NOTE: Most of these displays attract big crowds and several are in compact urban neighborhoods. Take public transit when you can.\u00a0 If you do drive, plan to park a few blocks away, explore on foot and dress for the weather.<\/em><\/p>\n The houses in Dyker Heights<\/a> are large by New York City<\/a> standards and holiday decorations have surpassed keeping up with the Joneses to flat out outdoing them. Think professional decorators, Frank Sinatra tunes and giant nutcrackers, soldiers and Santas. It\u2019s New York chutzpah in lights. Houses are scattered around the neighborhood but if you want to park and walk, focus on 11th<\/sup> to 13th<\/sup> avenues between 83rd<\/sup> and 86th<\/sup> streets.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t want to make your way deep into Brooklyn on your own, book a bus tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>STAY<\/strong> The Red Lion Hotel<\/a> in Gowanus offers easy access to subways, dining, Manhattan sightseeing and Dyker Heights.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photo courtesy of\u00a0Tacky Lights & GardenFest of Lights<\/p>\n The city of Richmond<\/a> offers two options for impressive neighborhood light displays. Homes around Monument Avenue offer a plethora of \u201ctraditional\u201d decorations\u00ad: Think white lights, evergreen ropes and decorated trees that are bright and cheerful but with a dollop of restraint. Across town, Walton residents take pride in offering their \u201ctacky lights experience<\/a>\u201d where they cram front yards with all the waving Santas, blinking reindeer and multi-colored lights they can squeeze in.<\/p>\n Fit families can take in the best of the tacky lights during the nighttime 6K CarMax Tacky Light Run<\/a> on December 9. A Santa tracker bib and holiday hat help get runners in the spirit.<\/p>\n STAY <\/strong>The Graduate Richmond<\/a> offers close proximity to both neighborhoods as well as other Richmond attractions. Weather permitting, you can try to spot the lights from its rooftop beer garden.<\/p>\n This might be the most spread out display of lights but residents offer a Facebook page<\/a> with updates website<\/a> with a map to help you find all the houses and even provide a scavenger hunt for kids. More than 35 ranch houses deck themselves out with minions, penguins, Star Wars and Disney characters, elves, American flags, nativity scenes, present-filled coaches and more all in lights.<\/p>\n Stay:<\/strong> The Northern Hotel<\/a> is modern, stylish and in the center of town. Warm up by the lobby lounge fireplace, grab breakfast at the onsite Bernie\u2019s Diner or cocktails at plush lobby bar.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Flickr CC: Michi W<\/a><\/p>\n If a neighborhood earns the moniker Candy Cane Lane<\/a>, you know the holiday decorations are bound to be impressive. A handful of blocks around Oxnard and Lubao streets form Candy Cane central, where residents do all they can to give their palm trees and stucco homes that feeling of Christmas with lights, trains, Santa Claus tableaus and even giant blow-up rubber ducks.<\/p>\n If the crowds in Woodland Hills are too much, head to STAY <\/strong>Even in December you can sneak a little beach into your California visit if you stay in a waterfront neighborhood like Santa Monica. The Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel<\/a> is everything you want in a pool: gorgeous ocean views, sunsets and soothing seaside-themed d\u00e9cor in the lobbies and rooms.<\/p>\n The Miracle on South 13th<\/a> happens in the heart of Italian South Philly (specifically the block between Morris and Tasker streets). Look for a real North Pole, curbside trains, a strolling gingerbread man and row houses adorned with every kind of Christmas light and inflatable you can imagine.<\/p>\n STAY<\/strong> The Franklin Hotel at Independence Park<\/a> puts you in the Old City, near good dining and historic sights, and a stone\u2019s throw from South Philly. It even has a pool.<\/p>\n ALSO:<\/strong> Stuff your stocking with travel rewards when you join Orbitz Rewards today!<\/a><\/p>\n Flickr CC: Daniel Ramirez<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n You definitely won\u2019t have a white Christmas in Hawaii, unless you count the beach sand.\u00a0 But residents along Anapau in the Waikele neighborhood<\/a> do their best to conjure a North Pole feel with lights in the shapes of snowmen, trains, wreaths, wise men, shooting stars and more. Better still, the whole street blinks in a coordinated show set to music. And how nice to get to enjoy it all without being bundled against the cold!<\/p>\n STAY<\/strong> The Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach<\/a> Walk offers a location near the beach with a nice pool and patio, free breakfast and roomy rooms.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Flickr CC: Patrick Gillespie<\/a><\/p>\n No house is left out of the bling on “Christmas Street<\/a>,” 34th<\/sup> Street between Chestnut Ave and Keswick Road\u00a0in quirky Hampden (a ‘hood beloved by film director John Waters). For more than 70 years residents have mixed traditional holiday lights with local quirks like a hubcap Christmas tree and an ode in lights to Maryland crabs. You might even see a nod to local writer Edgar Allen Poe.<\/p>\n STAY<\/strong> Sitting on one corner of the inner Harbor, The Hyatt Regency Baltimore<\/a> has good size rooms and onsite parking and is well located for all the other dining and sightseeing you might want to do while you\u2019re in town.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peacock Lane<\/a>\u00a0in southeast Portland is a block of 1920s Tudor homes that stretch from Belmont to Stark streets. Look for C-3PO dressed like Santa, giant Grinches and at least a few peacocks as you stroll along. If you\u2019re lucky, a local resident might offer you some cocoa or hot cider while you admire their holiday handiwork.<\/p>\n STAY <\/strong>Downtown Luxe Apartments<\/a> offers good value right near Pioneer Square. Its’ 8-units include kitchens, living space, modern d\u00e9cor and lots of light.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Flickr CC: Jim Trottier<\/a><\/p>\n You\u2019ll feel a distinct December chill at the Midwestern Candy Cane Lane<\/a> that raises money for a local charity. Holiday cheer spreads from 96th Street to 92nd Street between Montana and Oklahoma avenues. Trees become candy canes, snowmen, lights, and reindeer sleights abound. Santa often makes an appearance. It\u2019s a cheerful display that stops well short of tacky.<\/p>\n STAY <\/strong>The central Milwaukee Athletic Club<\/a> offers great value with two pools, two onsite restaurants and roomy rooms with a comfortable old-school feel. It\u2019s near all the museums, shopping and theater you might want to check out while you\u2019re in town.<\/p>\n This seaside town of Victorian Homes, pedestrian zones and quaint inns doesn\u2019t have a centralized light display. But so many of the houses look made from ginger bread at any time of the year, so getting them dressed up for Christmas doesn\u2019t take much. Look for giant wreaths, ropes of evergreens, big red ribbons, swaths of white light and lots of tasteful holiday cheer<\/a>, particularly on Columbia Avenue and Washington Street. Walk on your own, take a candlelight walking tour<\/a>, hop on a trolley<\/a> or enjoy the lights from a horse-drawn carriage.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Stay: <\/strong>Cape May is known for its cozy B&Bs, so spend a night in one of those Victorian confections, such at the very Victorian Mason Cottage<\/a>. It\u2019s central, has cozy rooms, and offers guests a full breakfast.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dyker-heights-brooklyn.jpg\")
\nDyker Heights | Flickr CC: Philipp Alexander<\/a><\/p>\n1. Brooklyn, NY<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GardenFestBlueConservatory.jpg\")
<\/p>\n 2. Richmond, VA<\/strong><\/h2>\n
3. Billings, MO<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/candy-cane-lane.jpg\")
<\/p>\n 4. Woodland Hills and Pasadena (Los Angeles), CA
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nUpper Hastings Ranch<\/a> in Pasadena, where homeowners between Sierra Madre Blvd and Michilanda Ave organize themes by street. One might be all about candy canes, another replete with snowmen or famous Christmas story characters. Look for an official \u201clighting\u201d in early December.<\/p>\n5. Philadelphia PA <\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hawaii.jpg\")
6. Waikele, Honolulu, <\/strong>Hawaii<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/christmas-street.jpg\")
<\/p>\n 7. Baltimore, MD<\/strong><\/h2>\n
8. Portland OR<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/candy-cane-lane-milwaukee.jpg\")
<\/p>\n9. West Allis, Milwaukee, WI<\/strong><\/h2>\n
10. Cape May, NJ <\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Dining-Banner.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"