As the days grow shorter, the winter holidays arrive, bringing with them the delightful Christmas lights displays. Here’s where to see magical Christmas lights displays in the Northeast USA. Just remember to bundle up — it gets coooooold!
Connecticut Christmas Light Show
Mystic Seaport’s traditional interactive holiday show, Lantern Light Village is an outdoor, free-roaming experience that showcases the range of holiday experiences between the 19th century and present day. Families travel through time and Christmas lights to enjoy the history of Christmases past and present, with festive lighting, displays, music, horse and carriage rides, a visit from St. Nicholas, stories, crafts, games, and more.
You can even interact with the actors portraying members of the 19th century village as they prepare for Christmas Eve and year-end celebrations. Lantern Light Village will be open from 5-8:30 p.m. on December 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, and 22, 2024. Tickets are $30 for ages 13 and up and $25 for ages 4-12.
Christmas Traditions in Massachusetts
Boston
The usual guided Freedom Trail Historic Holiday Stroll, featuring guides in 19th-century costumes leading a 90-minute tour, will be available select Fridays and Saturdays beginning November 22-December 28. Tours will begin at 3:30 p.m. in small six-person groups. Tickets are $20 per adult and $10 per child.
Falmouth
Highfield Hall & Gardens kicks off the season with Holidays at Highfield, November 22-December 15, 2024. This fun event includes both the indoor Winter Wonderland Village as well as an outdoor exhibit. Tickets are $20.
Falmouth Village Green is hosting its 61st annual Christmas Parade, one of the largest holiday parades in Southern New England, on December 8, 2024, beginning at noon.
Sandwich
Heritage Museums & Gardens closes for winter, but opens for its annual Gardens Aglow. Running on November 24-26; November 30-December 3; December 7-10, December 14-17, and December 20-23, this special event has three timed entries daily: 4:30-5:45 pm, 5:45-6:45 pm, 6:45-8:30 pm. Christmas lights brighten the garden. The experience includes a reindeer scavenger hunt, model train display, a carousel, and Santa Claus at the Outdoor Stage, as well as fire pits where you can roast marshmallows to keep warm.
Buy tickets in advance; they are limited and tend to sell out quickly. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for youth ages 3-17.
Vintage Christmas in New Hampshire
Portsmouth
Celebrate a Vintage Christmas throughout December in this seaport town. The small town celebrates the holiday in a big way, with lights, caroling, Santa in a horse-drawn carriage and a free vintage Christmas trolley through the streets to see the lights. A gingerbread house contest and showcase runs November 29 through December 18. There is family ice skating, and various musical performances throughout the month of December.
There is also an annual Candlelight Stroll at Strawbery Banke Museum on weekends December 6 – 22, 2024. This event takes place from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. and 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. There is a Hanukkah celebration as well. Ticket sales are open now, and they sell out every year, so make sure to get your tickets early!
Lights, Lights, and More Christmas Lights in New York

Brooklyn
Lightscape, a magical illuminated trail through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, has artist-designed installations that incorporate the trees and garden landscape. What makes Lightscape extra special is how inclusive it is. While this is certainly a holiday display, rock and classical musical playing along with the lights make the experience not just about Christmas.
Tickets range from $24 to $32 a person; kids under 3 are free. Lightscape runs most nights from November 22, 2024–January 5, 2025. There are special three-course (indoor) Lightscape Lodge Dinners in December so you can make a whole night of it. You can also get snack and drinks while you walk around. I love that a vegan hot chocolate (spiked or not) is offered.
In Dyker Heights, light displays go up after Thanksgiving and last until the New Year. These Christmas lights in New York are on private homes and the best way to see them is to dress warmly and stroll the streets. And you can bring your dog! Go to 83rd thru 86th Street between 11th and 13th Avenues. You can book a 3.5 hour bus tour, which is available every day in December (except for December 24 and 25) beginning at 6 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $65 for adults and $55 for children ages 12 and under. Advance booking is required and seats are limited.
Long Island
The drive through Magic of Lights display runs November 22, 2024–January 4, 2025 Families drive their own car through the course, held at Jones Beach State Park. The Toyota Holiday Village includes ice skating, s’mores and music. . Hours are Sunday – Thursday from 5-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 5-11 p.m. Tickets are $20 per car on weekdays if purchased in advance, and $25 for weekends. At the entrance, they are $35 for weekdays, $40 for weekends.
Note to high rollers: limos cost more. But if you’re taking a limo, cost probably isn’t a major consideration.
New York City
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lights up on Wednesday, December 4, and will remain lit through mid-January from 5 p.m. to midnight. It will be lit all 24 hours of Christmas Day and from 5 a.m. – 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
North Pole
Where could be better to see Christmas lights than in a town in upstate New York, called North Pole! The annual Village of Lights display at Santa’s Workshop features Christmas lights, caroling, a Nativity Pageant presentation, marshmallows roasting over an open fire and reindeer feeding. You can see them on December 1, 8, and 15 – 21, 2024, beginning at 4:30 p.m. The entrance closes at 7 p.m.
Syracuse
It gets super cold in upstate New York, but you can stay warm in your car at the drive-thru Lights on the Lake. The 31st annual event is open November 18, 2024 – January 13, 2025, from 5-10 p.m. The two-mile winter extravaganza includes a radio accompaniment. There is a Land of Oz and Fantasy Forest. Admission is by the carload; $10 on Monday – Thursday, and $20 Friday – Sunday. They must be purchased in advance.
Westchester
The 8th annual Winter Wonderland will transform the Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla with more than 2.5 million LED lights set to holiday music. The 1.2-mile drive-through extravaganza includes light displays, characters, music and Santa. New this year: The Ice Queen in her Ice House, a 125-foot pixel wall of lights, and an app to download in order to hear stories about each of the displays. Winter Wonderland opens November 23, 2025 and runs through December 31. The light display opens each day at 5 p.m. It costs $37 per car.
Sweet Holiday Spirit in Pennsylvania
Hershey
Hersheypark brings you the holiday spirit from the warmth of your car. You drive through Hershey Sweet Lights, two miles of wooded trails to see almost 600 illuminated, animated displays. There are 4 million lights. The spectacle runs from November 15, 2024 – January 1, 2025. Admission ranges from $29.99 – $39.99 per vehicle when purchased online, depending on the date.
Hersheypark Christmas Candylane includes Santa with his reindeer and six roller coasters, open for the holidays, plus a Christmas light show, NOEL. Admission is $86.95 when purchased online, and they’re running a pre-sale for tickets at $44.99 right now, so we’d recommend snagging your tickets soon.

Philadelphia
The Franklin Square Holiday Festival with Electrical Spectacle: A Holiday Light Show includes music, a beer garden and holiday shopping marketplace, as well as mini golf and a carousel. You can even try street curling. The free light show takes place every 30 minutes from 5 pm until closing from November 21, 2024 – February 23, 2025.
Just outside Philly, the Longwood Gardens Christmas Display runs November 22, 2024 – January 12, 2025 and features daily concerts and elaborate light displays in the water fountains. Fire pits keep you warm as you stroll outside. Timed tickets are required.

Rockhill Furnace
Live out your Polar Express fantasies at the East Broad Top Railroad this holiday season with “Christmas in Coal Country!” Take your family on a Christmas-themed one-hour train ride, complete with heated cars, letters to Santa, and a gift for each kid from Santa personally. Of course, the experience wouldn’t be complete without complimentary hot chocolate and cookies. You can also purchase tickets for a 45-minute festive trolley ride at the neighboring Rockhill Trolley Museum.
The event runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from November 29 – December 22, 2024, with trains departing every hour and a half from 4 – 7:30 p.m. on Fridays, 1:30 – 7:30 p.m. on Saturdays and 3 – 6 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $28 for adults and $22 for children ages 2-12, with the option to choose seats in the caboose for an extra $4 per ticket.
York

Stroll Christmas Magic, a half mile walking trail with over 1 million LED lights, animation and holiday scenes from November 29 – December 30 (excluding December 24 & 25) at Rocky Ridge County Park in York. Five enclosed, heated buildings on the route feature food stands, a large G-gauge train display, entertainment, and Santa Claus. Admission to Christmas Magic is by timed tickets only. Reservations are required: no walk-ins.
Best Christmas Lights in the Northeast: Rhode Island
Bristol
Step back in history with Christmas at Blithewold. The 45-room English-style manor is filled with hand-crafted ornaments, and the illuminated gardens and greenhouse add Christmas cheer. Sing carols and warm up with hot cocoa and roasted marshmallows around a roaring bonfire in Blithewold’s Enclosed Garden. Exact dates have not been posted, but Christmas at Blithewold usually runs from the last week of November through the first week of January.
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