'Tis the season for a holiday light show... or two or three or four (why not experience them all?). There are plenty of dazzling displays across the region—and you can take the subway, bus, LIRR, or Metro-North to transport yourself into a glittering winter world.
This guide has been updated for 2024.
Lightscape at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s wildly popular Lightscape has returned with some new illuminated installations, like the "Feast of Light," a tunnel of hundreds of pink and purple hanging lights and a "Chandelier Walk," plus a soundtracked "Sea of Light" show.
Lightscape runs through January 5th, 2025; check the schedule for available dates. Tickets range in price from $24 (on value nights) to $45 for adults and $12 (on value nights) to $23 for children, with discounts for BBG members.
Subway
Hempstead
City Terminal Zone
Take the subway or Long Island Rail Road-plus-subway to stops around the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
LuminoCity at Eisenhower Park
In its biggest incarnation yet, LuminoCity’s impressive displays span 17 acres at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow. This year's theme is "Wonder Journey," with other themed areas like Alice in Wonderful, Winter Fantasy, Christmasville, and Underwater Oasis, a collaboration with the Long Island Aquarium.
LuminoCity runs from November 8, 2024 through January 5, 2025; you can purchase tickets here.
Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights
The Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights celebrates its animals with festive lanterns in the shape of giraffes, lions, elephants, rhinos, jaguars, polar bears, walruses, penguins, ibises, and crocodiles along its trails. There are nine new animal species added to the lanterns, as well as a new "Enchanted Sea" with LED swings. Light shows, a Light Tunnel, ice carvings, and more return for visitors.
Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights runs from November 22nd through January 5th; you can purchase tickets here.
Dyker Heights Houses
If you want to experience a residential holiday light extravaganza, look no further than the homes in Brooklyn's Dyker Heights. The neighborhood is famous for their over-the-top decorations, and owners have even been known to greet visitors and share seasonal cheer.
The holiday lights are all along homes in Dyker Heights on 11th Avenue to 13th Avenue and from 83rd to 86th Street. Most are decorated after Thanksgiving.
Grand Holiday Illumination at Untermeyer Gardens Conservancy
Untermeyer Gardens Conservancy, an oasis in Yonkers, offers a free holiday light experience called The Grand Holiday Illumination. With over 100,000 lights decorating the Wall Garden, the illumination has become a local must-see. There’s also Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Zoroastrian (ancient Persian) recorded music playing.
The Grand Holiday Illumination opens on December 7th and runs through January 1st. Admission is free.
