Dyker Heights Christmas Lights Walking Tours
Every guided way of seeing these lights involves walking, and none of them is sold as a walking tour. The coaches cannot enter the display streets, so they set you down and you walk for an hour with a guide. That hour is the walking tour, and it is worth understanding before you book — along with what it takes to simply walk it yourself.
What a walking tour of Dyker Heights actually is
It is the part of a coach tour that happens on foot. Buses are not permitted into the decorated streets because they are narrow residential blocks, which one operator states plainly in its own itinerary, so every departure parks nearby and walks its group in.
There is no walking-only ticket to buy, because nobody sells one. The guided walk is bundled into a fare that also covers getting you from Midtown and back, and the walk itself is free to anyone who arrives under their own steam. What you are paying for is the transport and somebody who knows which four blocks are worth the hour.
Guided walking time by departure. The private cars are the only option where walking is optional.
| Departure | Time on foot | Where the walking happens |
|---|---|---|
| scatto a new york, $63 | 1 hour | Guided to the two brightest streets, then free time |
| Tour America, $55 | 1 hour | Dyker Heights and Bay Ridge on the same walk |
| NY See Tours, $95 | 1 hour | Dyker Heights, plus three Manhattan stops |
| ExperienceFirst, $75 | About 1h40 in total | An hour in Dyker Heights, 20 minutes each in Bay Ridge and DUMBO |
| Experience NYC, $75 | 1 hour | One full hour on the blocks |
| Private vehicles, from $399 per car | As much or as little as you want | The car can stay in the streets with you inside it |
The guided hour, tour by tour
The shape is consistent. The coach parks, a guide walks the group in, points out the best of the first street and the houses worth knowing about, and then usually releases people to wander with a time to be back. Guides carry something visible — two separate travellers describe a lit-up Santa held above the crowd — because on a busy night several groups are on the same pavement.
One departure is longer than the rest: it adds twenty minutes in Bay Ridge and twenty in DUMBO to the Dyker Heights hour, and its operator puts the total walking at about half a mile.
Where each departure starts its walk
Not in the same place. The coaches park where they can, which on a busy evening is several blocks from the display, and the guided walk begins from wherever that turns out to be. Two operators state that the first thing their guide does is walk the group to the two most illuminated streets, which is a different promise from being dropped at the edge.
The practical effect is that the "hour on foot" includes some of the walk in. On the departures that add Bay Ridge or DUMBO the coach repositions between stops instead, so the walking is split into two or three shorter pieces rather than one long one.
How far you actually walk
Under a mile, on the main loop, and that is with stops. The core is four blocks in a rough rectangle — 84th Street, up 12th Avenue, back along 83rd, down 11th — which is a shorter distance than most people picture when they hear "an hour of walking".
The hour goes on standing still: looking at a house, waiting for a gap in the crowd to photograph it, queueing at a hot chocolate table. That is why the cold matters more here than the distance does.
Walking it yourself, start to finish
- Take the R to 86th Street and walk east along 86th for about two thirds of a mile, or the D to 79th Street and walk west.
- Start at 84th Street and 11th Avenue. This is the block the tradition started on.
- Walk east to 12th Avenue, slowly, and turn north.
- Come back along 83rd Street, which is nearly as good and usually less crowded.
- Walk out along 86th Street to the R, which is downhill all the way.
Allow ninety minutes from station to station and two subway fares. The full arithmetic against a coach fare is in going without a tour, and the route page has the blocks in more detail.
The hill and the pavements
The neighbourhood rises to about a hundred and ten feet and you are walking across the high ground, so there is a gentle gradient in most directions. Travellers describe it as "slightly inclined roads" rather than a climb, and several who brought a parent or grandparent say the ground was the difficulty rather than the distance.
The pavements are ordinary residential ones. Level enough for a pushchair — one reviewer took a two-year-old round in one — and uneven enough to be worth mentioning if anyone in your party is unsteady. There are no benches anywhere on the route.
Nowhere to sit down, and an hour outside in the cold. If that is a problem for someone in your party, a private vehicle can drive the streets with everyone inside it, which is exactly what one reviewer booked for two parents with limited mobility.
What to wear for an hour outside in December
Warmer than the walk suggests, because you will not be walking most of it. Hat and gloves first — your hands come out for the camera constantly. Shoes with some grip, because the pavements can be slick and travellers describe evenings in snow.
Layers are the practical answer: a heated coach and a freezing pavement in the same hour. And take the hot chocolate when you see it; it is a few dollars and it is doing more work than you think.
Frequently asked questions
How much walking is there?
About an hour on foot, on every coach tour, because buses are not allowed into the display streets. The blocks are gently uphill — the neighbourhood sits on a hill that rises to about 110 feet — and there is nowhere to sit down. If that is a problem, a private car can stay in the streets with you inside it.
Is the display wheelchair accessible?
The streets are public pavements and two listings state that their vehicle and the surfaces are wheelchair accessible. Most of the coaches state the opposite, and the pavements are crowded and uneven on a busy night. A private vehicle is the straightforward answer if walking is difficult.
How cold does it get?
Cold enough that it is the single most common piece of advice in the traveller reviews. You are standing still outdoors for an hour after dark in a New York December, which feels considerably colder than walking. Hat, gloves and proper shoes, and take the hot chocolate when you see it.
Can I bring a pushchair?
Yes. Several operators list stroller access explicitly and one reviewer describes taking a two-year-old around the whole route in one. The pavements are level enough for wheels, though they are crowded on the busy nights.
Walking is the part everyone underestimates and nobody regrets. Read what the evening involves next, or compare a Dyker Heights Christmas Lights guided tour against the private cars on Dyker Heights Christmas Lights Tours.
Tours with the longest hour on foot
Dyker Heights Christmas Lights Guided Tour
Restroom on boardLicensed guideHeated vehicle
From $63 per person
Dyker Heights Holiday Lights Tour Christmas Magic in NYC
Licensed guideCoach travelMax 55
From $75 per person