Canterbury Village

Canterbury Village is a mystical shopping destination in Lake Orion.  This is definitely perfect for families or couples.  Specifically, Canterbury Village is a year round Christmas store, one of the largest Christmas stores in the world.  It is a historic landmark that Michigan is known for, having one of the largest Nativity scenes in the world.  Just looking at Canterbury Village, anyone could see that shopping here would put you in a cheery Christmas spirit. 

Everything about Canterbury Village is ornate almost looking like an old fashion castle or a medieval town.  I was told that people can have “a fairy tale wedding in an elegant castle ballroom” here, which sounds perfect because of how beautiful the surroundings are. 

As mentioned previously, Canterbury Village is a perfect family destination.   Although it probably goes without saying, most kids love Christmas, so for obvious reasons they would love Canterbury Village.   In addition to the abundance of toys in most of the shops, there is even a building in the middle of the Canterbury Village which has a large merry go round in it.  Also, during warmer months there is usually a small ferris wheel, along with a few other rides for kids.  Near Christmas, Santa is there for pictures with the kids.  Also there are unique displays to entertain kids.  For example, there is a Snow White display that has moving figures to depict the story of Snow White.  Even I sat down to watch the show!

Among the many unique shops, one sticks out in my mind as being particularly curious.  As my boyfriend and looked around checking out all the cool miniature stuff, we picked out a tiny picnic basket, mini cheese, wine and grapes, just to have a souvenir to take home from this interesting place.  Upon purchasing these items the lady said, “These are awesome, do you have a fairy house already?”  Her question answered ours.   All of these miniature items, whether scenic houses or small furniture, were meant for fairies.  Although this was strange, it was kind of a cool concept that surprisingly had enough business to stay open. 

Unfortunately, I do not know the names of all of the shops.  But this is the kind of place you should explore entirely, moving from shop to shop to see everything there is to offer.  This is what I did and would recommend it to anyone interested in going to Canterbury Village.  Some of the other shops included, candy store, Christmas decoration stores, woodwork shops, toy stores, and much more.  One of my favorite parts of the day was when we discovered a few heritage shops.  First, my boyfriend and I went into a Scottish shop, which was cool because he is predominately Scottish.  Immediately after, we went into and Irish shop which coincidently is my primary heritage.  Looking at everything they had and talking to the vendors, we learned a little bit about ourselves.  There were also cool medieval type places to eat and drink but we did not really go in there we just took a quick peak.

In the front of Canterbury Village there is a large clock.  Although I did not witness it during this trip, as a kid I remember seeing a man comically chase a woman around as the clock stuck on the hour.  It was a really cool sight to see, like something you would see in a movie.  However, I am not sure if it still happens. 

Whether in the Christmas spirit looking for Christmas gifts or desiring a Christmas in July, Canterbury Village is some place that I truly believe everyone from the Metro Detroit area should visit at least once.