The Best Christmas Light Displays in Every State

For over two decades, Bellingrath Gardens and Home has been the place to see holiday lights in Alabama, and their display lives up to the reputation with more than 1,100 set pieces and 3 million lights spread throughout the 65-acre estate. The Bellingrath Gardens’ Magic Christmas in Lights display, now a 25-year-strong tradition, runs from the day after Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

In the town of North Pole, going all out on Christmas decorations is a given. Stop by Santa Claus House where “It’s Christmas every day!” for photos with the world's largest Santa, his whole reindeer team, and the big man himself.

No pines or spruces in your state? Simply make do with what you have à la Arizona’s Tumbleweed Tree. A tradition more than 50 years strong in Chandler, Arizona, the community centerpiece is, quite literally, a pile of nearly 1,000 tumbleweeds formed into a tree shape, sprayed with white paint, dusted with 65 pounds of glitter, and adorned with 1,200 lights. It’s truly a sight to be seen.

Garvan Woodland Gardens is both an architectural and botanic phenomenon, seeing as the gardens in Hot Springs are affiliated with the University of Arkansas’ School of Architecture + Design. Each year, they host a Winter Garden Festival from mid-November to New Year’s Eve complete with golf cart tours through the light displays.

When you’re on the water, it doesn’t get any better than a boat parade of lights. And the southern California boat (or, let’s be real, yacht) displays are pretty exceptional. The Dana Point Harbor Boat Parade of Lights is a southern California favorite, as is the King Harbor Yacht Club parade in Redondo Beach. The boat parades were canceled this year due to the pandemic, but you can still find fun, festive decor at Dana Point Harbour. 

Colorado is known for another unusual “tree” tradition, the lighting of the ski tree. Every December, the Telluride community donates recycled skis for a ceremonial "ski burn" in honor of the Norse god Ullr, the patron saint of skiers. Prefer a more traditional display? Check out the Denver Botanic Gardens for their annual Blossoms of Light event.

Hartford, Connecticut’s Holiday Light Fantasia is a full-blown winter celebration with larger-than-life scenes depicting Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's Eve. Drive through the animated displays in Goodwin Park, and keep an eye out for Flurry, a puppy donning a Santa hat, hidden amongst the lights.

In Delaware, the name DuPont holds some serious weight, and that goes double when it comes to Christmas decorations. Many of the best displays in the state can be found in DuPont mansions. One of the best: Yuletide at Winterthur, featuring a Christmas tree decorated with more than 60 varieties of dried flowers.

Disney World might be called "The Most Magical Place On Earth” all year round, but it certainly kicks the pixie dust up a notch during the holidays. Hotels and theme parks are decked out in holiday decor, and guests will find tasty seasonal snacks and festive entertainment.

For the best Christmas lights display in Georgia, look no further than the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Their two-month Garden Lights, Holiday Nights exhibition illuminates the plant and flower-filled outdoor space. Don’t miss the Skylights Lounge in the Skyline Garden.

The Waikele neighborhood lights — a multi-house, synchronized holiday experience spearheaded by the Yoshida family — has become so popular that it was a contender on The Great Christmas Light Show on ABC. There are shows daily from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and the light show typically runs through early January. The lights were canceled this year, so look out for updates in late 2021. 

Setting itself apart from the other displays in the state, Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Resort features lights on a lake. Take one of the resort’s “merry cruise boats” to see the site’s massive floating Christmas tree and the 1.5 million bulbs reflected in the water. 

Go wild this holiday with a visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights in Chicago. An annual Windy City tradition, the zoo features 250,000 LED lights illuminating 30 animal-themed displays, holiday crafts, and family-friendly activities like ice skating and holiday train rides.

Go wild this holiday with a visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights in Chicago. An annual Windy City tradition, the zoo features 250,000 LED lights illuminating 30 animal-themed displays, holiday crafts, and family-friendly activities like ice skating and holiday train rides.

Iowa’s Jolly Holiday Lights reign supreme in The Hawkeye State. Featuring a 2.5 mile-ride through over 100 light displays, a trip to Jolly Holiday Lights is also a gift to charity as 100% of admissions fees are donated to Make-A-Wish Iowa.

The honor of best Christmas lights in Kansas undoubtedly belongs to Illuminations at the Botanica Wichita. Over 2 million lights completely overhaul the gardens into a Christmas-themed show.

Kentucky’s lights shine the brightest quite literally underground. At Lights Under Louisville, MEGA Cavern is transformed into a 30-minute Christmas-themed car ride lit by over 2 million bulbs.

It just isn’t Christmas in New Orleans until the lights at Celebration in the Oaks flip their switch. Every year, more than 165,000 visitors pour into City Park to see the hundreds of thousands of lights twinkling throughout the oak groves. 

Gardens Aglow at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens isn’t your typical Christmas light experience, but more like a magical, glowing forest to explore. Gardens Aglow is open from mid-November to January 2, for visitors to watch nature come to life through hundreds of thousands of lights.

Christmas descends on Annapolis in a haze of beautiful lights lining the Chesapeake Bay. The SPCA annually hosts Lights on the Bay at Sandy Point State Park, from mid-November to January 2. Pile the whole brood into your car (entry is $20 per car) and drive through the stunning activations that light up Sandy Point each holiday season.

Massachusetts' Bright Night, a collaboration between the City of Springfield and Spirit of Springfield, a private non-profit organization, has been bringing light to Forest Park for over 20 years. Families can pack into their vans to cruise through the Bright Night displays from the comfort of their cars. Can’t make it out this year? Check out the site’s live webcam, or the virtual tour of glowing displays like Seuss Land, the Nativity, an American flag, and winter woods, in addition to scenes celebrating Kwanzaa and Hanukkah.

A real-life Polar Express, Michigan’s Huckleberry Railroad takes guests on a holiday-themed ride, passing by Christmas lights, and ending at the Crossroads Village. This year, visitors can take in the sights from the comfort of their cars during the Crossroads Holiday Magic Drive Thru.  It runs annually from the day after Thanksgiving to December 30.

Minnesota’s best holiday display is in Bentleyville — the Bentleyville Tour of Lights features 5 million lights spread over 20 acres. Check the event website for the crowd-o-meter that gives an idea of how many people may visit during each day of the event.

In Canton, Mississippi, the Canton Christmas Festival lights up the holiday season with more than 200,000 lights. The festival, heading into its 31st year, will begin the weekend after Thanksgiving and run through most of December. In addition to the gorgeous holiday lights and programming like "Sip 'n' Cider" on Dec. 11, the festival will feature appearances by Mrs. Claus and Santa, as well as games, rides, and a carousel. 

Branson, Missouri’s Silver Dollar City is regularly hailed as one of the best Christmas destinations in the country, a title well-deserved considering the park features over 6.5 million lights and a thousand Christmas trees. Plan your visit to Silver Dollar City’s An Old Time Christmas, where every nook and cranny is illuminated by those six million lights, and don’t miss the nightly Christmas In Midtown Light Spectacular, where good ol’ Rudolph makes an appearance. An Old Time Christmas runs from early November to the end of December each year.

Here’s a fun fact: Bozeman, Montana is known around the state for having the best Christmas lights. From Shadow Glen Drive to West Babcock Street to Powder Ridge Avenue, there are must-cruise streets in Bozeman where you can find some of the best Christmas lights in the state. How do you find them? Tune into the local radio station (XL Country 100.7) where they’ll guide you to Bozeman’s best lights.

The tagline for the Omaha Holiday Lights Festival is “see downtown dazzle" and with over 40 blocks of bulbs, including 1 million lights decorating the Gene Leahy Mall, it certainly lives up to that promise. Once you’ve had your fill of the twinklers, stop by to see Santa, watch local choirs perform, or visit the open-air holiday markets.

Kick your Christmas up a notch at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile course featuring over three million lights and 400 animated displays. But lead-foots, take a breath before you floor it—the event isn’t on the racing track, so speed limits are still enforced.

Few things beat Christmas in New England, from the idyllic snow-capped homes to the surplus of hot cider. In New Hampshire, find the coziest, hygge-esque holiday cheer in Portsmouth at Strawbery Banke Museum. The museum’s celebration is right at the heart of Portsmouth’s famed “Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth.” The museum hosts a romantic Annual Candlelit Stroll on select days in December.

For some of the best Christmas lights in New Jersey, head to Egg Harbor Township to experience the magic of Storybook Land. Here, Santa lights the park nightly at 5 p.m., bringing to life thousands of lights that spread cheer across the Garden State.

There are a few neighborhoods New Mexicans trek to see during the holidays, like Cabezon, a neighborhood outside Rio Rancho that goes all out with light displays, and Sandia Heights, in Albuquerque, where the upscale houses are lavishly decorated for the season. But one of the best light displays is in Old Town Albuquerque, where the historic storefronts and buildings are decked out with holiday spirit; walk through the streets and you’ll feel like you’re ambling through a southwestern Christmas postcard, or the set of a Hallmark flick. 

Move over Rockefeller, the real highlight of New York’s Christmas spirit is out in Dyker Heights. Homeowners in the Brooklyn neighborhood are said to have an unspoken competition, continuing to up the ante annually with over-the-top lights, professionally-created displays, and inflatable lawn ornaments.