Best Christmas Lights Displays
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12/7/2007
Eugene "When you get that 'not so fresh' feeling ..." F. says:
So, beyond Christmas in the Park, where are your favorite Christmas Lights displays in the South Bay or the Bay Area for that matter?
The Mercury News shows a few, but not too many:
http://www.mercurynews...
There's a house in Santa Clara on Los Padres and Saratoga that is awesome, and I drove by another place on Newhall and Saratoga that had this whole mechanical set-up that looked impressive.
List away my friends!
12/7/2007
Darryl S. says:
down south there were some communities/streets that were really well know cus everyone went big, is there anywhere like that up here?
12/7/2007
Cindi "former lightweight, former super-lightweight" N. says:
a few years ago, i drove by a corner house in Willow Glen that featured a HUGE willow tree with lights on the lot of branches. it was spectacular and the street was flooded with traffic.
i don't remember that house now. perhaps some willow glen folks can direct us? then again, Willow Glen is known to have some sort of Christmas lighting contest amongst certain neighborhoods.
there's also an area off Cahalan/Santa Teresa.....people go all out there.
Los Gatos - Fantasy of Lights. it's not free though...and the drive is short...lights are spectacular. great for kids.
12/7/2007
Sara K. says:
There is a house in Santa Clara at the corner of Los Padres Blvd. & Rosita Ave. (near San Thomas Expy. & Saratoga Ave.) that goes ALL OUT. This family wins best of Santa Clara most years, they start several wk-ends before Thanksgivings, & it's worth a stop. You can part in the neighborhood & walk up to enjoy it. Sometimes on the wk-ends, the dad sits outside as Santa & passes out candy canes.
12/7/2007
YAMMY "I am the God of Hell Fire!!" C. says:
Cindi: I think the house with the willow tree was located on Minnesota St. (near Bascom). It was sold a few yrs ago and the tree hasn't been decorated since. There is a Victorian home on a busy street in Willow Glen that's decorated every year. Can't recall the street name, but it runs parallel to Minnesota St.
12/7/2007
Z "sta loca" G. says:
Are we just talking neighborhoods?
It's always nice to drive through Willow Glenn.
But I think that big tree that Cindi N. is talking about is not there anymore. Well the tree is but the owners sold after many many years. I remember it being a big controversy on whether the new owners were going to keep the tradition going. I'm not sure if they have or haven't.
Can anyone answer that?
Non Neighborhood
Lake Vasona has the drive through light festival
Gilroy Family Park (aka Bonfante Gardens) has a light festival. Not sure if it's drive through or walk through.
FYI.......Drive around ESSJ and you'll see some crazy lit houses trying to outdo each other. They'll wrap lights around anything over there. (hahaha Just a thought)
12/9/2007
Jenny L. says:
There's a house on or parallel to hellyer ave in south san jose that goes all out. growing up, my brother lived up the street so we used to always go there to take pics. They have a driveway you can drive in and out so people would line up in their cars to go under the arch filled with lights. Last time I was there was a about 2 years ago...so i'll have to drive by and see if its still there.
12/9/2007
eRiKa G. says:
Wasn't there a whole nieghborhood that would actually close down the street so people have to walk instead of drive and see all the houses and their windows dressed in lights and stuff, I think in South San Francisco. But I am not sure if they do that anymore.
12/9/2007
Carole "hawt & spicy!" G. says:
Here's a link to a site that gives some listings by city, with photos and maps.
http://holiday-lights..../
It's by far not all inclusive. Looks like something that is just up and running. But, cool anyway for what they do have.
Cheers!
12/9/2007
Carole "hawt & spicy!" G. says:
Also, you can get a full neighborhood display of luminarias on Christmas Eve only in the Oak Canyon neighborhood of Almaden Valley. That is roughly bordered by Coleman, Redmond, and Camden Avenues.
12/10/2007
Cheri M. says:
I was in Los Gatos the other day near University Ave and Los Gatos Blvd and noticed a bunch of christmas displays it looked like a park or something but it was dark and I had never been in the area before so I have no idea what it is. Does anyone know what I'm talking about??
12/10/2007
Lilly O. says:
My sis lives right near Pruneridge and Kiely in Santa Clara. There is a house off of Pruneridge (although I can't remember the name unfortunately). They have a radio station you can tune to and their lights go along with the music. it is pretty cool.
12/10/2007
Cheri M. says:
Thanks ZG it is Vasona & their "Fantasy of Lights" $12 to see xmas lights.. what the heck.
12/13/2007
Allen G. says:
Willow Glen definitely has it's fair share of streets whose residents go all-out for Christmas. Honestly, you'll probably find the best neighborhood light displays there. However, when I drove through last year, it didn't seem quite as festive as it did in years past. I stumbled upon a couple of other cool cul-de-sacs by accident in Fremont with really cool decorations...Off Mission Blvd, head east onto Morrison Canyon Road and make your first right (I don't remember the name of the street), and there are two cul-de-sacs on the right side with Victorian-esque houses that are all done up...They're pretty cool. Not sure whether it's worth driving up to it, but if you happen to be in the area, it's def. worth it.
12/17/2007
Tim B. says:
There is a group of houses off Willow near the creek that have 4 reindeer and a sleigh that spans across 5 houses. That is best display. You wonder where they keep them all year long.
12/17/2007
stephani j. says:
cindi- sorry, but the willow glen large willow tree stopped when the house was sold. I've double checked every year, and no luck. i recomend vasona- it's $12 a car, but it's quite a bit- probably 20 min of slow driving with nice music and such. banfante gardens is also pretty neat- they have a couple of their rides going, and tons of lights everywhere. it's a bit expensive though. last year, i received free tickets through chanel 5's free friday stuff.
it's sad to see, but most of the really great christmas houses are gone now... probably got too expensive and such. i say go to christmas in the park and support them- keep something christmas going. thanks for all the tips!
12/17/2007
Jeannette S. says:
I haven't looked at any of the links in the previous posts, but there are 2 neighborhoods I know of in the peninsula. However, I haven't been to either of these this year yet, so I'm hoping they still do it. There's one in Palo Alto and one in South San Francisco.
The one in Palo Alto is right off of Embarcadero. If you're going from 101 towards El Camino, the entrance will be on the left. You can actually drive down the street and when you reach the end, just u-turn and enjoy the houses on the other side.
The one in South City is off of Chestnut Ave (near Grand Ave). I don't know if they let cars through, but most folks walk this one. I would even see tour buses parked at this neighborhood!
12/17/2007
P "PG" G. says:
Sunnyvale.....Tangerine Dr, off Remington Ave & Sunnyvale-Saratoga Rd. has one of the best displays in the area. Bring some canned food to help with their annual food drive. See website below to give you an idea how elaborate a set up this display is. Not to be missed!
http://www.severex.com...
12/21/2007
Sheldon C. says:
I do a lot of photography of Christmas displays each year and publish routes for people to drive for their own tours. Here are some sweet routes you can drive to see Christmas Light Displays in the South Bay:
http://www.socialwave....Photos of many of them along with the addresses can be seen here:
http://www.socialwave....Enjoy.
12/21/2007
Samson W. says:
Crippsmas Place in Fremont.
12/21/2007
Tiffany "hammy" W. says:
Simon O.: I lived in Fresno for a bit, and there was always this one residential street that would go all out and you could drive down the street for a couple of miles and get in the festive mood.
I was actually trying to look for somewhere like that - an entire street of christmas lights.
12/23/2007
stephani j. says:
sheldon- thanks for the routes!
12/23/2007
Sheldon C. says:
Stephani, Cindi, you're welcome! Always happy to share this stuff. I plan a private tour bus to see lights for friends and users of my website every year and I release routes you can drive every year after my tour event is over.
Santa Clara probably has the most number of really impressive displays that you can hop to one after another in a short amount of time. Willow Glen is nice too, but there's not as much room to decorate so while the neighborhoods are very festive, there are few that are must-sees.
If you pick only one display to see, go see the Severns-Pease in Sunnyvale on 1164-1168 Tangerine Wy in Sunnyvale that someone mentioned previously. It features a very tastefully done synchronized light show. A lot of synchronized light shows are just a bunch of blinky lights. There was obviously a lot of thought put into how the lights are activated at this house.
Severns-Pease Display (Partial shot):
http://socialwave.net/...Giant Reindeer in Willow Glen:
http://socialwave.net/...
12/24/2007
Katherine L. says:
Festival of Lights in Vasona Park in Los Gatos. They also have a $5 train ride too.
12/24/2007
Melanie I. says:
I second Deacon Dave's in Livermore. Best light display I have ever seen.
12/26/2007
Krissy "RaWr rAwR RaWr" S. says:
If you drive down dry creek road over campbell/willow glen the houses are massive and put on a pretty decent show... then there's the festival of lights at vasona $12 a car I think, waited 20 minutes just to get into the friggin park though, the lights were beautiful but the ride was short =(
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