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Holiday Lights Tour of Washington DC and Old Town Alexandria

Washington DC, USA
  • 3 hours (approx.)
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.1
·
· Laura_v ·
Dec 2025
Great holiday lights tour with lots of D.C. landmarks and U.S. history sprinkled in. Deon (guide) and Tyrone (driver) were great! Take the Metro to the Navy Memorial Plaza or park in one of the nearby garages. Street parking is minimal. Plan to get there an 1 hr early to account for downtown traffic. Once you get to NMP, the tour bus is right there!
· Daryl_S ·
Dec 2025
A beautiful Christmas tour of a beautiful city! Very knowledgeable tour guide with lots of fun facts. Highly recommend!

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Overview

See both Washington DC and Old Town Alexandria all lit up for the season thanks to this holiday lights sightseeing tour. Starting at the US Navy Memorial, board a luxury bus to explore Downtown DC’s dazzling lights, seeing more than you easily could on your own. Visit the National Christmas Tree by the White House and the Capitol Christmas Tree, admire the decorations along Embassy Row, head to charming Old Town Alexandria, and more.
  • Enjoy a festive way to explore Washington DC during the holidays
  • See many of the capital's top Christmas trees and lights in one trip
  • Travel in comfort and ease aboard a luxury, climate-controlled bus
  • Learn stories from your guide's live narration along the way

What's Included

  • Transport by Climate-Controlled Luxury Tour Bus
  • Live Narrative by English-Speaking Tour Guides (on and off the bus)
  • Gratuities
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

  • US Navy Memorial Plaza
    701 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004, USA

    US Navy Memorial Plaza

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.7:30 pm

Itinerary

1

United States Navy Memorial and Naval Heritage Center

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

2

National Christmas Tree

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

3

CityCenterDC

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

4

U.S. Capitol

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

5

Alexandria Farmers Market (Old Town Farmer's Market)

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

6

Embassy Row

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

7

U.S. Capitol

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • Near public transportation
  • Infants must sit on laps
  • Most travelers can participate
  • No food allowed on buses.
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 55 travelers
Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.1
based on 65 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
We perform checks on reviews

Enjoyable!

Theresa_C, Mar 2026
My family of three adults very much enjoyed this nighttime tour. It was a nice evening event to see the holiday lights.

2025 Christmas Lights Wonderland

David_O, Dec 2025
Our tour provided us, with each stop, to leave the tour bus and enjoy up close all the wonderful Christmas light arrangements. Including taking pictures of it all! A total pleasure!

Derek the great!

Summer_P, Dec 2025
Derek was great! Me and my family had a wonderful time. I would definitely recommend individuals or couples and families.

I am currently in a...

Candice_A, Dec 2025
I am currently in a wheelchair and we had some issues getting to the bus on time. They called us and they had a van wait for myself and my 3 other family members. They then drove us to the tour and the bus we'd be on. The driver Sean and tour guide Derick were amazing and never made me feel rushed

Enjoyable holiday lights tour

Julie_R, Dec 2025
Loved seeing all the holiday lights. Liked the driver and guide. The guide spoke fast so missed quite a bit of information and could not always hear him but I did like him. He took some great pictures for/of us.

Elvis and our driver were...

laurie_d, Dec 2025
Elvis and our driver were polite, respectful, knowledgeable and very entertaining!!! It was a very fun and beautiful tour!!!

Don’t Miss the lights!

Daryl_S, Dec 2025
A beautiful Christmas tour of a beautiful city! Very knowledgeable tour guide with lots of fun facts. Highly recommend!

The holiday light tour...

Kristine_M, Dec 2025
The holiday light tour was great. We made quite a few stops and the guide was knowledgeable. We had a terrific time.

Skip it

Cynthia_B, Dec 2025
Felt like we were mostly driving instead of being able to see things. Bus was hot inside. Felt like we almost got left behind during times we got off the bus without clear direction on where we were going (e.g. we went several blocks down, turned a corner, couldn’t find our group/guide at first, unnecessary stress)

Worst tour ever on earth. They didn't know where they were going. We got lost. A NIGHTMARE

Ray_C, Dec 2025
Absolutely worst tour experience we have ever had. REQUESTING REFUND. Bus was 100 degrees on A cool.Demember day. The windows steamed up and youcould not see out. Driver got lost for 90 minutes and we were all afraid for our safety. It was a horrible, frightening experience. I recommend staying away. We usually love our Viator tours but this one was a complete total nightmare.

Hot, foggy and crowded

Susan_C, Dec 2025
We were extremly excited to see the holiday lights but this definitely did not meet our expectations. We arrived at the meeting location 15 minutes early and at 7:45 we will still trying to find the tour bus. Apparently it is just a complete the address is not specific to an exact location on the block. At 7:45 we finally were able to reach someone via phone. They informed us that we were not at the correct spot. The bus had already left but they a van picked us up and took us to meet the tour at the 2nd stop. We were in the very back row of the bus and it was extremely hard to hear and also by the time we approached what they were talking about we were onto the next sight/location. After the 3rd stop, the White House, which unfortunately the tree was not lit due to some event/occasion, we loaded back onto a very warm bus and the windows were all fogged over due to the change in temperature. We were unable to see anything due to this condition. Due to the heat and the crowdedness of the bus my one colleague become very clastrophobic and felt extremely ill. We decided that it would be in her best interest to leave the tour. We were not the only people that had difficulty finding the tour and also found it extremely over crowded and uncomfortable. We were not offered any type of compensation or reimbursement for our trouble.

A Holiday Treat

Laura_v, Dec 2025
Great holiday lights tour with lots of D.C. landmarks and U.S. history sprinkled in. Deon (guide) and Tyrone (driver) were great! Take the Metro to the Navy Memorial Plaza or park in one of the nearby garages. Street parking is minimal. Plan to get there an 1 hr early to account for downtown traffic. Once you get to NMP, the tour bus is right there!

A Marine’s Christmas Story

Lisa_S, Dec 2025
It wasn’t just about the holiday, it was about knowing some history of our Nation’s Capital as well as hearing a Marine’s favorite memory for this time of year!

Make holidays special, watch Xmas lights in a cozy tourist bus.

Mahesh_L, Dec 2024
Worth the price. Visit to Gaylord hotel at National harbor for Xmas display was fantastic experience. Excellent recommendations of stops to take pictures of holiday lights and Xmas tress. Highly recommended.

Response from Host, Jan 2025

Thanks for visiting us for the holidays!

It started a little too...

Michelle_L, Dec 2024
It started a little too late. It was also inconvenient to keep hopping off and on the bus to take photos. The best part was listening to the tour guide who was very knowledgeable and shared very interesting facts. He was very intelligent and funny.

Response from Host, Jan 2025

We apologize for the late departure. Thank you for joining us and we are glad you had a good time listening to the guide!

Too crowded

Bernard_D, Dec 2024
Way too crowded, in fact it was difficult to hear what the guide was saying from the back of the bus. Not worth it, although some of the sights were nice

Response from Host, Jan 2025

We appreciate the feedback. We will look into improving our sound systems and keeping groups smaller.

Great

Jodee_S, Dec 2024
Very good trip. Mmmmmmnbbhhhhhh dddddffgggfdvjjkvxhkjgfbjj gdchffb hfvhfvh ggbhfvhyg vvbhgbh GC hunchback ghvhgffhh fghtvhhj. Tyydfh. Cryyvvbttn can g. F by bhbvvb

Response from Host, Jan 2025

Thanks!

A nice, holiday-focused tour.

Ken_K, Dec 2024
Aside from the “tacky” presentation at the Gaylord at National Harbor, it was a tour we enjoyed. Derrick, our guide, was knowledgeable and entertaining, and Tanya, our driver, did a great job.

Response from Host, Jan 2025

Thanks for sharing this feedback.

DC Wrapped in Christmas Lights

Carlos_B, Dec 2024
We visited many places that by ourselves we couldn’t have seen. Plus the tour guide was very informative and funny

Response from Host, Jan 2025

We are glad you visited us for the holidays!

Elvis made the tour!

ArleneS, Dec 2024
The stops were fabulous! Lots of beautiful holiday decorations to see. Elvis, our tour guide was fun and informative.

Response from Host, Jan 2025

We are glad you had a great time!

Good photo ops. However,...

Karla_P, Dec 2024
Good photo ops and overall very enjoyable (even though the weather didn't cooperate). However, this was NOT a luxury bus. Starting point needs to be better defined and let people know what time the bus would be available to board. Would be nice if tour started at 6:00pm or 6:30 since it is dark by then and the end would be earlier. The timing of all the stops on the route was good. Not too long, not too short. Good guide and driver. Took good care of us. Good history and interesting tidbits from our guide. Good explanation of how the tour was going to unfold and what our responsibilities were - that is, to get back to the bus on time (which we all did).

Response from Host, Jan 2025

We appreciate you sharing this feedback with us.

Great tour of the Christmas lights

James_S, Dec 2024
An enjoyable tour of Christmas lights. Van was comfortable on a cold winter night. The tour guide and driver were infomative and cheerful. We highly recommend. Would have liked an earlier start.

Response from Host, Jan 2025

Thanks for spending your holiday break with us!

Highly Recommend Holiday Lights Tour

Kay_R, Dec 2024
Great experience! Given it was cold, it was just enough time to get out and take pics of the sights. We were on bus 038 and did not catch the tour guide's name - he was an awesome tour guide. If you take the metro, where you catch the bus is very obvious. We parked and where we came out it wasn't obvious where the buses were parked. You have to walk around the corner to the memorial and then you see the buses. We had more stops than expected and we even went over to the Gaylord. If it was warmer, a little more time at the stops would have been good but at 3 hours, it is a long tour. But, for our whole group, we all really liked and enjoyed it. The trees at the Canadian embassy and City Center are spectacular and Franklin Park was a beautiful! You do need to keep track of time because the bus leaves on time since there is a lot to see and you need to stay on schedule. The tour guide is very clear as to how much time you have and when to be back. Listen to the guide because they will leave at the scheduled time. There were two places to use the bathroom facilities which was helpful. Tour guide provided a lot of historical context and tidbits of what to know and do.

Response from Host, Jan 2025

Thanks for spending the holidays with us!

Holiday Lights Tour w/ Elvis

Meisha_E, Dec 2024
Elvis was great and informative! And the driver brought us safely to each location! Overall great experience of DC holiday lights!

Response from Host, Jan 2025

Thanks for spending the holidays with us!

Great Trip!

Pat_M, Dec 2024
I really enjoyed seeing the White House and the Captol Building at night and at Xmas time. The tour guide was very infromative and we learned a lot about Washington DC.

Response from Host, Jan 2025

We appreciate you sharing your experience with us

Spreading Holiday Cheer

Christina_L, Dec 2024
Great experience! The driver and the host were friendly and fun. We got to see many Christmas trees and the host shared history and of DC throughout the tour. Glad I went and I recommend it to other.

Response from Host, Jan 2025

Thanks for recommending us, and Happy Holidays!

Tour operator failure to show up for sightseeing tour

Anne_F, Jan 2024
The bus never picked up a group of 12-16 people for a sightseeing tour and we all waited for over 1/2 hour in the drizzle and rain on the day after Christmas streetside for a bus never to come. We were there for a special nighttime Washington DC Holiday Lights Tour as a sightseeing tour of the DC monuments and National Christmas Tree. They did not cancel ahead of time and they did not refund our tickets. The address of 701 Penn Avenue seems to include a whole city block so who knows if the bus was on a different side of where google maps directs one to this site. Had they canceled ahead of time or had they refunded our tickets to make it right, We all would be disappointed but not as upset as how badly they responded to our complaints. So there is no interest in making this right or ensuring a tour bus was sent to that address. Nor is there a number to reach Viator afterhours to make a complaint since they put a 3rd party tour operators number on the ticket you print out.

Response from Host, Jan 2024

Our tour departs from the Navy Memorial Plaza and we wait 10 minutes after departure of every tour after contacting any missing guests before leaving the check-in space. Can you provide us with your booking information? We don't have a record of any groups this size in our booking system. Additionally, we are not a 3rd party tour operator - Viator is the 3rd party reseller. We are a locally operated small business who provide the tour - Viator does not provide any experiences on their own and simply is a sales website for travel experiences like ours. Viator can be reached 24 hours at their help line (888) 651-9785 and we are open from 8am-10pm at usaguidedtours.com I'd love to look into remedying this for you. Contact us when you are able. Thanks

Perfect experience

Amilynne_T, Dec 2023
Wonderful experience. Highly knowledgeable tour guide. All around beautiful tour. The canadian embassy had the best tree.

Excellent experience

Dori_B, Dec 2023
It was an excellent experience. They kept to the schedule and were very knowledgeable about the history of the DMV.

Not worth the money

Monica_G, Dec 2023
The tour needs to start earlier. Some of the buildings referenced we couldn’t really see in the dark. The windows on the bus were fogged up. We should have been able to get off of the bus in Alexandria but didn’t. It was not worth the money I paid.

From $69.00

per person

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

Book ahead!
On average, this is booked 25 days in advance.

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