The Ultimate Holiday Guide to Panama City Beach
While some look forward with great anticipation to the holiday season filled with snowflakes, ice, and plummeting temperatures, others prefer to plan their holidays away somewhere with a warmer and sunnier appeal. If you find yourself leaning toward the latter group, you’re sure to love taking time to unwind in Panama City Beach, Florida this holiday season.
In every month and season of the year, Panama City Beach provides its guests with a beautiful and inviting place to discover where there’s plenty of sunshine, sand, and surf to go around. In total, Panama City Beach hosts no less than 27 miles of scenic shorelines to enjoy that hug the gorgeous Gulf of Mexico. Panama City Beach is a place where you can fill your holidays away with afternoons of sunbathing, swimming, jet skiing, boating, fishing, and beyond. If you’re traveling this way with the entire family in tow, you’ll find Panama City Beach, Florida is a vacation destination where your holiday itinerary can be briming over with stops at fun water parks, shopping centers, entertainment venues, animal parks, and more! No matter what ages your fellow travelers may be or how long their attention spans are, here, it isn’t hard to find something for everyone to enjoy celebrating Panama City beach holidays.
Panama City Beach is also the ideal holiday destination on the map for those with a passion for outdoor thrills. Places like St. Andrews State Park gives holiday guests a great destination to enjoy hiking beautiful trails at their best, or grabbing the binoculars and making the most of wildlife-watching along the way. If you’re heading in this direction with a group of adult friends in tow over the holiday season, you’ll be delighted to find your vacation can include high-energy nightlife, amazing award-winning restaurant stops, and fun shopping too.
A trip to Panama City Beach, Florida is truly an opportunity to fully customize your end-of-the-year getaway according to your personal travel tastes, preferences, and styles. When you’re looking to make the most of every single moment you’re here, the following ultimate holiday guide to the area is a convenient and exciting place to start.
Getting to Panama City Beach Over the Holidays Is a Breeze
Before your holiday fun can get underway, you need to get to your final destination, and the good news is that Panama City Beach is an easy and inviting place to reach this time of year. No matter where your point of origin might be or how many others are traveling this way with you to enjoy the holidays, you’ll find the process is smooth and streamlined. That’s because many travelers opt to fly into Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport right in Panama City. This airport is situated just north of Panama City Beach and it only takes about 15-minutes to reach the shoreline once you land and get behind the wheel of your rental vehicle. That means no time wasted in traffic, and more time to soak up the sun this holiday season. In addition to many rental car agencies on-site, the airport also has taxi and limo services as well as convenient shuttles and rideshare options to utilize depending on preference. If you’re driving into town from the North, follow Highway 79 until you link up with Highway 98 which is known as the Panama City Beach Parkway. This provides an easy route to Interstate 10 and a quick way to get your holiday festivities going with ease.
Getting Around Once You Arrive for the Panama City Beach Holidays
Once you arrive at your holiday rental booked through Vacations Perfected, you’ll have options to customize how you get around during this festive time of year too. While you’re free to use your rental car at your leisure, if you prefer to slow things down and leave your vehicle behind, Panama City Beach is a great place to enjoy a rental bike instead. If you’re staying near the center of town, most everything you could want to enjoy is within walking distance which makes it simple to tailor each day of your holiday stay as well. If you’re in the mood to take a day trip to nearby Shell Island this holiday season, there’s a Shell Island Shuttle that will handle your transportation from start to finish.
Holiday Seasonal Weather Expectations
The beauty of traveling to Panama City Beach over the holidays for many visitors is the fact that all thoughts of cold and snow can comfortably be left far behind. Instead, you’re free to switch it up for sunshine and warm weather as Panama City Beach enjoys gorgeous weather trends this time of year. On an average year, Panama City Beach is defined by hot summer and mild winters but honestly, warmth radiates here throughout the year. If you’re heading here in November to enjoy a Thanksgiving stay, you’ll find the ambiance is welcoming and relatively quiet as summer crowds have long since left. Average daily highs in November linger around 73 degrees Fahrenheit while evening lows can dip down into the low 50s. While you might need a jacket if you’re going to enjoy patio dining this time of year, in the daytime, you can embrace the best of warm-weather activities and attractions without any worries. While winter is certainly the coolest season of the year here, it’s still considered beautiful in just about every way! Again, a jacket is recommended for the evening hours and perhaps an umbrella for the occasional rain shower, but if you’re heading to Panama City Beach, Florida for Christmas, December highs stay in the mid to upper 60s and evening lows dip down into the high 40s and low 50s.
Thanksgiving Events, Activities, and Attractions to Check Out
There’s certainly a lot to be thankful for when you enjoy a getaway to Panama City Beach in November to make the most of Thanksgiving time fun alongside family and friends. In addition to the beautiful weather that means the beach is always an option, Panama City Beach is packed with fun activities to add to your holiday itinerary. When cravings come calling and you can’t wait to enjoy a traditional holiday dish in good company, you’re going to want to add a stop at Harpoon Harry’s to your must-visit list. Each year, this eater in town provides locals and visitors alike with options to enjoy their holiday buffet featuring seafood selections like crab legs and shrimp in abundance. The buffet typically costs just $35 a person and includes delicious sides like bread rolls to top your off as you settle in and savor a Thanksgiving meal with a great beach view included too. It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet so it’s a wonderful choice if you’re in town with a large group and looking for an easy and savory way to ensure your holiday comes with plenty of great flavor included. You’ll find Harpoon Harry’s Beachfront Restaurant conveniently located at 12627 Front Beach Road in town.
Yet another terrific dining stop in town when you’re heading this way over Thanksgiving is Schooner’s Last Local Beach Club. While they don’t always have a dedicated Thanksgiving menu to offer guests, they do always have amazing menu options, live music, and dancing by the sand! If you’re hoping to infuse an upbeat experience into your holiday stay, this is a place you won’t want to miss out on for a Friday or Saturday night of endless fun and entertainment. They serve up savory cocktails into the early morning hours and when you settle in by the sand under the moon, it’s not hard to access your seasonal feelings of gratitude. Schooner’s is found at 5121 Gulf Drive and is open daily at 11:00 am.
Get into the Holiday Spirit
For two full days after Thanksgiving in Panama City Beach, visitors and locals can look forward to opportunities to really embrace the holiday spirit by attending Beach Home for the Holidays at Aaron Bassant Park. Located at 600 Pier Park, Aaron Bessant Park is a meticulously maintained and popular stop in town which hosts a state-of-the-art amphitheater and more than 70-acres of terrain with three looping trails and open grassy areas too. Over Thanksgiving weekend, the park is transformed into a magical place to discover where flavor, holiday music, lights, and Santa meet-and-greets are all right at your fingertips. If you head over at 3:00 pm on the first day of fun, you’ll have a chance to gather around campfires and savor s’mores before exploring Santa’s Village on-site. There’s a holiday movie played during the afternoon and the Panama City Ballet comes by to perform The Nutcracker too. The official lighting of the park Christmas tree happens on day one in the evening followed by a live music performance by Home Free. When the sun goes down, fireworks light up the sky, adding to the thrill of the experience for everyone. The second day of the event includes campfire and s’mores once again as well as an option to meet with Santa, watch the movie Elf, and enjoy a performance by the Panama City Symphony Orchestra.
More to Enjoy This Thanksgiving
Panama City Beach over Thanksgiving is also a great place to pick up last-minute holiday gifts thanks to a long lineup of fun retail spaces to explore. Don’t miss out on discovering the many goods available to purchase at Pier Park, Pier Park North, or the Shoppes at Edgewater when you’re in town and looking for souvenirs, apparel, gifts, home goods, and more. Once you’ve picked up everything you need, you can treat yourself to a round of golf or two on one of Panama City Beach’s many inviting courses. With warm seasonal weather on your side, there’s no reason not to linger at the links this time of year while enjoying Panama City beach holidays. Places like Bay Point Golf Club, Legacy Golf Club, and the Signal Hill Golf Course are all worth your while when you’re excited to set a fee tee times up for your holiday stay.
Christmas in Panama City Beach
If you’re looking forward to time in Panama City Beach over Christmas, you’ll find the festive fun only continues! This time of year sees the city filled with glittering holiday lights and if you’re looking for a picture-perfect holiday photo backdrop, Aaron Bessant Park in December is a must. Long after the official first lighting has taken place, Christmastime travelers can head this way to grab a selfie in front of the 38-foot-tall tree that’s packed with ornaments and makes for an impressive backdrop. Afterward, you can take time to explore Pier Park and enjoy strolling along the more than 115 shops that are decorated in their holiday best and open for business if you’re looking forward to taking advantage of a little retail therapy while you’re in town. This is a great place to find luxury goods of all kinds that will certainly top your stay off in style.
Family Friendly Fun
While the warm weather approach to the holidays in Panama City Beach might be drastically different from the winter scene you left behind at home, your Christmas here can also include some traditional family-friendly activities that infuse a bit of nostalgia into your stay. Each year, there’s a nighttime Christmas Parade hosted in Panama City Beach that’s well worth attending and is organize by the Panama City Beach Optimist Club. It’s typically hosted earlier in December and showcases holiday floats, marching bands playing seasonal favorites, as well as classic cars and dancing. You’ll want to show up early to get a good spot because many of the parade participants have candy in hand to throw out to the crowd. This is a community holiday event over Christmastime that might just end up being a highlight of your getaway.
Check Out Local Holiday Markets
Nothing says holiday fun quite like time enjoyed at a Christmas Market or two this time of year. When you find yourself in Panama City Beach, heading over to the seasonal Holiday Bazaar at the Panama City Center for the Arts is always a great experience! This market is set up much like a farmer’s market and is a one-stop resource for locally made gifts and goods. It’s typically set up for a few days in early December and fills up fast so heading over early in the evening as soon as the doors are open is always highly recommended. A Very Merry Night Market is also in full swing in Panama City Beach during the holiday season and is another top-rated event for finding gifts and local crafts in abundance.
Book Your Holiday Stay Today
No matter when travel plans have you enjoying time in Panama City Beach, the team at Vacations Perfected is here to make sure you get settled into a vacation rental that brings style, comfort, and exceptional convenience into your stay. Reach out today to learn more about our beautiful local property options available, including our holiday rentals that will give you access to amazing amenities and features while staying close to the fun in town too.