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Discover holiday magic in LaGrange, Georgia—where historic downtown charm meets family-friendly adventures like Sweetland on Ice, Hills & Dales Estate, and the nearby Wild Animal Safari. Whether you’re visiting for the holidays or any other time of year, LaGrange offers cozy shops, rich history, and special seasonal fun for families.
Thanks to Visit LaGrange for hosting us so we could bring all these fun adventures to our readers.
Plan Your Holiday Getaway: LaGrange, GA
📍 LaGrange in West Georgia
🏡 Family-friendly attractions in a charming town with a cozy, Hallmark feel around the holidays
🐾 Accommodations & adventure at Great Wolf Lodge
⛸️ Seasonal ice-skating rink on weekends in winter
🪴Family-friendly estate & gardens with scavenger hunt
✝️ Biblical history center with immersive exhibits and seasonal events
🛍️ Delightful local shopping and dining scene
⚠️ Plan your itinerary ahead of time to avoid missing anything that interests your family, as open hours and ticket availability for all attractions, businesses, and restaurants may be limited.
Get to Know LaGrange
The origin story of LaGrange, Georgia tells you so much about the feel of this city. Before it was incorporated in the early 1800s, General Marquis de Lafayette of France visited the area and said it reminded him of his family estate abroad, then known as “La Grange.” The city maintains the feel of a countryside escape even today, and when you visit downtown, you will find a statue of Lafayette overlooking a large, romantic fountain in the city center.
We took some time to explore downtown LaGrange, and there were several little shops for families to enjoy. Every shop has a unique feel and personality, and it’s easy to spend a couple of hours just wandering from shop to shop to see what you might discover!
Top Shops in Downtown LaGrange, GA
Our favorite was Pretty Good Books, which caught our attention with quirky signs that book-lovers will appreciate. Housed in the oldest non-residential building in the city, the shop is even featured on the local ghost tour. It offers new and used books, with a dedicated room for children’s books upstairs. We loved the mural and toys that made this a great space for kids to cozy up with a book or play while parents pick out some options.
Other shopping highlights include Solomon’s Department Store, opened by an immigrant from Lebanon with his family nearly 100 years ago. Today, they offer clothing and shoes for men, women, and children in their attractive downtown store. For the kids, you’ll find Buddy’s Comics is a treasure trove of board games, card games, and comics. The Medicine Cabinet sells toys and gifts for the whole family, and even offers an old-fashioned Soda Shoppe with counter-service milkshakes and glass ice cream dishes.
Downtown Attractions and Experiences
While we enjoyed walking from shop to shop, we also found easy parking all over downtown. We decided to drive around to see what attractions were in the area, and we found a few worth highlighting for families.
Things To Do in Downtown LaGrange, GA
Sweetland on Ice
When visiting in the winter, you will not want to miss Sweetland on Ice, a temporary covered ice-skating rink in the heart of downtown LaGrange. Open only on weekends for the general public and for private parties during the week, the rink is beautifully decorated and has skates available to rent, plus concessions for sale.
We found convenient restrooms onsite, plenty of seating around the ice-skating rink, and multiple warming stations. They even had skate helpers, which allowed our toddler to join us on the ice without fear of falling. We recommend checking their website for special events, too, like their holiday movie nights or New Year’s Eve party.
Sweetland Amphitheatre
It’s also worth checking the event calendar for the Sweetland Amphitheatre, a 2,500-seat outdoor amphitheatre where you might be able to catch musicians and other performances throughout the year. We caught a beautiful sunset over the amphitheatre while visiting Sweetland on Ice, and it made us look forward to catching a show there once the weather gets warmer!
LaGrange Art Museum
On future visits, we hope to explore the LaGrange Art Museum. Even the artwork on the exterior of the building caught our eye, and we wished we had the chance to go inside and experience it. We’ve been told the exhibits are family-friendly, and they offer a range of kid-focused events and activities, including family-focused events every third Saturday of the month. Admission is free, and the museum is open Tuesday through Saturday.
Find Family-Friendly Adventures
If you’re looking for a greater sense of adventure, we found some seriously awesome attractions to get you out and exploring with your family! These are guaranteed memory-makers, so make sure there’s room on your camera roll before setting out, and be prepared to spend several hours at any one of these.
Things to Do with Kids in LaGrange, GA
Biblical History Center
On the west side of town, discover the extraordinary Biblical History Center, open only Tuesdays through Saturdays. Of all the places we would have loved to visit if we’d had more time, this one would have been top of the list! Tour the center with your children to discover the Archaeological Replica Garden, an immersive walk-through experience with life-sized replicas of ancient Biblical structures based on modern-day archaeology. During the holidays, they also offer an extraordinary Nativity Tour with a live Nativity presentation.
Hills & Dales Estate
My favorite attraction in LaGrange was the Hills & Dales Estate. Coming from the Carolinas, it reminded me of Biltmore Estate in Asheville, but this estate is smaller with a much stronger emphasis on family ties and values. I loved watching the mini-documentary at the start of the tour, which outlined how the estate came into existence over three generations of loving marriages and family bonds:
- Blount and Sarah Ferrell originally planted the estate as Ferrell Gardens, with their Christian faith coming through as they planted boxwoods arranged to spell out God’s name at the garden entrance and “God is love” on the main terrace.
- Fuller and Ida Callaway acquired the land after the passing of the Ferrells, to whom they were close friends. They preserved the gardens and built their family home there, renaming it Hills & Dales Estate after the gorgeous hills and dales all over the property.
- Their sons, Cason and Fuller Callaway Jr., married a set of sisters, Virginia (Cason’s wife) and Alice (Fuller Jr.’s wife), and built houses on either side of their childhood home. Fuller Jr. eventually came into ownership of Hills & Dales Estate, and Cason went on to develop the nearby Callaway Gardens property in Pine Mountain, Georgia.
My tour guide was a delightfully knowledgeable volunteer named Mr. Gregory, who worked professionally as a librarian for many years and has catalogued many things for the estate. My favorite sights on the tour were the living area at the bottom of the grand staircase, beautifully decorated for Christmas, and the formal dining room. I was delighted by the unique décor in each of the bedrooms, too, which were coordinated with extraordinary precision down to the tiniest details.
A major highlight for children is the Home & Garden Scavenger Hunt, available for pickup at the Visitor’s Center before you ride a shuttle up to the main house. This hunt turns the entire tour into a giant seek-and-find experience, and your kids are sure to search eagerly for every curiosity pictured on the scavenger hunt!
Mr. Gregory led me through the garage where a wreath-making workshop was just wrapping up, the greenhouse where I saw so many things in bloom even in the thick of winter, and every level of the beautiful outdoor gardens. The documentary at the start the tour grants you eyes to see the garden as its founders saw it, and while I loved seeing the various plants in different stages of growth, my personal highlight was finding the bench where one of the couples are said to have fallen in love.
Callaway Gardens
While we did not have enough time to visit it on this trip, the nearby Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain is a family favorite. Located less than half an hour from LaGrange, you’ll find miles of hiking and biking trails through the gardens, plus a lake to enjoy during warmer seasons. In the winter, Fantasy in Lights is a fantastic drive-through experience with themed holiday light displays stretching across the 2,500-acre gardens. There is even a walk-through Christmas Village, with a large holiday gift shop and character meet-and-greets like Santa and the Abominable Snowman.
Wild Animal Safari
Also in nearby Pine Mountain, you can enjoy Wild Animal Safari, offering both a walk-through and drive-through petting zoo experience with exotic animals like zebras, bison, and giraffes! You’ll have the opportunity to hand-feed the animals and take pictures with them. We even got pictures with peacocks that were wandering the parking lot on one visit!
For the drive-through experience, you can either take your personal vehicle, rent a zebra car, or ride on one of the zebra tour buses through the safari park. Driving a car through the park allows you to go at your own pace, but your personal vehicle can be easily damaged as there are no barriers separating the animals from your car. Because they are used to being hand-fed from vehicles, they will come right up and stick their faces in your windows! And those longhorns? Trust me, you don’t want to take your own car through there. I highly recommend renting a zebra car!
Taste Your Way Around LaGrange
The dining scene in LaGrange is one we could have spent much more time exploring, but what we did get to taste was stellar. And don’t worry, if you’ve got picky eaters, this place has its share of chain restaurants, too!
Family-Friendly Places to Eat in LaGrange, GA
If you are looking for a more familiar place to eat as a family, then feel free to check out the Cracker Barrell, Waffle House, or Chick-Fil-A within the city of LaGrange, too.
Lunch at Great Wolf Lodge
Combine food and fun by adding a visit to Great Wolf Lodge to your itinerary! This combined hotel and resort offers day pass bundles for their built-in attractions, including an indoor water park, ropes course, mini-golf, arcade, MagiQuest, and even more. You can also find a variety of in-resort dining options like family-sized pizzas from Hungry As A Wolf, tacos and quesadillas from Timbers Tacos, and classic American grub from Buckets Burgers & Bites. Just be advised that food pricing inside the resort is very expensive.
For more affordable and local lunch options, consider Charlie Joseph’s counter-service diner or Trios Cantina for authentic Mexican cuisine in a family-friendly setting.
Our server was a wonderful young man named Mr. Jackson, and we enjoyed some of the very best food and customer service we’ve had in a very long time. Pricing was very affordable, and the portion sizes were incredibly generous. We each ate as much as we could and still walked out with more leftovers than we could finish! There’s also a display case full of irresistible cakes made in-house which you can purchase by the slice, so plan to enjoy dessert at the table or order some on your way out like we did.
There are many other local spots to try for dinner, but we had such a fantastic experience at Milano’s Pizza that I am not even going to name them, in case you might miss out on trying this one first!
Choose the Perfect Hotel for Your Holiday
There are many places to stay in LaGrange, but we found a couple that should be top of the list for families planning a holiday vacation in the area.
Top Places to Stay in LaGrange, GA
Courtyard Marriott
If you love the Hallmark feel of LaGrange and want to continue that cozy, upscale feeling when you’re ready to rest, then I recommend booking your stay with Courtyard Marriott in the middle of historic downtown. This hotel offers the comfort and quality we’ve come to expect from Marriott, plus a 24/7 bistro with Starbucks coffee.
Great Wolf Lodge
If you want your accommodations to bring another whole level of fun and adventure to your family vacation, then I recommend taking your trip to the next level by staying at Great Wolf Lodge. This combined hotel and resort offers standard, themed, and premium suites, plus endless fun at built-in attractions. All overnight packages include access to their indoor water park, and additional packages and passes are available for access to the ropes course, mini-golf, arcade, MagiQuest, and other attractions.
If you’ve stayed at a Great Wolf Lodge in the past, then you might be interested to know that we had multiple readers reach out to tell us that this location is their absolute favorite!
Get Started on Your Vacation!
LaGrange is the perfect holiday destination for families, combining historic downtown charm, seasonal attractions, and fun-filled accommodations like Great Wolf Lodge. With so many local attractions, nearby adventures, and amazing dining and shopping, families have endless opportunities to make memories on a truly relaxing vacation. How often do you find that?
For more information about all that LaGrange, GA has to offer, check out Visit LaGrange.
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Sarah Burnett
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