10 best Christmas light displays in the Twin Cities

Put on winter gear and grab the hot chocolate: 'Tis the season for holiday light shows! Take a walk through your neighborhood or drive across town to check out these displays.

Paid shows

🚘 Sever's Holiday Lights: Drive through more than 2.5 million lights synced to holiday music in Shakopee, or get out to walk through a forest of glowing trees. $25+.

🍎 Winter Lights: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's show features a giant walk-through apple, lit-up weeping willows and a s'mores station. $15.

🛝 GLOW: The fan-favorite festival at CHS has over 1 million lights, an enchanted forest, giant slide and a 60-foot-tall tree. $20+.

🎶 Christmas in Color: Turn on the radio and drive through this animated light show synced to music at Valley Fair. $35+ per vehicle.

Free shows

🗺 Self-guided tours: Several suburbs have maps of lit houses, including Brooklyn Park, Bloomington, Chanhassen and the Kenny/Armatage neighborhood in south Minneapolis .

🏡 Schultz Family Lights: The home light show on York Avenue in St. Paul features over 90,000 lights synced to radio; bring canned goods for the drop box supporting Merrick Food Shelf.

🍬Candy Cane Lane: This Roseville house is decked out in holiday cheer, including a 180-foot lit-up walking path through the yard.

💡 Yes, and: This extensive map, compiled by local guide-maker Mike Marcotte, has more under-the-radar houses within 50 miles of the Twin Cities (and beyond). Best viewed on desktop.