If you’re in town for the holidays, here are things to do around D.C. besides sitting on your couch in front of the fireplace:

Light Shows

One of the best ways to get into the holiday spirit is to visit holiday light displays. The Mormon Temple in Kensington always provides a colorful splendor with over 450,000 sparkling lights. The temple’s lights are on display nightly from dusk until 10 p.m. through Jan. 1. Each night, a different local music group will preform a live concert in the temple’s theater. Another place to see colorful lights is Zoo Lights at the National Zoo. The Zoo presents thousands of lights featuring many of the Zoo’s most popular animals. And the best part is Zoo Lights is free for admission. All proceeds from concessions and parking sales go towards a variety of animal wildlife conservation programs and initiatives. Zoo Lights is open every night from 5 to 9 p.m. until Jan. 1, with the exception of Dec. 24, 25 and 31. Visitors can also skate on an iceless skating rink. The rink is composed of specially engineered polymers that permit skate blades to glide as smoothly as they would on real ice.

Ice Skating

If you’d like to experience some real ice, the skating rink at the National Gallery Sculpture Garden is a great place to go. At $7 for a student and $3 skate rentals, this skating rink is a bargain. Warm up with a hot chocolate from the Pavilion Cafe right next store. A closer option is the Cabin John Ice Rink on Westlake Dr. At $6.50, Cabin John Ice Rink is another cheap way to have some fun.

National Christmas Tree

If you have time this break, be sure to check out the National Christmas Tree at the White House. The tradition of lighting the 40 foot tall tree was started in 1923. Visit the magnificent tree any night from dusk till’ dawn until Jan. 1. Performance by volunteer choirs and dancers will be held nightly.

Skiing

For a more adventurous activity, we are lucky enough to have great ski resorts close by to visit for a day trip. Liberty Mountain in Carroll Valley, Penn., which is located 95 minutes away, has 16 trails with eight chairlifts. But, for those who don’t ski Liberty also has 14 snow tubing lanes. Another ski resort is Whitetail located 105 minutes away in Mercersburg, Penn. Whitetail also offers great skiing with seven beginner, ten intermediate and six advanced trails. Some special features are night-skiing on all but one trail, two terrain parks and a snow tubing park. Wisp, which is located in McHenery offers the only skiing in Maryland; however it is close to a three hour drive from Bethesda. Wisp is located right next to the scenic Deep Creek Lake. Wisp is known to have better snow than other resorts in the region because of its western location. Wisp gets on average 100 inches of snow per year, more than enough for its 32 trails and 12 lifts.