Here Are the Most Dazzling Christmas Light Displays Across the U.S.
Christmas lights really have a way of making the holiday season extra merry and bright. And you don't even have to go through the hassle of hanging them yourself to enjoy their twinkling beauty. Luckily, there are plenty of stunning holiday light displays all over the country, just waiting to be explored.
Visiting one of these light shows is one of the best Christmas activities to share with friends and family because it never fails to put you in the holiday spirit—and best of all, it's often free! Start a brand new Christmas tradition this year by visiting one of the best Christmas light displays near you. We've rounded up the prettiest ones across the U.S., so you probably won't have to travel too far to check out at least one. (Plus, with all of your favorite Christmas songs playing, the road trip will be almost as fun as the destination!)
Our list includes all kinds of holiday displays, including light shows in botanical gardens, entire neighborhoods decked out in colorful Christmas lights, and even exhibits on race courses and amusement parks. Keep reading to find out more about the best Christmas light displays in the United States!
Bernville, Pennsylvania
Generations of families have been visiting Koziar's Christmas Village since its stunning debut in 1948. This family-owned holiday attraction features more than one million Christmas lights adorning buildings, barns, and landscape.
Riverside, California
The Festival of Lights at The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in California is one of the country's biggest holiday light collections. It was even voted "Best Public Lights Display" by USA Today. Join the more than 500,000 people who visit every year and you surely won't be disappointed!
Blowing Rock, North Carolina
All aboard! Tweetsie Christmas offers the unique opportunity to tour the attraction's more than 1 million Christmas lights in a glowing, open-air train car. Visitors can also enjoy a live Christmas variety show, kid-friendly amusement rides, and meetings with Santa in his Gingerbread House!
Pine Mountain, Georgia
Named one of National Geographic’s Top 10 Light Displays in the World, the Fantasy in Lights at Pine Mountain's Callaway Gardens features 8 million twinkling bulbs and is nothing short of spectacular. You can drive or walk through a forest of cascading lights and larger-than-life Christmas scenes featuring towering nutcrackers, gigantic snowflakes, and more.
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn's Dyker Heights neighborhood is a beloved Christmas attraction for both locals and tourists. Each year, residents light up their homes with colorful bulbs, festive figurines, and fairy lights. The best displays are usually found between 11th and 13th avenues, from 83rd to 86th Street.
Asheville, North Carolina
Every year at the holidays, the stunning Biltmore estate in Asheville transforms into a Christmas spectacle worthy of American royalty. During the day, stroll through the home and grounds to admire more than 100 hand-decorated Christmas trees, 25,000 ornaments, and 100,000 holiday lights. When night falls, experience the estate by candlelight and firelight, much like the Vanderbilt family did on Christmas Eve 1895 when Biltmore welcomed its first guests.
Leavenworth, Washington
Be dazzled by 500,000 lights when the gorgeous Bavarian-style village of Leavenworth transforms for its annual Christmastown festival. The town also hosts lighting ceremonies, sleigh rides, Christmas carolers, and visits from Santa Claus.
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans' annual Celebration in the Oaks is an incredible light display featuring more than one million bulbs throughout the 25-acre park of sprawling oak trees. In addition to the light displays, you can also enjoy a driving tour, amusement park rides, and a botanical garden.
Branson, Missouri
Long regarded as offering one of the best Christmas light displays in the nation, Branson's 1880's-style theme park Silver Dollar City will be decked out in a whopping 6.5 million lights for its Old Time Christmas festival this season. Branson also boasts more than 1,500 Christmas trees, including a new community tree sure to dazzle with nearly 10,000 genuine cut crystals and more than 20,000 lights.
Denver, Colorado
Double the holiday fun when you're in the Mile High City by visiting two Denver Botanic Gardens displays: Blossoms of Light at the York Street location and Trail of Lights at Chatfield Farms in Littleton. The former focuses on fanciful light creations, including great glowing globes filling water features. The latter takes visitors on a one-mile stroll through light tunnels, singing Christmas trees, and more.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Founded in 1997 as a fundraiser for ABQ BioPark (a consortium that includes four separate facilities, including the city's aquarium, zoo, and botanic garden), Albuquerque’s River of Lights has grown to feature millions of lights and 600 holiday displays. Now the biggest walk-through holiday light production in New Mexico, it still raises money for ABQ BioPark projects.
Pierre, South Dakota
The stunning Christmas in the Capitol celebration kicked off in 1981 with just a dozen trees, but today features nearly 100 elegantly-lit evergreens gracing the historic rotunda and three floors of hallways. Keep an eye out for a wooden nativity on the second floor, thought to be well over a century old.
Rochester, Michigan
The Big Bright Light Show is exactly what the name describes: 1.5 million shining Christmas bulbs lighting up a four-block section of Main Street in Rochester. Founded in 2006, the celebration is now the biggest downtown Christmas light show in Michigan and a joy for the entire family to experience.
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Known as the home to Dolly Parton's theme park, Pigeon Forge offers the spectacular Winterfest every holiday season. More than five million lights illuminate the six-mile Pigeon Forge Parkway, while some 80 attractions pitch in with their own displays. Don't miss the 40-foot-tall tree at The Island in Pigeon Forge!
Washington, D.C.
There are more than 500,000 LED lights shimmering throughout Smithsonian's National Zoo in D.C. come the holiday season, but that's not all that delights at ZooLights. Look for laser light shows set to music, live musical performances, food vendors, and much more. Last year, the National Zoo took the event on the road, with a ZooLights truck that visited all of the city's eight wards.
Boise, Idaho
Gardens in the snowy season can have their own special beauty very different than summer's lush charms, and that's certainly true of Winter Garden aGlow at the Idaho Botanical Garden. Founded in 1997, when employees hung 2,000 strands of white lights around the property, the display now features 4,000 strands illuminating the Garden's walking path. Local food and drink vendors and a holiday photo booth selfie station also add to the good times.
Cleveland, Mississippi
This sweet little town in the heart of the Mississippi Delta boasts big lights come Christmastime. During 50 Nights of Lights 100,000 lights shine brightly through the downtown and local walking trail, with more than 350 holiday displays contributing to the joyful atmosphere. Cleveland also holds special holiday events some days and weekends during the celebration.
Springfield, Massachusetts
More than six million visitors have delighted in Springfield's Bright Nights at Forest Park since the event debuted in 1995, and with 675,000 LED lights on display it's easy to understand why. Dubbed the Northeast's biggest holiday lighting experience, the show focuses on famed folks from the area, like beloved Dr. Seuss creator, Theodor Geisel.
Duluth, Minnesota
Sure, it'll be plenty cold—but the walk-through Bentleyville Tour of Lights in Duluth promises to warm hearts with a spectacular display, including a 128-foot tall tree festooned with nearly 600,000 lights. Admission is free and so are goodies like hot chocolate and cookies, but visitors are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy or a non-perishable food item to donate to those in need.
Boothbay, Maine
Normally a walking experience, this year Gardens Aglow at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens will feature a driving tour through more than 600,000 lights, including themed areas and plenty of crowd-pleasing light tunnels. Other festive events in the area traditionally include the Lighted Boat Parade and Festival of Trees, both part of the annual Boothbay Lights celebration.
Clifton, Ohio
Dating back to 1802, the historic Clifton Mill is a beautiful sight all year round. But come the holiday season, when more than four million Christmas lights decorate the mill building as well as the surrounding gorge, falls and grounds, it is truly jaw-dropping. There's other fun to be had, too, like a live Santa tinkering in his workshop.
Lisle, Illinois
Now in its ninth year, The Morton Arboretum's Illumination promises to provide a truly awesome spectacle for the whole family, with interactive lighting effects and sound design thrilling visitors as they amble down a one-mile walking path. The arboretum will also offer the chance to take the chill off with belly-warming drinks and s'mores of front of a cozy fire.
Santa Claus, Indiana
With a name like Santa Claus, you know this Indiana town has to have a fabulous holiday light show—and it does. Santa Claus Land of Lights tells the thrilling story of Rudolph and his shining nose in storyboards and thousands of lights over a 1.2-mile driving route. Highlights include three light tunnels, 300 light display pieces, and 11 giant story scenes.
Las Vegas, Nevada
It's hard to believe any Vegas light show could compete with what the Strip offers every night come sundown, but Glittering Lights manages to do just that. The drive-through event at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is truly breathtaking, thanks to the millions of Christmas lights decorating the course. If you don't feel like getting behind the wheel, you can always hop aboard the open-air Santa Tram.
Portland, Oregon
People come from far and wide to the Oregon Zoo's ZooLights—not only for the real animals but also the animatronic ones. Illuminated by 1.5 million LED bulbs, ZooLights is traditionally a pedestrian experience, though this year it will follow a hybrid model: Some nights will be walk-through and some nights will be drive-through.
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