Get In the Mood for Christmas With a Tour of City Lights

From Klyde Warren Park and downtown to the Park Cities to Swiss Avenue to Addison and beyond, we have your must-see neighborhoods on a handy map (Photo courtesy Flickr/skys the limit 2).

If you’ve lived in Dallas-Fort Worth for any length of time, you know that shortly after Thanksgiving Day — whether it’s 80 degrees or 20 — it’s a time-honored tradition to check out the Christmas light displays in nearby neighborhoods.

But do you ever have FOMO on your expeditions? Perhaps you worry that as much as you love the regular haunts you cruise through during the holidays, there might be new displays to check out, too. Or maybe you’re pretty new to the area and have no idea where exactly to go.

Thanks to CandysDirt.com and sponsor Christine McKenny of Allie Beth Allman & Associates, you can FOMO no more – because we’ve created this handy map of key spots to check out Christmas lights.

We surveyed several neighborhoods and Realtors and compiled a list worthy of a cup of hot chocolate and a full tank of gas. Our criteria were simple — the locations had to be worth the drive, and free of charge.

And McKenny jumped on board quickly to help produce this map, because she’s all about Christmas traditions and Dallas, and knows that visiting neighborhoods with the best displays is one of those Dallas area traditions almost everyone is on board for.

McKenny says her favorite places to celebrate the holidays include “Christmas parties with family and friends,” along with Christmas Eve dinner at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse or Lawry’s The Prime Rib.

For her family, four things are must-dos at Christmas. “We like the gingerbread house decorating class at Hotel Crescent Court, holiday brunch at the Zodiac Room at Neiman Marcus downtown, and the Christmas Pops at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra,” she said.

McKenny’s family is not immune to the draw of the Christmas light display, either.

“We do the carriage ride from Highland Park Village with Three Jays Carriages,” she said. The route from Highland Park Village through the Park Cities is one of many spots on our map to hit.

Whether it’s sedate or garish, skews more Griswold than Nutcracker Suite, or involves more inflatables than a basketball factory, the allure of the holiday yard display is a siren song for just about anyone, it seems – and McKenny has a theory about why.

“Everything is bigger in Texas and this applies to Christmas lights, too,” she said.

Where will you head this year? See any displays on the map that you’ll be visiting for the first time? Click here for a printable version of the map.

Note: This map is meant to be used to get you going in the right direction. Combined with your own turn-by-turn navigation device and the accompanying list, it should be pretty easy to find the great displays recommended on the map.