Elaborately decorated pine trees, carols and festive music, scents of spices like cinnamon and cloves, gently drifting snowflakes, and, of course, eggnog, all make for a magical Christmas ambiance, but it’s those twinkling, colorful lights that add the finishing touch. This tradition began in medieval Germany with the Yule log. Later, candles were used in England to ceremonially mark the arrival of the season. However, it was Thomas Edison who showcased the world’s first electric festive illuminations outside his lab almost a century and a half ago. A couple of years later, Edward H. Johnson was decorating spinning trees with colorful electric bulbs, but these festive lights took some time to catch on with the general public, which was mostly due to their cost.
Nowadays, it’s a different story. Around 150 million sets are sold in the U.S. alone, and millions of those go toward the countless light shows across the country. You can now see elaborate displays everywhere during the holiday season. Cities, towns, and villages put on extravagant shows in markets, parks, and squares — even entire city neighborhoods join in on the festivities. Visiting these shows has become something of an annual family tradition. We’ve sourced Christmas displays that have been trumpeted across trusted publications and award lists like USA Today, Timeout, and Forbes, to find the best the U.S. has to offer. If you want to visit, choose one close to you, wrap up warm, enjoy the show, and, hopefully, you’ll be so impressed that you’ll be inspired to up your own holiday decor game (if you haven’t already!). Here are 10 displays of Christmas lights across America, which we think are among the best.
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Fantasy in Lights at Callaway Resort and Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia
Glowing lights at Fantasy in Lights at Callaway Resort and Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia. – Callaway Resort & Gardens / YouTube
About an hour-and-a-half drive southwest of Atlanta is the charming Pine Mountain, an artsy town full of southern cuisine and outdoor fun. During the holiday season, the town puts on a 2,500-acre display of illumination and seasonal wonder for all the family at the Callaway Resort and Gardens. Visitors will discover 18 themed scenes and more than 10 million lights flooding the gardens with seasonal shimmer. Forbes ranked it in its top three Christmas light displays for 2024 — and 2025 promises to be even better!
The enchantment begins on November 14 and shines through January 4, and anyone visiting will be treated to some showstopping displays. The Callaway Christmas Village dazzles with a 40-foot Pixel Pine at its center, while Santa, his merry friends, and oversized storybook ornaments create picture-perfect scenes for festive family photos. There’s also the brand-new “Song of the Trees” scene, which transforms the grounds’ towering evergreens into a radiant forest in sync with festive music for a dynamic light-and-sound display. Then, there are the walk-through tunnels that envelop visitors in glittering lights, while Snowflake Lane captivates with its shimmering snowflakes.
The 7-mile drive-through route lets you take in the sparkle and color from the comfort of your car and takes at least 45 minutes, while the walk-through experience lets you do things up close at your own pace. Tickets are priced between $25 and $40 for adults and $20 and $35 for kids aged 4 to 12. You can stay at the Callaway’s Lodge and Spa, Cottages, or Villas, should you want to extend the experience, and a variety of seasonal meals are also available, including Thanksgiving, Breakfast with Santa, Christmas Buffet, and New Year’s Eve Celebration.
Nights of Lights in St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine night of lights – ridewithgoodnews/Shutterstock
For two years running, National Geographic named the Nights of Lights show in St. Augustine, Florida, as one of the world’s best holiday displays. But it hasn’t rested on that long-ago recognition. More recently, Forbes included it on its 2024 list, while USA Today has nominated it for a 2025 Reader’s Choice Award. In short, it’s pretty good. This year, 3 million tiny white bulbs and countless candles aim to once again transform America’s oldest city into an illuminated spectacle during the 32nd Annual Nights of Lights. It’s a tradition that reflects age-old Spanish customs, where placing candles in windows at Christmas symbolically invites the Baby Jesus into households and hearts.
Nowadays, the celebrations are a little more high-voltage, with Light-Up! Night illuminating the city at 6:30 p.m. on November 15, following a live holiday performance by Showtime USA. The magic runs nightly through January 11, and the entire spectacle is free. Businesses in the area stay open late so visitors can dine or have drinks in the festive ambience, while white lights pour like glowing waterfalls from every tree in Plaza de la Constitución, where a vibrant Christmas tree also awaits family photos. You can experience all the sparkle and charm on a trolley, boat, or horse-drawn carriage, or, if you haven’t filled yourself with too much eggnog, climb the 219 steps to St. Augustine Lighthouse to see the entire historic district sparkling like a blanket of stars below. Kids can go on festive, joy-filled Roadster Rides with Santa or the Grinch, while parents can take a carriage ride and indulge in a little artisan wine.
Gardens Aglow at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine
A Nature in Motion-themed installation at the Gardens Aglow light show. – NEWS CENTER Maine / YouTube
The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is the largest in New England and one of the best in America. Famed for its giant troll structures, it is also home to the Gardens Aglow display, an enchanting walk-through experience that runs from mid-November to January 3. More than half a million twinkling LEDs illuminate the 300-acre gardens, but there is much more contributing to the magic. The 2025 “Nature in Motion” theme promises glowing sculptures of Maine wildlife throughout the walk. News Center Maine reports that these innovative installations combine biodegradable thermoplastics with lasers, which is a combination that designers at PORTL& claim will “blur the lines between reality, technology, and magic.”
Tickets for Gardens Aglow are on sale already, with Early Bird discounts available until November 26. Regular pricing of $23 for adults, $20 for seniors and veterans, and $13 for children resumes on November 29, while children under the age of 3 can enter for free. Visitors can enjoy the spectacle on Thursdays through Sundays starting at 4 p.m., but take note that the gardens are closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.
You could also explore the Boothbay Lights celebration at Boothbay Harbor. A convenient Park and Ride shuttle runs from Friday to Sunday between the gardens and the Boothbay Harbor Town Office. There, you can enjoy the annual — and completely free — Lighted Boat Parade, where festively decorated vessels parade around the inner harbor. The area is also lit up by the Sparkle Fireworks display, while the town’s Opera House at Boothbay Harbor offers the (also free) Gingerbread Spectacular, showcasing dozens of elaborate gingerbread creations.
Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, New York
Houses with Christmas Lights in the suburban Brooklyn neighborhood of Dyker Heights. – Paola Giannoni/Getty Images
Dyker Heights is synonymous with lights at this time of year. It’s a neighborhood in Brooklyn that truly goes for seasonal festivities big style, thanks to resident Lucy Spata, who started the whole show almost four decades ago on 84th Street. The neighborhood trend caught on after she displayed 40 angels on her lawn in memory of her recently passed mother. Nowadays, you can enjoy the spectacle from the area known as Dyker Heights Boulevard between 11th and 13th Avenues and 83rd and 86th Streets. Popular homes include Sam the Greek’s house, which takes the seasonal spectacle to next-level extravagance with almost 300,000 lights every year, while Lucy herself still takes part with an extravagant annual holiday presentation. Some houses are so elaborate that they have even featured on TV commercials, while others choose to add to the Yuletide ambience by playing Christmas carols on loudspeakers.
The resident-owned Dyker Heights Christmas Lights is a popular tour, with bus pickups in Manhattan. They run nightly throughout the month of December; otherwise, you can make your own way there and wander around the enchanting streets for free. However, this is a residential area first and foremost, so please keep the place clean, use trash bins, and maintain a courteous distance from people’s homes. Decorations start to appear the weekend following Thanksgiving, but the best time to view them in full glow is from mid-December. Don’t leave it too late in the evening, either, as many residents will switch off their displays when it’s time to go to bed!
Austin Trail of Lights, Austin, Texas
A child rides the merry-go-round during the Austin Trail of Lights festival at Zilker Park. – Brandon Bell/Getty Images
The Austin Trail of Lights initially started in 1965 as the modest “Yule Fest.” Today, it has grown into a sprawling winter wonderland that attracts almost 300,000 visitors each year to Zilker Park. With over 2 million radiant lights, almost 100 glowing Christmas trees, and festive displays aplenty, the park is transformed year on year into a playground for all the family. The 155-foot Zilker Holiday Tree is the centerpiece, a towering cone made of 3,309 brilliant lights that stands out against the Austin skyline, glowing like a festive beacon.
The pathway that winds around the park passes countless displays, snack stalls, rides, and other seasonal attractions for just over a mile, but enjoying it all can take much longer than you might think — so make sure you wrap up warm. There are sparkling tunnels of light, cookies and s’mores, carousels and Ferris wheels, and whimsical zones like Candy Cane Lane and the North Pole to explore.
The show runs between December 10 and 23, with free admission on most days. You can opt for any of the available premium packages, which come with their own perks. A ZIP Pass, for example, costs $30 (plus fees and taxes), which gets you in before the general public at 6 p.m. and gives you access to the ZIP Lounge with its bar, heated washrooms, and complimentary cookies and cocoa. However, certain dates do have a cover charge for general admission ($8, not including booking fee), including the closing night on the 23rd.
Old Time Christmas at Silver Dollar City, Branson, Missouri
A Christmas lights sign at Silver Dollar City. – Logan Bush/Shutterstock
One of America’s most underrated theme parks transforms into a Christmas wonderland for the entire months of November and December and into the new year. The spectacle features an astonishing 6.5 million lights on top of shows, rides, and holiday meals across a 70,000-square-foot area. They flood every corner of the park with light and color, to such an extent that the Travel Channel decided to name Silver Dollar City “The Most Illuminated Park on Earth.” It’s also a serial winner of USA Today’s Best Theme Park Holiday Event in its Readers’ Choice poll, which all but guarantees a fun and festive family day out.
This year, there’s a new 44-foot live Grand Fir adorned with 30,000 lights debuting in the park, with Rockefeller-inspired lighting ceremonies occurring three times every night alongside live music. Over at Joy On Town Square, you’ll find a giant animated tree synchronized to festive tunes and pulsing with lights spreading across the square. Animated reindeer, trains, snowflakes, another giant tree, and tunnels are all lit up at Christmas in Midtown by 1.5 million lights, while the Frisco Sing-Along Steam Train invites passengers to belt out carols during the ride. Regional artisans like blacksmiths, glassblowers, and candy makers create a turn-of-the-century era of festive ambience throughout the park, and the Living Nativity represents the true reason for Christmas, while a canopy of illuminated angels soars above. And of course, you can ride all the thrilling coasters and rides your stomach can handle after all those festive snacks.
Hershey Sweet Lights and Christmas Candylane, Hersheypark, Pennsylvania
A Lit-up Ferris wheel at Christmas Candylane, Hersheypark. – BTParks / YouTube
The drive-through Hershey Sweet Lights display is a separate admission from the Christmas Candylane event at Pennsylvania’s largest amusement park, Hersheypark. It’s a 2-mile cruise through fields and forest trails with almost 600 illuminated displays. Among them are scenes depicting the 12 Days of Christmas, an Enchanted Forest, animated displays of Hershey-themed rides and characters, a Victorian Village, and a new area depicting the Northern Lights using fog and lasers. Ticket prices vary by date, with a $30 to $43 entry fee for cars. It’s open daily, including Christmas Day, through to January 4, and tickets are available online.
If you want to combine festive lights with festive thrills, the Hersheypark Christmas Candylane is the ride for you. It’s another top-nominated park, and illumination highlights include a festive music-synchronized NOEL light show. It’s also one of the few parks in the Northeast where you can view millions of shimmering festive lights while being thrown about on a thrilling ride. You have the brand-new Twizzlers Twisted Gravity Screamin’ Swing. At 137 feet, it’s the world’s tallest — and it hits dizzying speeds of 68 mph. There are also numerous roller coasters, including the Shaq-A-Licious Laff Trakk, a new and enlarged edition of the original indoor coaster.
Santa and his nine live reindeer, including Rudolph, also make appearances. Other festive attractions include the Twinkling Thru Time stage show, a blend of holiday traditions and Christmas songs in the warm and cozy Chevrolet Music Box Theatre. And what better place is there than the Hershey Hot Chocolate Bar to indulge in seasonal cocoa treats — including Peppermint Hot Chocolate and Reese’s Extreme Hot Chocolate with peanut butter sauce?
Garden Lights, Holiday Nights, Atlanta Botanical Garden
Glowing tree lights at Garden Lights, Holiday Nights, Atlanta. – Aventures by D / YouTube
Every year, the Atlanta Botanical Garden transforms into an illuminated realm of natural landscapes and innovative artistry at the Garden Lights, Holiday Nights exhibition. It’s a combination of millions of LEDs synchronized to festive tunes, giant glowing sculptures, and holiday experiences that aims to fill visitors of all ages with wonder. It even won ABC’s The Great Christmas Light Fight: Heavyweights Edition in 2023, so it’s one you shouldn’t miss if you’re in the area.
Walking through the glowing tunnels of color and light and marveling at trees shifting through the spectrum in time to holiday melodies, all framed by panoramic views of the Atlanta skyline, is the highlight for most. You’ll discover giant flowers glowing in the night, shimmering snowflakes, glittering stars, and artistic displays like those modeled on the work of American glass artist Dale Chihuly that combine sculptural design with illumination. And, as you walk around at your own pace, taking everything in, you can treat yourself to hot cocoa and seasonal snacks or even indulge in a cocktail or two.
The season runs from November 15 through January 11, with nightly hours from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (10:00 p.m. on crowded nights). Adult tickets range from $30 to $65 based on your date and ticket type, while children aged 3 to 12 are $27 to $62 (visitors younger than 2 years old enter for free). Night Light Tickets provide discounted entry after 9 p.m. on quieter nights for around $20 for adults, but advance purchase for your specific date and time is required, as same-day gate sales aren’t available.
Glow Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut
A young girl meets Santa at Glow Hartford. – Glow Hartford / YouTube
Glow Hartford does things a little differently at the Connecticut Convention Center by integrating fun kid-friendly themed puzzles alongside its 1 million illuminating lights. Last year, its “Around the World” theme took young visitors across the globe to places like France, the U.K., China, and Mexico, via illuminated recreations of world landmarks. Children received passports for their exciting adventure, a scavenger hunt where they collected stamps before getting to the end to claim their prize.
This year, “Santa’s Sleigh Adventure” sends kids on a mission to save the Yuletide season by helping Santa locate his missing reindeer. Also this year, visitors will receive a complimentary GlowQuest wand to aid in puzzle solving, and it might even help you find some hidden surprises across the center! In addition, you’ll discover giant transportation-themed displays, LED swings that change color as you swoop, photos with Father Christmas himself, and a ride through the illuminations on the Glow-comotive — all at no extra cost.
Connecticut Convention Center hosts this dazzling spectacle from November 21 through December 23. Tickets cost $34 for adults aged 16 to 64, $24 for those over 65, and $24 for children aged 5 to 15, while five-person value packs for any age combination offer excellent value at $104. Military, police, EMS workers, veterans, and kids under 5 all get in for free.
The Legendary Lights of Clifton Mill, Ohio
The Legendary Lights of Clifton Mill – For 91 Days – Slow Travel / YouTube
Every year for almost four decades, the underrated nature-loving Ohio village of Clifton Mill has marked Christmas with impressive illuminations at the Legendary Lights of Historic Clifton Mill display. It’s an acclaimed celebration of over 5 million lights that cover the historic mill and surrounding terrain. There’s a covered bridge that wows every year with its synchronized light-and-music performance that runs hourly every evening, and a 100-foot “waterfall” of light that flows down the embankment from the mill into the river below.
All it takes every night is a single switch that simultaneously activates every light, transforming the dark Ohio night into a winter fantasy of color and wonder. And that first switch brightens the evening skies on November 28 and runs through December 30. Gates open at 5 p.m., and the show goes on until 9 p.m., with shorter showtimes on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that end at 8 p.m.
Other attractions include the Miniature Village, while the Santa Claus Museum and Toy Collection offer fascinating exhibits for youngsters. You can also sneak a peek at a live Father Christmas working away in his workshop. He does have a lot of lists to get through, but you can see him checking them all, then climbing the chimney to fill his sleigh with toys. Of course, you can only do this until December 23, as he is rather busy after that! Admission costs $15 per person, with children under 3 entering for free.
Methodology
Photo of a young family celebrating Christmas outdoors. – Aleksandarnakic/Getty Images
We focused on reputable sources, including (but not limited to) Forbes, Time Out, USA Today, and US News, as well as social media and review sites like Reddit and Tripadvisor to hear what people were saying. From their recommendations, we narrowed the many excellent shows across the nation down to a top 10 of the ones that were most positively mentioned.
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Read the original article on Islands.