New York: Dyker Heights Christmas Lights tour by bus

4.69

(205 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

Someone hands me a cup of hot chocolate as we pile onto the bus near Herald Square — I don’t even know whose it is, but it feels right. Our guide, Mike, starts pointing out Macy’s windows before we’ve left the curb. There’s this weird hush on the bus as we roll past Chelsea and West Village; everyone’s peering out at the city in December, all bundled up and fogging the windows with their breath. I catch a glimpse of the High Line — just a streak of green lights above us — and Mike says you should come back for it in spring. Maybe I will.

The tunnel spits us out into Brooklyn and suddenly there’s space, sky, and that cold river smell. We step off in Dyker Heights and it hits me: every house is louder than the last. Giant Santas wobble on lawns, reindeer blink from rooftops, someone’s got music playing (Mariah Carey, obviously). The air smells like pine needles and something sweet — maybe cookies? Kids are shrieking at inflatable snowmen taller than their dads. Our guide tells us about Mrs. Spata starting all this decades ago; I try to imagine being her neighbor back then. It’s almost too much but also… not enough? You get greedy for more lights after a while.

On the way back, we stop at Brooklyn Bridge Park for photos — my phone nearly freezes in my hand but I can’t stop trying to catch that skyline with all its holiday colors smeared across the water. Back in Manhattan, Washington Square Park glows under its arch; there’s a tree there too, smaller but somehow warmer. Someone on our tour tries to sing “Jingle Bells” quietly and gets shushed by her friend (I laugh because honestly, same). We end at Rockefeller Center where the tree looks fake from how bright it is — people everywhere taking selfies or just staring up like they’re seeing snow for the first time.

I didn’t expect to feel so… young? Or maybe just lighter. The Dyker Heights Christmas Lights tour isn’t subtle but neither is New York in December. Sometimes you need that kind of loud joy to shake off whatever else you’re carrying around.