The most magical Christmas light displays in the US

St. Augustine bedecks its historic downtown in all-white lights for its Nights of Lights, leaning on the old Spanish tradition of a white candle in the window. Head to Plaza de la Constitución, a market where locals have sold goods since the 1500s, to hear live music and tour the palm trees wrapped in bulbs. Ropes of lights drape from the market’s trees to form a heavenly canopy. Visitors can see the three million lights by land via the Old Town Trolley or Ripley’s Red Train, both free, or by sea, on a boat tour from a variety of tour companies.

Special events include the Surf Illumination on November 22, Christmas Parade on December 6 and the Regatta of Lights on December 13, along with other festive offerings like the Grinchmas Ride (on a trolley with the Grinch) and the Christmas Market at Colonial Quarter. Fun challenge: find the single red light hidden somewhere in the Plaza de la Constitución!

Dates: November 15, 2025, through January 11, 2026

Price: Free; no tickets required.

Join this quaint neighborhood, branded as Portland’s Christmas Street, as it carries out a tradition that began in 1932. The small four-block street, located in southeast Portland, is lined with Tudor Revival and English Cottage homes that serve as the backdrop to a more than 90-year-old Christmas light destination. While some homeowners hire professional decorators, many residents of Peacock Lane build their own displays. Believe it or not, there’s also a free hot cocoa and cider booth (donations welcome). Portlanders are awesome.

Dates: The 2025 dates will be announced in late October.

Price: Free.

This tiny town 30 miles east of Dayton, Ohio—with a mere population of about 141—has one of the most unique light displays in the country. Some four million Christmas lights cover the town’s historic Clifton Mill, a 19th-century water-powered grist mill, and the surrounding gorge, riverbanks, bridges and trees. A 100-foot “waterfall” forms from lights that twinkle to look like cascading water. There’s a synchronized light and music show on the covered bridge, a miniature village display, a Santa Claus Museum and a toy collection—and the chance to see Santa live at work in his workshop, disappearing up his chimney roughly four times an hour to load up the sleigh.

A special moment to look out for: every hour on the hour, the lights turn off for a moment, and in the darkness Christmas music softly plays, building in volume as lights slowly twinkle back on—then the music ends, visitors are plunked into blackness again and then all four million lights return to full blaze!

Dates: November 28 through December 30, 2025.

Price: $15 per person for everyone 4 and older.

We’re betting the hot chocolate at this experience is way more delicious than anywhere else! Along with rides (including roller coasters and a steam train), visits with Santa and all nine live reindeer and the chance to walk through the TREEville trail in awe of five million lights, there’s a Christmas light show called NOEL. Don’t miss the Kissmas Tree, a 50-foot tree with a giant golden Hershey’s Kiss instead of a star at the top. For even more light intake, take a driving tour through the woods with the Hershey Sweet Lights attraction, a two mile trail with illuminated and animated displays.

Dates: November 14, 2025 through January 4, 2026.

Price: Starts at $55, with an extra surcharge for the Hershey Sweet Lights drive-through. Kids 2 and under are free.

One glance at the Miracle at Big Rock’s 25 million lights and you’ll think it’s a miracle that so many lights are untangled and put up each season on this one-mile trail in St. Croix Falls, 45 minutes from the Twin Cities. The attraction, spread over 32 acres, offers two ways to admire the 20-plus lighted themes and vignettes: Drive through on Mondays and Tuesdays (plus December 3 and 24) and walk through Wednesdays to Sundays (plus December 22 and 23). Visit the heated historic barn with children’s activities and Santa sightings, and swing by the food trucks for local eats. The festivities include fireworks on Friday nights and live music on select nights, plus fire pits, craft cocktails and sledding hills.

Special nights include the Toy Drive (December 1), Veterans Night (December 3), Cinco de Miracle (December 5) and New Year’s Eve. There’s even a Dog Night on November 30 to help your furry friend get into the Christmas spirit. For an upcharge, visit the Grinch’s Lair or book a heated VIP Village tent.

Dates: November 28, 2025 through January 3, 2026.

Price: Early bird pricing through October 31 starts at $15 per person for drive through, $20 walk through, or buy a season pass for $50 adult or $35 child.

In the past, the town of Leavenworth held a Christmas lighting ceremony every weekend, flipping a switch to light up the entire city center; however, as the events grew in popularity, they decided to keep the half a million lights on every night from Thanksgiving through Christmas. Already on our list of American cities that remind us of Europe, Leavenworth’s Bavarian village-themed downtown looks magical, covered in snow and surrounded by mountains, with every building and tree lit up as far as the eye can see during its annual Village of Lights celebration. There are strolling carolers, folks in lederhosen playing the giant alpenhorns… and as if this Christmas town couldn’t get more idyllic, there’s even a sledding hill to round out the charm.

Dates: November 27, 2025 through February 28, 2026. Christmastown festivities happen November 28 through December 24, 2025.

Price: Free.

Composed of a whopping 10 million lights, Callaway Resort & Gardens’ Fantasy in Lights is like no other display in the country. Guests can walk, drive or ride through 2,500 acres of illuminated landscape. Eighteen scenes like Snowflake Lane and Song of the Trees set the display apart from traditional Christmas-themed displays throughout the country, but there’s also a 40-foot tree and oversized ornaments to satisfy traditional Christmas seekers. It takes 45 minutes to drive through the seven miles of light displays before walking through a forest of twinkling lights, snowflakes and a Christmas village complete with visits from Santa Claus. If you attend on Bike Night (November 14 and 15), you can pedal through the light show on your own steam.

Dates: November 14, 2025 through January 4, 2026.

Price: Tickets start at $25. Kids 3 and younger are free.

Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane, just one of L.A.’s many Christmas activities, is something of a marvel for SoCal. Nearly a mile of majestic deodar cedar trees with 10,000 twinkling lights line the street (also known as Santa Rosa Avenue) and deliver an alpine vibe that’s a complete 180 from L.A.’s typical landscape of palm trees. The conifers of Christmas Tree Lane are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This historic stretch is the oldest large-scale outdoor Christmas lighting display in the country, dating to 1920. Fun fact: This is the only botanical landmark on California’s landmarks list. The lights turn on on the first Saturday in December with an event featuring choirs, marching bands and hot cocoa. This year, the event holds special meaning as Los Angeles celebrates resilience after the Eaton Fire in early 2025—which destroyed homes only steps from the unharmed cedars.

Dates: December 6 through New Year’s Eve.

Price: Free.

This year’s Magic Christmas in Lights event is the 30th anniversary of this Gulf Coast tradition at the beautiful Bellingrath Gardens and Home. The 65-acre campus illuminates with thousands of lights, holiday finery and bright red poinsettias. Listen to live music and sip a warm beverage as you wander this dazzling estate. Watch for multiple workshops during the run that let you handcraft Christmas gifts like an oyster shell ornament or a magnolia wreath.

Dates: November 21, 2025 through January 6, 2026 (closed Nov 26, 27; Dec 25 and Jan 1 )

Price: $30 adults, $25 children.

Connecticut’s capital is home to one of the most epic Christmas light displays: Glow Hartford. More than one million lights create an interactive light garden within the Connecticut Convention Center. This annual event includes seasonal food and drink, family-friendly activities, a holiday market and daily live entertainment. Each ticket includes a free photo with Santa and a ride on the trackless “Glow-comotive” train. New this year: Test your magical skills with GlowQuest, an interactive adventure where you wield an ice wand to solve puzzles and make surprise discoveries. It’s free with your ticket purchase.

Dates: November 21 through December 23, 2025.

Price: $34 adults, $24 kids aged 5–15.

When most people think of Christmas lights in New York their minds go immediately to the tree at Rockefeller Center and the shop windows on Fifth Avenue. But deep within Brooklyn, there’s a winter wonderland that requires so much wattage you’d think the Griswolds took over the streets. Christmas completely consumes the residential Dyker Heights neighborhood in southwest Brooklyn from Thanksgiving until January, where massive front yard displays (yes, some New Yorkers have real yards!) range from specific themes—like illuminated Christmas toys or tons of icy blue lights—to a hodgepodge of all things Christmas. It may be just the chaotic overblown light-driven phantasmagoria you didn’t know you needed! According to New York Dearest, you can find most of the decorated houses between 10th and 12th avenues and 83rd and 86th streets.

Dates: November 28 through December 30, 2025

Price: It’s of course free to wander these streets, but if you want to travel with a guided walking tour company that picks you up in Manhattan and leads you on a four-hour tour, it’s $75 for anyone aged 3 and up (free if younger, and kids 3–12 get a free gift). If you just want the walking tour without the bus ride, it’s $35.

Yes, there’s a town called Santa Claus in Indiana. And yes, it’s one of the best Christmas towns in the U.S. Is it really any surprise this town gets lit during the holidays, too? At the Santa Claus Land of Lights, a 1.2-mile drive-through experience that tells “The Shining Story of Rudolph” in lights and storyboards, you’ll see brilliant LED-rendered Christmas characters, albeit with a few twists. Expect to chuckle when you catch Rudolph clip-clopping on a treadmill or Santa jetskiing—although this town takes Christmas seriously, it’s certainly in on the joke.

Dates: Friday to Sunday November 21 through December 7, and then nightly December 12 to 23, 2025.

Price: $20 per vehicle (up to 14 people: squish in!)

At any other time of year, the 700 block of 34th Street in Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood might not ring any jingle bells. But during the Christmas season, the area, nicknamed Miracle on 34th Street, is the talk of the town. Ever since 1947, when the movie of the same name premiered, residents have put their unique twist on traditional Christmas decorations, featuring anything from a vinyl record Nativity scene to a hubcap Christmas tree. Expect lots of crabs (this is Maryland, after all), and keep your eyes peeled for the kitschy pink flamingos (a nod to Baltimore’s own John Waters). Fun extra: Residents stage candy cane sword fights in the adjacent intersections.

Dates: November 29, 2025 through New Year’s Eve.

Price: Free.

The 60th annual Austin Trail of Lights welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors to Zilker Park, which is transformed into an otherworldly jungle of dazzling rainbow trees. More than two million bulbs light up 96 glittering trees, while there are also lighted tunnels to explore and more than 70 holiday displays. This charming tradition began in 1965. Food trucks, live music and free photos with Santa round out the festivities.

Dates: December 10 through 23, 2025.

Price: Free Dember 10–12 and 15–18; $11 December 13–14 and 19–23.

Although many zoos offer lighted experiences, Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo goes all-out. There’s a new Zooltide light show this year in Spanish and English, views of the city skyline from the 65-foot Ferris wheel, hot chocolate (spiked or not!), s’mores roasted over an open fire and strolling carolers in vintage gear and professional ice carvers on select nights. But you’re here for the lights, and there are three million of them applied to luminous LED displays. Watch for special events like an Elf movie party and a sensory-friendly night, and check out the Light Lounge with glowing furniture.

Dates: November 21, 2025 through January 4, 2026.

Price: $7–$12 depending on the day. Mondays are free, but a ticket is still required.

At Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in beautiful Boothbay, giant wooden troll sculptures are hidden throughout the woods, and while most of them “hibernate,” you can see two of them at the Gardens Aglow event, with festive lighting for these friendly giants. The lighted trail you’ll follow on foot is about a mile; most people linger for two hours. The lighting incorporates 750,000 LED lights (that’s about 65 miles of lights!) as you wander through the flora and fauna of the state’s meadows, forests and seashore. To warm up, stop by the cafe or food trucks for a hot cocoa (doctored with Bailey’s or Schnapps, if you wish) or a bowl of chili.

Dates: November 28, 2025 through January 3, 2026.

Price: $23 adults, $13 children aged 3–17.

You’re going to want to see Nature’s Wonder, the world’s largest curtain of synchronized light and sound, here at Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Garden Lights, Holiday Nights. Stroll through the glowing gardens to admire a lighted flower walk and illuminated sculptures. New this year, tree sculptures from “Enchanted Trees by Poetic Kinetics” by artist Patrick Shearn create an enchanted avenue of dazzling lights. The trees move in the wind and interact when approached. This tech-savvy event uses an interactive GPS map to help guests navigate.

Dates: November 15, 2025 through January 11, 2026.

Price: Varied pricing starts at $30 adults, $27 kids aged 3–12.

No matter where holiday-goers choose to visit the Magic of Lights, there will be more than a mile of lights to drive through. From the warmth of a car, revelers can admire traditional Christmas displays plus a motley crew of characters like life-size dinosaurs, a supersized Bigfoot Monster Truck, and a Holiday Barbie display. From Oregon to Alabama (the website’s zip code feature helps you find the nearest event to you), the Magic of Lights is lighting up 17 cities in the U.S. and Canada this holiday season. Some locations are walk-through rather than drive-through.

Dates: Varied.

Price: Varies by location, but tends to run around $25 per car.