA TRY: The National Gingerbread House Competition was held at Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa (entries on display), so through Jan. 3, take a behind-the-scenes "Stories of Gingerbread" tour - the secrets behind/inside the top contenders - for $10; $5 for 12 and younger. (Tour/lodging info: 800-438-0050; www.groveparkinn.com.) Through Jan. 3, holiday tours of the Biltmore Estate (800-411-3812; www.biltmore.com) give a feel for how the Vanderbilts decked their sumptuous halls ($60); evening Candlelight Christmas tours ($59-$69) include live entertainment and additional glow.

FOR THE KIDS: Watch Santa on the Chimney (Dec. 12) rappel down 315-foot Chimney Rock. Park festivities tie into his 11 a.m.-2 p.m. workout ($14; $9 if elevator is out of service; $5 or $6 for ages 6-15; 800-277-9611; www.chimneyrockpark.com).

GOTTA BUY: At Greenlife Grocery (70 Merrimon Ave; www.greenlifegrocery.com) exotic-but-local stocking stuffers include Lusty Monk Mustard ($5.39).

DETAILS: Asheville CVB, 800-280-0005; www.exploreasheville.com.

GOTTA SEE: Holiday Festival of Lights, nightly through Jan. 3 at James Island County Park, is cheap Lowcountry fun - a three-mile drive past elaborate decorations, plus a train ride at Santa's Village and more. (www.ccprc.com/index.aspx?NID=140; $10 per car, $8 Monday-Wednesday when you bring a canned food item to donate; $3 for ride on mini-train.)

GOTTA TRY: The Christmas 1860 Candlelight Tour, Dec. 4 and 11 at Edmondston-Alston House, 21 East Battery, gives an up-close look at the last yuletide before the Civil War. The 45-minute living-history event includes carols and spirituals ($15 in advance, $20 at the door; 843-722-7171; www.middletonplace.org).

FOR THE KIDS: Through Dec. 23 at the S.C. Aquarium, Santa dons a wet suit to make special scuba appearances in the Great Ocean Tank at the three daily dive shows. At 1:30 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays, snap family close-ups that include a live Magellanic penguin ($17; $10 for ages 2-12; 843-577-3474; www.scaquarium.org). $2 off adult admission through Dec. 28 with a canned food donation.

GOTTA BUY: Pralines! Head for River Street Sweets (100 N. Market St.; www.riverstreetsweets.com), Market Street Munchies (1722 Ashley River Road; www.marketstreetmunchies.com); or Sweet Julep's (off U.S. 17 in Mount Pleasant; 843-971-6555).

DETAILS: Charleston Area CVB, 800-774-0006; www.charlestoncvb.com.

GOTTA SEE: Grand Strand live theaters shelve their usual music/variety shows and opt for holiday fare.

GOTTA TRY: "Nights of a Thousand Candles," at Brookgreen Gardens, in Murrells Inlet (3-10 p.m. Dec. 11-12 and 17-19), has illuminated gardens and oaks plus carolers, musicians and other performers (an actor dressed as Scrooge does one-man "Christmas Carol"). $15; $6 for ages 6-12; 5 and younger free. Catered seafood/Southern dinner in heated tent: $8.50-$16. Info: 800-849-1931; www.brookgreengardens.org.

FOR THE KIDS: Ripley's Aquarium at Broadway at the Beach stages Festival of Trees through Dec. 31, with more than 50 holiday trees trimmed with ornaments tied to U.S. states and territories. Get scavenger hunt sheets and turn the youngsters loose. (Included in regular admission: $18.99; $9.99 for ages 6-11; $3.99 for ages 2-5; 800-734-8888; www.myrtlebeach.ripleyaquariums.com.)

GOTTA BUY: Check for savings at the factory outlet stores at the area's two Tanger Outlet Centers (www.tangeroutlet.com).

DETAILS: Myrtle Beach Area CVB, 800-356-3016; www.visitmyrtlebe

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