Holiday Lights on Boston Common
✓ Last confirmed for the 2025 season
Where: Boston Common, 139 Tremont St., Boston, Massachusetts
When: December
Hours: typically dusk – 10 PM
Cost: free
walk-throughtree lightingattraction
The Common hosts Boston's official Christmas tree, lit each year at a mayoral ceremony, and stays illuminated through December. The nearby Commonwealth Avenue Mall's trees and shrubs are also strung with lights, making a one-mile lit walking route.
Best time to arrive. Sunset in Boston is around 4:12 PM in mid-December, fully dark by about 4:44 PM. A typical December night here bottoms out near 24°F, so dress for standing around outside.
Other displays nearby
There are 11 other displays within 5 miles of this one, and 21 within 15 miles. Most people make a loop of it rather than driving out for a single house.
- Boston Common and Frog Pond Holiday Lights
- Adams Street Lights
- Commonwealth Avenue Mall Lights
- Lighting of the Ship in Martin's Park
- Trellis Lighting at Christopher Columbus Park
- Boston Public Garden Holiday Lights
- Beacon Hill Holiday Decorations
- Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall Holiday Lights
Make a night of it. This is stop 1 on our 10-stop Boston lights loop — about 3.6 miles and 49 minutes of driving in total.