Dear family travelers:

Maybe you light up the holidays by decorating your house to the rafters. Maybe you take an annual walk to see what new decorations your neighbors are displaying.  

Maybe you make an annual trek to a botanic garden, a zoo or a theme park.

Wherever you live and wherever you plan to be this holiday season, in big cities and small towns, you will find plenty of holiday displays to light up your holidays. They are ever more elaborate and up earlier so you have more time to enjoy them.

For a huge selection of places to see the lights, visit our special section of more than 50 places to light up your holidays this season.  

Here are 10 places you might not have thought of to light up your holidays:  

AUSTIN, TX - Zilker Park's "Trail of Lights," a mile long stretch with seasonal scenes composed of multi-colored twinkling lights, will be on display from December 16-23.

GATLINBURG, TN is where the 22^nd annual "Fantasy of Lights" Christmas Parade will feature animals indigenous to Great Smoky Mountains National Park while the city's guided trolley tour lights entertain visitors of all ages.  

INDIANAPOLIS, IN celebrates the 50^th anniversary of the "Circle of Lights"  by illuminating the embellish the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument with 26 gigantic toy soldiers and sailors, 26 giant peppermint sticks and nearly 5,000 lights.

KANSAS CITY, MO - The "Plaza Lights" at Country Club Plaza is an 82-year tradition with 80 miles of lights decorating 15 blocks of the city featuring 150 shops and restaurants.ges. Visit from November 7 to February 28.

McADENVILLE, NC - Visit the town of McAdenville, where virtually every home is decorated, is famous throughout the state for its holiday lights between November 30 to December 26.

PALM DESERT, CA where Living Desert, a 450 acre museum, zoo and botanical garden presents the "WildLights Festival" featuring over 750,000 of lights that turn the desert into an after dark wonderland.

SEDONA, AZ is celebrating the 22nd anniversary of its "Red Rock Fantasy" light show with over two dozen displays and a million lights from November 15 to January 5.     

SPRINGFIELD, MA hosts the 16^th annual presentation of "Bright Nights," New England's premier holiday lighting exhibit. This 3-mile long driving route through historic Forest Park.

SYRACUSE, NY where "Lights on the Lake" is celebrating 23 years of two-mile long drive through one of the largest and colorful light shows in the Northeast.

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA is one of six Virginia cities featuring "100 Miles of Lights" with displays from its capital city to the ocean, including Richmond, Williamsburg, Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach, from November 24 to January 1.