Minneapolis in December is a city that decides, collectively and without discussion, that the correct response to sixteen hours of darkness is to cover everything in lights. Some blocks take this more seriously than others. A few take it very seriously. Here is where to actually go, neighborhood by neighborhood, and the honest note about which ones are worth the drive.
Armatage and Kenny: the ones that go all in
If you only have time for one detour, make it here. The blocks through Armatage and Kenny in southwest Minneapolis light up house after house after house — not one showpiece with a crowd out front, but an entire grid of neighbors who have clearly been in a friendly arms race for about thirty years. It is the closest thing the city has to driving through a snow globe.
Go on a weeknight if you can. Weekend traffic on these streets moves at roughly the speed of a parade.
Hayden’s Holiday Lights: the one with a soundtrack
The single best stop in Minneapolis is a private house. Hayden’s Holiday Lights at 5205 Washburn Avenue South runs thousands of bulbs synced to music you tune in on 104.9 FM from your own car. It opens Thanksgiving and runs into the new year, generally 4:30 to 10 p.m.
Bring a thermos. Be a good neighbor about where you park. That is the whole etiquette guide.
Lake Harriet: the pretty one
After the first real snow, the streets ringing Lake Harriet go full holiday-card — luminaries along the walking paths, lit porches, and the bandshell glowing out over the water. Less spectacle than Armatage, more atmosphere. This is the one to walk rather than drive, if you can stand the cold for twenty minutes. More on why the lakes are worth your time in any season on our best Minneapolis parks list.
Nicollet Island: the Victorian one
Small, quiet, and completely different in character. Nicollet Island’s lantern-lit lanes and 19th-century houses sit in the middle of the Mississippi with the Stone Arch Bridge and the downtown skyline lit up behind them. It is maybe fifteen minutes of your evening and it takes the best photo of the night. Pair it with dinner nearby — a few good options on our most atmospheric Minneapolis restaurants list.
Summit Avenue: worth crossing the river for
Technically St. Paul, and technically cheating, but Summit Avenue is the longest stretch of intact Victorian mansions in the country and they decorate accordingly. If you are already doing a lights night, it is fifteen minutes east and it is very hard to argue with.
Or skip the driving entirely
Here is the case against doing this yourself: it is December in Minnesota, somebody has to drive, that person sees none of it, and the whole thing ends in an argument about which exit you missed.
The alternative is the Naughty or Nice holiday light ride, which runs a heated vintage trolley through these neighborhoods all December. Two versions:
- Nice — all ages, one hour, from $30. Starts with a holiday market at the Pillsbury Club mansion, then a lights loop where riders vote on the best display. A solid entry on any Minneapolis family activities shortlist.
- Naughty — 21+, two hours, BYOB, from $75. Holiday music, games, cocktails at the mansion before you board. Quietly one of the better Minneapolis date ideas in December, and a very easy sell for a work party.
One practical difference worth knowing: you bring your drinks straight onto the trolley. Boarding happens at the Pillsbury Club mansion, indoors, with a bar — not at a rented downtown bar or a parking lot where you stand around holding a cooler. In a Minnesota December that is not a small distinction. We went through the rest of the fine print in what to know before you book a BYOB light ride.
Making a night of it
The lights are the easy part; the rest of the evening takes ten seconds of planning. 300 Clifton in Loring Park is a Gilded Age mansion you can tour and then sleep in, with a hot tub in the garden that is exactly as good an idea in December as it sounds. If mansions are more your thing than bulbs, the Gilded Age Mansion Tour runs year-round, and we sorted out which historic houses you can actually go inside. Staying longer than a weekend? Oakland’s on 9th has furnished studios downtown by the month.
Before you head out, Meet Minneapolis keeps a running list of the season’s displays, and Explore Minnesota is good for anything outside the metro.
Book it
December sells out, and the 21+ rides go first. Grab your date on the holiday light ride page or call (612) 900-3220 for private group bookings. It really is the thing to do in Minneapolis in December — and you get to be a passenger.
Keep reading: before the lights go up, the streets belong to pedestrians — see our guide to Open Streets Minneapolis 2026 for the September and October car-free festival dates.