When does the Lake Travis holiday season actually start this year? Bee Cave's ice rink and Lakeway's tree lighting are the easy dates to find. The schedule that decides how each week works is the Lake Travis ISD school calendar. The City of Bee Cave built its rink hours around school breaks, the cheap nights fall only on school weeks, and most of the one-night events land in the nine days starting the day after Thanksgiving break ends.
That gives two kinds of holiday weeks between now and mid-January. Each one rewards a different plan, and residents coming from the north side cross a bridge under repair to reach either one.
The rink changes its hours when school lets out
Bee Cave on Ice runs from Nov. 13, 2026, through Jan. 18, 2027, on the lot behind Bee Cave City Hall at 4000 Galleria Parkway. On a regular week the rink opens late on weekdays. On school holidays it opens in the morning.
| Day type | Hours | Last session |
|---|---|---|
| Monday to Thursday | 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. | 8 p.m. |
| Friday | Noon to 9 p.m. | 8 p.m. |
| Saturday | 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. | 8 p.m. |
| Sunday | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | 6 p.m. |
| LTISD holidays, Nov. 23 to 27 and Dec. 18 to Jan. 5, plus MLK Day on Jan. 18 | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | 6 p.m. |
| Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | 6 p.m. |
The city names the LTISD break dates directly on its schedule. On a school-week Tuesday the first skate is at 3 p.m. During Thanksgiving week and the long winter break, the doors open at 10 a.m. and close two hours earlier than usual. A family planning a midweek skate during break should go in daylight. The 8 p.m. session that works on a school night doesn't exist on those days.
Pricing runs the opposite way. Regular admission is $16 plus tax and covers 50 minutes on the ice with skate rental. Discounted Tuesday Community Nights cost $11 plus tax, and the city lists five of them: Nov. 17, Dec. 1, Dec. 8, Dec. 15 and Jan. 12. Each of those dates falls on a school week. The Tuesdays inside the break windows, Nov. 24, Dec. 22, Dec. 29 and Jan. 5, are not on the list. The $5 savings is only available on evenings when the rink keeps its later school-week hours.
So a school week means evening skating with a cheaper Tuesday, while a break week trades that for daytime sessions at the full $16. The city also notes that tickets are reservable online and that popular dates fill fast.
Most one-night events land right after Thanksgiving break
Thanksgiving break ends Friday, Nov. 27. The one-night events start the next day and stack up across both hubs between Nov. 28 and Dec. 6:
- Saturday, Nov. 28. Hill Country Galleria's Light Up the Plaza runs from 5 to 8 p.m. The tree lighting is at 5:45 p.m., with music after. Photos with Santa begins the same day and runs on select days through Dec. 24. Free self-taken photos are next door to Buenos Aires Café.
- Friday, Dec. 4. Lakeway holds Lights On! at City Hall, 1102 Lohmans Crossing Road, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The same evening, the Bee Cave Holiday Market opens its first Friday in the Galleria's Central Plaza, from 4 to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 5. The Galleria's Jingle Bell 5K starts its festivities at 7 a.m., with races at 8 a.m. The holiday market is open that afternoon from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 6. Lakeway Sings! presents North Pole Rock & Roll at 2 p.m. at the Lakeway Activity Center, 105 Cross Creek.
After that the calendar spreads out. The holiday market comes back on Dec. 11 and 12 and again on Dec. 18 and 19, keeping the same Friday evening and Saturday daytime hours. The Lakeway Arts Committee presents The Nutcracker with Metamorphosis Dance at the Activity Center on Dec. 13 at 5 p.m. The final market weekend ends Dec. 19, the first Saturday of winter break, which is also the day the rink switches to daytime hours.
Lakeway's trail runs for most of December
Lights On! takes up one evening, but the display stays up much longer. The City of Lakeway calendar lists the City Hall Trail of Lights every evening from Dec. 4 through Dec. 30 at 1102 Lohmans Crossing Road. That's nearly four weeks, and most of the second half falls inside winter break. Families who skip the crowded opening night still have weeknights and break evenings left.
The trail also works well alongside the rink. During break the rink's last session starts at 6 p.m., and the city lists the trail at 6 p.m. each evening. An afternoon skate in Bee Cave and an evening walk at Lakeway City Hall can both fit into one break day.
The city's event details cover access too. Strollers and anyone needing an accessible route can reach the trail by the sidewalk next to the dumpster enclosure, which leads around the back of City Hall.
The drive between hubs crosses Mansfield Dam
From Hudson Bend and the north side, both hubs sit across RM 620 at Mansfield Dam, and that bridge is under construction for the whole season. TxDOT lists critical maintenance on the RM 620 Mansfield Dam Bridge as an active project. Crews are repairing expansion joints, upgrading the bridge railings and resurfacing the road. The agency describes ongoing lane closures and restricted driveway crossings in both directions between Cloudy Ridge Road and Low Water Crossing Road, and expects the work to finish in mid-2027. KVUE reported the same stretch and the same mid-2027 target.
The timing matters most during the busy week. On Friday, Dec. 4, Lights On! in Lakeway and the market's opening night in Bee Cave overlap in the evening. Both draw traffic down the RM 620 corridor, and anyone coming from north of the lake reaches that corridor over a bridge with lanes closed. In break weeks the trips spread across the day, so the same crossing is less concentrated around a single evening.
Further south, Travis County's Bee Creek Road project between Lakehurst Road and Highlands Boulevard is still on paper. Community Impact reports that its widening and new shared-use path were expected to finish design at the end of 2026, with construction completion expected in early 2028. That one won't affect holiday driving this year.
New and returning stops along the RM 620 corridor
A few business changes this fall sit along the routes between the two hubs:
- Chick-fil-A, 3600 South RM 620, Ste. C, Bee Cave. It reopened Oct. 22 after more than two months of renovations and offers both drive-through and counter service, according to Community Impact.
- Discover Strength, 15500 Hwy. 71, Ste. 210. This 30-minute strength studio, offering one-on-one and small-group sessions, is scheduled to open Nov. 30, Community Impact reported. That's the Monday after Light Up the Plaza.
- Reload Drink Bar, 2300 Lohmans Spur, Ste. 116, Lakeway. This shop serves protein shakes, protein coffees, teas and aloe shots, and is slated to open in December, per Community Impact.
Looking ahead, CAVA is planned for 13714 East Ladera Blvd. in Bee Cave, with an expected opening in May or June 2027. That's after the rink packs up on Jan. 18, which is also MLK Day and the last LTISD holiday on the rink's schedule.
At Travis Real Estate, we follow the Lake Travis calendar the same way residents do, one season and one road project at a time. If you're weighing how the RM 620 corridor, the Mansfield Dam crossing or the Bee Cave and Lakeway hubs fit how you'd like to live around the lake, contact us. We're glad to talk it through over coffee, or after a lap at the rink.
