Fifth Avenue windows, then the Dyker Heights houses
Most visitors want Midtown's famous Christmas sights and the Brooklyn lights, and few have spare evenings. One tour tries to fit both into about four hours from 8th Avenue. Below is how that route runs, what it costs you in time on foot, and a do-it-yourself version built around our pick.
One bus, two boroughs
ExperienceNYC's holiday lights bus from ~$75 is the only tour on our site that adds Manhattan's Christmas sights to the Dyker Heights houses. It runs about 4 hours, and Viator gives 3–4.
You meet at 822 8th Avenue, the Avalon Midtown West building between 49th and 50th Streets. The coach is climate-controlled and carries up to 50 people.
On Viator it scores 4.8 from 70+ reviews, and on GetYourGuide 4.3 from 40+. Those are small numbers next to our pick, so read them as encouraging rather than settled.
The Manhattan half, seen through glass
The bus heads first along Fifth Avenue for the department store windows, then toward the Rockefeller Center tree. The listing adds that the tree stop happens when traffic conditions permit.
That small phrase matters. On a crowded December evening Midtown traffic can slow to a crawl, and a bus of 50 cannot always pull in near the rink.
The Empire State Building and Macy's are seen from the bus rather than visited. Viator says the commentary comes from the driver, so expect a narrated drive rather than a walking guide in Manhattan.
Brooklyn on foot, then DUMBO
After Midtown, the bus crosses into Brooklyn and parks near the lit blocks. You get out and walk among the houses, which the listing describes as a photo stop in Dyker Heights.
The last part is DUMBO, the waterfront area below the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. From there you get the classic view of both bridges with the skyline behind them, before the bus heads back to Midtown.
For a short stay in New York, that is a lot of the city's Christmas in one go. To pick an evening with thinner crowds, check which weeknights stay calmest.
What gets cut short
Four hours spread across three areas means Dyker Heights gets the smallest share. Our pick spends about an hour on foot among the houses, while this route treats them as one stop among several.
The Manhattan sights also stay behind the window for the most part. If you want to stand under the tree or press your nose to a store window, a bus is the wrong tool.
Gratuities are not included, so plan a tip for the driver. And with so few reviews, one bad night can move the score a lot, in either direction.
Midtown's tree and Brooklyn's houses in one booking
ExperienceNYC's climate-controlled bus from 8th Avenue, with Dyker Heights on foot and a DUMBO skyline stop before the ride back.
The do-it-yourself version
Our own plan keeps Manhattan on foot and Brooklyn on a bus. See the tree and the windows at your own pace before dinner, then join Scatto a New York's lights tour from ~$63 at 566 10th Avenue.
On that bus you spend about an hour walking the lit streets, and on the way back it pulls over at Brooklyn Bridge Park for the skyline. It finishes at Bryant Park, a short walk south of Rockefeller Center, so the tree also works as a late nightcap.
It rates 4.6 from 2,400+ reviews on GetYourGuide, which gives far more confidence than a few dozen. The cost of doing Manhattan alone is only your time and a warm drink.
- Before the tour, see Fifth Avenue's windows on foot, then stand under the tree up close
- Take the bus to Brooklyn for the long walk and the bridge view
- Finish at the Bryant Park winter market, then stroll to the tree again if the evening is young
Which plan suits whom
Choose the ExperienceNYC route if your time in the city is short or you prefer a heated seat to sore feet. It packs a lot into one booking, which suits a first December in New York.
Choose the split plan if Dyker Heights is the main reason you came. Our page on the blocks with the biggest displays shows how much there is to walk, and an hour barely covers it.
Groups who want both boroughs without strangers can also look at the private car in our page on when a private limo makes sense. It is priced per group, and the walk is shorter.
Timing the two halves
Midtown is at its most crowded in the early evening, when visitors share the pavements with office workers and shoppers. A weeknight early in December usually makes both halves of the trip calmer.
If you follow the split plan, give yourself at least an hour for the tree and the windows. Then walk west to 10th Avenue well before the bus, since Scatto's listing on Viator asks you to arrive 15 minutes early.
The tree and the windows stay lit late, so nothing is lost by seeing them after the tour instead. A tired group may prefer it that way, with Bryant Park as the end point and Rockefeller Center a short walk away.
Weather affects the two halves differently. Rain mostly spoils the window shopping, while a dusting of snow makes the Brooklyn houses look their part, so a damp forecast is no reason to cancel.
Before you set off
A two-borough night means hours between a heated bus and cold pavements. Layers you can open and close cope with both, and our guide to dressing for the cold goes through them.
Eat before you go, since neither bus tour includes food. Food is one of several extras, and our price breakdown lists the rest next to all three fares.