Holidays in the Park at Gillette Castle State Park in Connecticut

Holidays in the Park at Gillette Castle State Park transforms the historic grounds into a charming winter scene filled with lights and festive decorations. Visitors can stroll through the park, enjoy seasonal displays, and take in the beautifully decorated castle that overlooks the Connecticut River. The event creates a warm, nostalgic atmosphere that’s perfect for families and holiday enthusiasts alike.

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History of Castle

Gillette Castle was once the home of William Gillette, who was a well-known actor, director, and playwright. Gillette named the eighty-four-acre estate the Seventh Sister. While the name might sound odd, the castle sits on the southernmost hill on a chain of hills known as the Seven Sisters.

Gillette designed the castle and most of its contents personally. There are many cool features of the house from intricate doors, light switches that resembled train controls, fire protection because of all of the beautiful woodwork, and even mirrors strategically placed so he could see when visitors were entering the house. The stone castle was even made from local fieldstone!

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About The Event

Every year, Gilette Castle’s interior is decked out with festive decor. This year, the event is from November 28 to December 21, 2025. The castle is open for tours on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Tours are every 15 minutes between 10am and 3:30pm. To ensure you get a ticket, book online ahead of time.

In addition to the castle interior being decorated, there will be plenty of activities going out outside of the castle as well. From music to scavenger hunts for kids, there’s still plenty to do.

Know Before You Go

• This event is known to sell out. I recommend that you get your tickets ASAP. The first year I realized this event was a thing, I couldn’t get tickets. The year after, I was able to get ONE single ticket, so I went alone. If you want to go to this event, do not wait to get tickets. Holiday tour ticket sales begin September 2. While you don’t need tickets to visit the grounds, you do need a ticket to get into the castle.
• There is stuff to do outside the castle as well. While the interior of the castle is definitely the star of the Holidays in the Park, be sure to explore the rest of the grounds as well. Other events in the park include free musical entertainment in the Visitor Center, guided train trail hikes, and a Cider Station with free cider on the weekends. The cider station also had a scavenger hunt that covers all of the free areas of the park. My sister enjoyed this a lot when we took her. So even if you can’t get tickets to go inside the castle, it still might be worth a visit to the park for the holidays.
• Only the first floor of the castle is ADA accessible. This is not uncommon in homes of this age. But, there’s plenty to see on the first floor of the castle, including a large Christmas tree! It’s still worth a visit even if you have to stay on the first floor.
• Tours are self-guided. You’ll be able to make your way through the castle at your own pace, which I think is awesome. There will be some workers throughout the house though who will be happy to answer any questions you might have about the house or William Gillette! He was quite the character, and the workers can tell you some pretty interesting stuff about him.

Getting There

Gillette Castle State Park is located at 67 River Road in East Haddam, Connecticut. It is most easily reached by car. You’ll take either Route 2 or Route 9 to Route 82, then follow signs toward the park entrance.

Once you turn into the entrance to the park, follow the Gillette Castle State Park road all the way to the Visitor Center. There is a large parking area here with plenty of parking spaces. I’ve been to the event twice now and I didn’t have any issues finding a parking space.

My Experience Going To The Event

As I mentioned earlier, the first year I was aware of this event, I did not manage to get tickets because it was sold out. I found out about it on social media from a local business posting about it and it was just too late. However, I took my sister to the event anyways because there was other stuff going on.

We started that visit with going into the Visitor Center. We went to the gift shop to see if there was any way we could get tickets. They confirmed that they were sold out for the day, but they did offer to let us get onto a waitlist just in case people didn’t show up. We decided to get on the list just in case because we were going to be in the park for a little bit. However, we never managed to get inside the castle.

After checking to see if we could get tickets, we explored the Visitor Center some more. This park is fairly local to me, so this was not my first visit inside the Visitor Center. However, this was my first time seeing it decked out in holiday decorations. Front and center was William Gillette’s train all decked out for the holidays.

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Next, we went into the Exhibit Room where there was live music being played! It was a nice way to get into the holiday spirit.

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Then we headed outside to check out the Hot Cider Depot. They had free cider inside and scavenger hunts available for kids to do. It was pretty cold the day we went so the hot apple cider really hit the spot! Although, even with the cider, we didn’t stay too long because it was so cold out.

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Thankfully, the next year, I was able to snag a ticket for inside. But, I had once again waited a little too long to purchase my ticket and I was only able to get one. I wanted to go with my boyfriend, but instead I went by myself because I decided I was going to go with or without him LOL. I was not missing out a second time.

It was worth waiting a whole year to experience the interior of the castle dressed up for the holidays. I quickly realized why this event is so popular and why it sells out. The interior of this unique house is decorated so beautifully with all of the decorations really accenting the details of the house itself! In the very first room, I was greeted by a giant Christmas tree!

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Below is a collection of photos from my visit inside the house.

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Is The Event Worth Going To?

I think this event is definitely worth going to. They decorate the castle beautifully for the holidays and it really accentuates the details of this unique home. After going for myself, I can now understand why getting tickets for this event is so hard. It was awesome! I’m sure there are a lot of locals who go to this event yearly!

I also want to note that this state park is worth visiting year-round! There are a lot of hiking trails to explore in the park as well as some beautiful views of the Connecticut River.