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Top 10 Christmas Lights Displays in the United States

By Dhiraj Sharma · Published November 11, 2026

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The best Christmas lights displays in the United States are the ones that still go up each winter, as civic, botanical or neighbourhood installations. Older lists from 2016 included named Disney products that later ended, and they sometimes ranked a one-off stroll beside a display that has been lit for decades ^[1]^[2].

This is a curated list for the 2026 holiday season, not a count of bulbs. It favours places that are documented, still scheduled, and distinct: a neighbourhood, a historic town, a garden, a park or a civic tree. Dates below are from public 2026 announcements where those exist; a traveller should still confirm hours before setting out, because weather, tickets and renovation work can change a night ^[3]^[4].

Key Facts

Some of these displays are free street scenes; others are ticketed garden or park events. "Best" here means a distinctive, still-running public display, not a private house with a viral video.

Christmas Lights Displays at a Glance

Rank	Display	Location	2026 season note	Type
1	Dyker Heights Christmas Lights	Brooklyn, New York	Neighbourhood displays, mid-December peak	Private houses, public streets
2	Nights of Lights	St. Augustine, Florida	21 November 2025 season ran into 2026; the following season is announced annually	Historic-city canopy
3	Temple Square Christmas Lights	Salt Lake City, Utah	Expected 27 November 2026 to 1 January 2027, with a reduced layout during temple renovation	Civic and religious campus
4	Austin Trail of Lights	Zilker Park, Austin, Texas	10 to 23 December 2026	Ticketed park trail
5	Fantasy in Lights	Callaway Resort and Gardens, Georgia	Mid-November 2026 into early January 2027	Ticketed garden drive and walk
6	Magic Christmas in Lights	Bellingrath Gardens, Alabama	Late November 2026 into early January 2027, with holiday closures	Ticketed garden walk
7	A Longwood Christmas	Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania	A long-running indoor and outdoor holiday display; confirm 2026 dates	Ticketed garden
8	The National Christmas Tree	The Ellipse, Washington, D.C.	Lit each season on the President's Park grounds	Civic tree and surrounding display
9	Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Christmas	Pigeon Forge, Tennessee	Seasonal park-wide lights and festival; confirm 2026 dates	Ticketed park
10	ZooLights at the Oregon Zoo	Portland, Oregon	A long-running zoo light festival; confirm 2026 dates	Ticketed zoo display

1. Dyker Heights Christmas Lights

Dyker Heights, in Brooklyn, is the most famous American neighbourhood Christmas-light display: private houses and gardens, densely decorated, on public streets that anyone can walk. There is no single ticket gate and no single designer. The display is a social fact of the neighbourhood, usually at its most intense in mid-December, and it remains the image many people now have of a "lights street" ^[1]^[5].

It is first because it is distinctive, still happening, and not a corporate show. The practical 2026 advice is ordinary and important: go on foot, be courteous to residents, do not block driveways, and expect crowds on weekend evenings. The houses are private property. The street is the public experience ^[5].

Other "Candy Cane Lane" streets exist in several cities. Dyker Heights is the one that has become a national destination ^[1]^[5].

2. Nights of Lights

St. Augustine's Nights of Lights wraps the historic district in white lights, from Castillo-area views to side streets and the waterfront, for a season that typically runs from late November into January. The 2025-26 season was published as 21 November 2025 to 18 January 2026, and the city announces the following season in the same way each year ^[2]^[6].

It is second as a civic, walkable historic-city display rather than a ticketed trail in a park. People visit by walking, by tour, or by viewing from the water, and the colonial street plan is part of the effect. Crowds on peak weekend nights are the main constraint; an early evening or a midweek night is easier ^[6].

The display is a city project, not a single garden, which is why it sits so high on a national list ^[2]^[6].

3. Temple Square Christmas Lights

Temple Square in Salt Lake City has been one of the country's best-known Christmas-light campuses for decades, with trees, walks and music around the religious and civic buildings at the centre of the city. The 2026 season has been described in local visitor guides as running from 27 November 2026 through 1 January 2027, with lighting in the areas that remain open during the long renovation of the Salt Lake Temple ^[3]^[7].

That renovation is the essential 2026 caveat. The display is still expected, but it is not the pre-renovation layout, and visitors should use current Temple Square information rather than a photograph from ten years ago ^[7]. It is third because the tradition is still alive and still central to the city's winter, even in a reduced form.

Hours, including any early-morning lighting, are set seasonally and should be checked before a late arrival ^[3]^[7].

4. Austin Trail of Lights

The Austin Trail of Lights, in Zilker Park, is a ticketed walking trail of light installations, a civic event rather than a neighbourhood improvisation. For 2026 the organisers have published dates of 10 to 23 December, in the evening ^[4]^[8]. Older national lists sometimes placed it first; it is fourth here because it is excellent and still running, but it is a two-week park event, not a month-long historic-city canopy or a whole neighbourhood.

Tickets, crowd management and the exact trail layout change. A 2026 visit should be booked through the official site. Zilker is also the park of the city's large civic tree, which is related but not identical to the ticketed trail ^[8].

It remains one of the best-known municipal light trails in the country ^[4]^[8].

5. Fantasy in Lights

Fantasy in Lights at Callaway Resort and Gardens, at Pine Mountain in Georgia, is a large ticketed garden and drive-through holiday display that has been a Southern destination for many seasons. Recent announced seasons have run from mid-November into early January, and the 2026-27 dates should be taken from the resort's current calendar ^[2]^[9].

It is fifth as a purpose-built garden spectacle with a long record, not as a city-centre stroll. People go to Callaway for this event, often from some distance, and the display is the trip rather than a sideline in a downtown hotel stay ^[9].

Weather in the Georgia hills can still be wet or cold at night. Comfortable shoes and a current ticket time are the practical details ^[9].

6. Magic Christmas in Lights

Bellingrath Gardens and Home, south of Mobile, Alabama, stages Magic Christmas in Lights as a ticketed evening walk through the historic gardens. The 2026-27 season has been published from 20 November through 9 January, with closures on some holidays, including Thanksgiving and Christmas Day in the announced calendar ^[2]^[10].

It is sixth as another long-running Southern garden display, complementary to Callaway rather than a copy of it. The setting is a historic estate garden, which gives the lights a different structure from a temporary park trail ^[10].

A 2026 visitor should note the closure dates, which are easy to miss in a copied list from a previous year ^[10].

7. A Longwood Christmas

Longwood Gardens, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, presents A Longwood Christmas as a major indoor and outdoor holiday display: conservatory installations, trees, and lighted walks in a historic garden. It is a ticketed event and one of the most carefully designed garden holidays in the country ^[2]^[11].

It is seventh because it is a garden of national importance that still makes a serious seasonal display, not because it is a street of competing porches. Timed tickets are the normal 2026 way in, and dates should be taken from Longwood's official calendar, which is published each year ^[11].

People who want both a mid-Atlantic garden and a city neighbourhood can pair this with a separate trip to Brooklyn; they are different kinds of excellence ^[5]^[11].

8. The National Christmas Tree

The National Christmas Tree, on the Ellipse in President's Park in Washington, D.C., is the federal civic tree, lit each season with a surrounding display often called the Pathway of Peace. It is not the largest show on this list, and it is not trying to be a garden trail. It is the national ceremonial tree in the capital ^[1]^[12].

It is eighth for that civic role. Access, security and the exact lighting date change with the year and with park operations, so a 2026 visit should follow National Park Service notices. The tree and the surrounding smaller trees are the display; the event is public, and it is free to see when the grounds are open ^[12].

A night on the Ellipse is also a short walk from other winter lighting in the city, but this entry is for the national tree itself ^[12].

9. Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Christmas

Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, presents a park-wide holiday festival, Smoky Mountain Christmas, with extensive lights, seasonal shows and a mountain-park setting. It is a ticketed theme-park event, and it is included because the lighting is a major, still-running seasonal installation, not because this list is a ranking of theme parks ^[2]^[11].

Older lists that put a specific, later-discontinued Disney lights product near the top are the caution here. Dollywood's festival is named and still staged as a seasonal park overlay; dates and included evenings should be checked on the official calendar before a 2026 trip ^[11].

It is ninth as a large, distinctive park display in the Smokies, clearly labelled as a ticketed attraction ^[2].

10. ZooLights at the Oregon Zoo

ZooLights at the Oregon Zoo in Portland is one of the longer-running zoo holiday-light festivals in the country, a ticketed evening event that turns the zoo paths into a light trail. Other cities have "ZooLights" events too; this entry is for the Portland original in that naming tradition, which has been a local winter institution for years ^[2]^[11].

It is tenth as a well-documented, still-expected seasonal display, and as a West Coast counterpart to the garden and neighbourhood entries. 2026 dates, ticket rules and any weather closures should be taken from the zoo's official page ^[11].

A zoo light show is a different thing from Dyker Heights or St. Augustine. It belongs on a national list if it is still good and still running, which Portland's event has been ^[2]^[11].

Conclusion

The ten displays above are neighbourhood streets, historic-city canopies, civic trees, gardens, a park trail and two ticketed seasonal attractions ^[1]^[2]. A 2026 plan should start with the type of night you want, then confirm dates. Some of the best lights are free to walk past; others are timed tickets.

Displays that have ended, including named Disney products from older lists, are omitted on purpose. If a garden or zoo calendar has not yet posted a final night, the official site, not a copied 2016 ranking, is the source to trust ^[6]^[11].