Honolulu holiday lights and trolley show off some of the country's best displays

Honolulu is aglow with city lights, and Waikiki Trolley takes holiday revelers to the highlights.

Bruce Keller enjoys a visit with Frosty the Snowman in Honolulu.

FROM PAGAN BONFIRES TO MODERN TIMES, LIGHTS SHINE! CITIES AROUND THE WORLD DECK BUILDINGS, TREES 

STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS

PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER

"The Carpe Diem Kids"

Editor's Note: This piece was updated and verified in 2026

PAGANS REVERED mistletoe. My Norse ancestors thought it protected them from lightning and thunder. Druids believed that fire encouraged the gods to speed spring. So lights and mistletoe have a long history on Earth.

Homo erectus didn't have holiday lights a million years ago, but that's when the first fire were likely built, for warmth, cooking and later to ward off wolves and demons, real or imagined. Today, holiday lights shine in Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens and the Galeries Lafayette in Paris. Lights shine across the globe from Tokyo to Rio, Arkansas to Oregon, Virginia to Los Angeles, Hong Kong to London. In Washington, D.C., Phoenix and San Diego, the U.S. is "lit" for the holidays.

Nowhere is the spectacle more appreciated than in Hawaii, where Honolulu's lights take center stage.

We admired this oddly shaped mistletoe, a festive parasite, during the Honolulu lights trolley tour. 

One of the stops on Waikiki Trolley visits Santa's sleigh where this visiting family takes a selfie.

WE MET travelers from Asia, Australia and the mainland on a recent Honolulu tour.  All were enjoying the spectacle via Waikiki Trolley's  Holiday Lights Tour. It's a family oriented, fun tour that takes riders to see the Christmas illuminations in downtown Honolulu. Highlights are the Christmas tree and Christmas decorations at Honolulu Hale --  city hall. Christmas music is played on the trolley, encouraging a happy holiday mood.

The much loved Waikiki Trolley is aglow with its own lights as it transports locals and visitors around to city lights.

  NOT ALL the lights on this page today are part of the Honolulu trolley's tour. We've added a few of our favorite lights photos from other cities. Here's what's in store, if you've booked the Honolulu tour. 

First, while waiting to board the bus -- at the 7 p.m. 8 p.m., or 9 p.m. tour options, we recommend you check out the food trucks nearby. Great variety of ethnic fare.

We had a difficult decision deciding between Thai and Mexican and opted for a fabulous meal of several kinds of tacos.

Trees are beautifully lit throughout the country, here in Washington D.C.

It was tasty Mexican street food -- delicious, freshly prepared tacos -- chicken, fish and beef.  Friendly service and tasty fare put us in the holiday spirit and we recommend Tacos de Cacheton for a reasonably priced treat, cooked to order, served with a smile.

While Honolulu's Christmas trees and outdoor displays are surrounded by lights, other cities offer carnival rides, street fairs, seasonal food specialties and hot spiced drinks. In the UK, expect roasted chestnuts. In Colombia, try roasted corn.  

THE TRADITION of yuletide lights in Honolulu dates to 1987 when a month-long holiday event was named “Honolulu City Lights.” The City Holiday tree was originally decorated with strings of colored lights and a traffic signal control box was used to change the colors. The trolley became a natural part of the fun, with its cheerful clang, and decorations to attract passengers and spread cheer.

Rockefeller Center's lavish display in New York is one of the city's most visited holiday exhibits.

• It took years for the holiday light tradition to cross the Pacific. On the mainland, it began in Menlo Park, New Jersey, when Edward H. Johnson assembled the first string of electric Christmas tree lights together in 1882. Johnson was a friend of inventor Thomas Edison in Edison's Illumination Company. He hand-wired 80 red, white and blue light bulbs and wound them around his Christmas tree. He gilded the lily, creating a revolving mechanism so the tree was both illuminated and moving. 

Tacos de Cacheton on Ala Moana Blvd., offers delicious fare before or after a trolley lights tour.

So get in the holiday mood. From Maine to Arkansas, Arizona to Louisiana, Colorado to Maryland, Texas to Virginia, city lights are awaiting you. You can join an organized city lights tour or if  there isn't one, create your own. Get three or four families together, have a potluck first or plan a gathering for cookies and Christmas carols, with toddies and punch.  Then embark on your own tour. Newspapers feature the most colorful city lights, so you know where to go.

www.waikikitrolley.com to book or for more information on City Lights Tour.

The holy candelabrum, the menorah, adorns hundreds of Honolulu homes, reflecting the culture of the 10,000 Jewish residents in the city. 

In other spots around Oahu, Kaneohe transforms its Namoku Street into "Christmas Tree Lane" and revelers can also find lights in Kaimuki, Waikele, Waipahu and Mililani, considered Kaneohe's holiday hot spot.  

• House Beautiful magazine each year lists the best city lights in America.  The lights of Honolulu made the magazine's top ten again. Here's the link.

A menorah shines a light of hope on downtown Honolulu.  Jewish culture revolves in the city around services at Temple Emanu-el. 

So trees everywhere are aglow, and Santa's sleigh is loaded for kids of all ages.

If you're vacationing in a city, or relaxing in your own town, a holiday lights tour wherever you are will put you in the proper yuletide spirit -- guaranteed.

To book or more information: waikikitrolley.com

Paris at night during the yule is a sight to behold.

UP NEXT: Christmas is celebrated in tandem with Hanukkah in many households around the world, where a Christmas tree and menorah co-exist in harmony in thousands of living rooms. We take readers on a tour of some of our favorite holiday sights and displays through years of spending holidays abroad. Meanwhile, remember to explore, learn and live -- holiday time and all year long.  Be generous, forgiving and kind and let's make it a memorable and peaceful 2024.  Catch us weekly for fresh spins on travel, performance, family, nature and more. Please share the links: www.whereiscookie.com