A Visit to Longwood Gardens at Christmas

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite holiday traditions growing up was driving around as a family looking at the Christmas lights in our neighborhood.  We would ooh and aah and cheer for the beautiful blinking lights.

As an adult I still love to see all of the Christmas lights as I drive to and from work or to the store.  But now, I’ve added a new twist to this holiday tradition: my husband and I go to large Christmas light displays in neighboring towns and states.

Years ago I was watching an episode of Martha Stewart Living on TV and Martha was talking about decorating with Christmas lights.  I heard her rave about the Christmas lights and decorations at a place in Pennsylvania called Longwood Gardens and I tucked that name in the back of my mind for the future.

Fast forward a decade or so, and I decided to look up Longwood Gardens online to see of it was still around and if they still decorated for Christmas.  What I found was images of a beautiful indoor and outdoor botanical garden that decorates from the Friday after Thanksgiving into early January with Christmas lights and more than 100 Christmas trees.  

I begged my husband if we could go one weekend, afraid he would think it was a little too frilly for him, but he thought it would be neat to see the lights so we bought our tickets online and planned our trip.  Longwood Gardens is located in Kennett Square, PA, which is a 3 hour drive from us so we drove up on a Friday and stayed 2 nights.  

We had tickets to go to the botanical garden on Saturday and we planned it just right.  We try to get there around 4:00pm so we can eat dinner first at their restaurant and then head inside the Conservatory while it’s still light out.

Every room inside is decorated in a different theme with live trees, plants and flowers.  They have live music and performances taking place at various times as well as a tour through each room of the indoor gardens.

Once we have walked through the entire building, it is usually dark enough to head outside and see the lights on all of the outdoor displays.  There is even a light and water show set to music!  

The only word to describe Longwood Gardens is…magical!  We just got back from our third trip there and it always puts me in the Christmas mood!  I hope you enjoy our pictures from this trip as well as the video of the water and light show.

Now, I know that you might not be anywhere near Longwood Gardens to be able to go see their display.  That is why I’ve done some research for you and have created a list of more than 30 of the top Christmas light displays on the US!  I highly suggest you also check online for other Christmas light displays where you live as well…especially if you have a botanical garden or large zoo near you as they often decorate for the holidays.

I hope you enjoy this list and I hope you are able to find some beautiful Christmas light displays to visit this year.  Please share this post to spread the list to others, and I’d love to see your comments of what Christmas light displays you enjoy – and maybe even share a picture or two!

Top Christmas Light Displays in US

100 Miles of Lights (Virginia Beach to Roanoke, VA)

Blossoms of Light at Botanical Gardens (Denver, CO)

Bright Nights at Forest Park (Springfield, MA)

Christmas Lighting Festival (Leavenworth, MA)

Christmas on Main Street at Silver Dollar City (Branson, MO)

Christmas Village in Baltimore at Inner Harbor (Baltimore, MD)

Dominion Garden of Lights at Norfolk Botanical Gardens (Norfolk, VA)

Enchanted Garden of Lights at Rock City Garden (Chattanooga, TN)

Fantasy in Lights at Callaway Gardens (Pine Mountain, GA)

Festival of Lights at Mission Inn Hotel & Spa (Downtown Riverside, CA)

Galaxy of Lights at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens (Huntsville, AL)

Garden Lights at Atlanta Botanical Gardens (Atlanta, GA)

Holiday Festival of Lights in James Island County Park (Charleston, SC)

Holiday Lights Show at Coeur D’Aline Resort (Coeur D’Aline, ID)

Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Las Vegas, NV)

Legendary Christmas Lights at Clifton Mill (Clifton, OH)

Lights on the Bay at Sandy Point State Park (Annapolis, MD)

Louisville MEGA Cavern (Louisville, KY)

Macy’s at Center City (Philadelphia, PA)

Magic Christmas in Lights at Bellingrath Gardens (Mobile, AL)

Magical Nights of Light (Lake Lanier, GA)

Nights of Lights at Downtown St. Augustine (St. Augustine, FL)

Oglebay Festival of Lights (Wheeling, WV)

River of Lights at ABQ Biopark Botanic Gardens (Albuquerque, NM)

Shadrack’s Christmas Wonderland (West Knoxville and Bristol, TN)

Zoolights at Smithsonian’s National Zoo (Washington DC)

Smoky Mountain Winterfest (Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville, TN)

Southern Lights at Kentucky Horse Park (Lexington, KY)

Tanglewood Festival of Lights (Clemmons, NC)

The Magnificent Mile Light’s Festival (Chicago, IL)

Trail of Lights at Zilker Park (Austin, TX)