Austin Trail of Lights

The 2015 Trail of Lights was a fun activity for a warm winter night. The walk around the trail is engaging and includes several vendor areas for food and drinks. In total, it was definitely a couple miles of walking through the park. There were many different classic and modern scenes from storybook characters, television shows, and nursery rhymes.
The only negative was the parking. We arrived early, but not early enough to avoid nearly an hour waiting in line to get into the parking lot even with prepaid parking passes. I would recommend parking downtown and walking before even attempting to venture close to Zilker during this time.

What a great community event! Yes, it’s kind of hokey — I can picture its origins as the brainchild of some local businessperson — whereas now there are some pretty recognizable corporate exhibit sponsors. It’s clearly become very popular over the years as everything from the parking situation (save yourself the headache and take the shuttle) to the concessions (there needs to be more substantial food offerings at least in addition to the junk) to the signage (and the, ahem, trail lighting) seems to have gotten away from the organizers. The exhibits and lights were mostly cheesy, but kind of magical, too. And the views of the downtown skyline from Zilker Park, with all the lights twinkling, were just incredible. It’s like you’re strolling through a sparkly, colorful, otherly world with your loved ones. I like it!

I’ve been wanting to come to the trail of lights for awhile now and I had the chance to go and see what all the rave was about. A friend of mine who is originally from Austin and I came on the last opening night. I was very excited and wasn’t expecting a big crowd but that night was very packed. We too an Über from South Lamar to Zilker Park in little time at a pretty affordable price. As we got there all streets and freeways were completely bumper to bumper. Once we got dropped off at Zilker it was completely packed. I’m glad I purchased tickets online otherwise I would have been stuck in line for 20 minutes. As we entered the main entrance I was amazed at the light display it was beautiful. Definitely a winter wonderland. However, the one thing that I didn’t like was that I wasn’t able to see everything. I felt rushed going through the trail and I felt like I wasn’t getting the full experience. It literally was shoulder to shoulder. They have so many food trucks besides the trail to enjoy. The smell of funnel cakes and hot chocolate will really grab your attention. I wish San Antonio had something like these amazing light displays. What I also liked is that there was an über station where you can wait for your driver to pick you up. I will say this once in a lifetime experience will do it and that’s it.

I’ve lived in Austin since ’87, a few months after my birth :).
I’ve been through a lot of trail of lights iterations — and there has always been something magical about it.
We paid a lot of extra money to get parking and early admittance– and it was worth it, but still not enough. As we left the trail of lights and saw the regular admittance line (HUGE HUGE!) I was really glad we paid to get in an hour early, at 6 PM instead of 7. But it was just… still too crowded. Even early. I couldn’t hear myself think/​look at lights in a relaxed manner, ate awkwardly standing up, and felt all around overwhelmed.
Look, I know that this isn’t something that can be helped — Austin is a BIG city, and everyone wants to see this amazing event! And it IS amazing — beautiful lights, a carousel, the dizzying obligatory spin under the Zilker tree. I get it! It’s just something that has grown with Austin’s growth.
But it’s just different now. I felt rushed most of the time, and didn’t really get to slowly stroll around. I think the Trail of lights and I will be taking a break for a few years, but I will be back at some point.
Get the churros — just. Anywhere. Christmas lights + Churros is a magical combo.

Parking and traffic was terrible here, parking is more expensive than the entrance fee and the walk to the lights is about a mile… but whatever it’s worth it for the holiday spirit… lots of overpriced food trucks and stands so I suggest you eat something before you come

This has become a money making machine with over 3 hours of waiting just to get to the trail. #ChristmasFail

A small group of us experienced the Trail of Lights together for the first time. We found parking up the hill about ¼ of a mile from the area and walked in. We didnt mind the walk, but we had good company!
There isnt a good solution to parking on site, youll end up waiting an hour in a long line of cars, so I suggest you take a shuttle in from another area or find parking up the hill like we did. On foot we passed a lot of cars idling in at less than 10 mph. Pedi cabs are available to use, but cant make it up the hill so dont expect a ride back if your car is on the upside of town.
The lights themselves are a little diasappointing if you ask me. I really liked the walk through tunnels. they make you feel electric with all the blinking and colors. We took a lot of cute pictures at these 2 places on the trail. However, other parts of the walk are sparsley lit with areas of darkness that pictures cant even be taken. Also, it must be noted that some of the decorations seem VERY old. I mean, some of them are weird and others down right scary. A particularly weird wooden decoration that stands out in my mind is of a chocolate covered strawberry with a painted face that looks high. We thought is was so weird that we took a picture in front of it. My sister said it best, «I’m not sure whether it’s Christmas or Halloween». In some of the dark places with the creepy decorations we half expected scary people to suddenly jump out at us. :)
There are food and drinks available at the trail, but only in certain areas. Alcoholic beverages can be purchased, but only consumed in a small, empty coral. As a group we are a group that likes to drink and we definitely didnt drink at the trail of lights. i understand the reason why you cant drink there, but the irrational side of me wishes so much that Austin could be responsible enough to have something as nice as a trail of lights with alcoholic beverages in hand. i understand that this will never happen for Austin. The Trail of Lights would succomb to Trail of Drunks and scary homeless and nobody wants that.
Overall, I would still say it’s a good experience for the family. I just wouldnt go in expecting Dallas in Highland park with horse carriages and fields of holley. It’s a great place for kids and nice for photo ops if you need a Christmas card though!

Wonderful job again by these guys putting together another great visual event. Wifey and I went with three of her sisters and we had a wonderful time.
Everything from the bus shuttle ride from Burger Center to the great junk food served at the event was just great. The lights and the entertainment was really well done as always and once again made me proud to be a citizen in this great city we live in.
If you’ve never had a chance to get out to see the show I urge you to try harder next time as I feel sure you will enjoy yourself.

This place is like a Christmas
beautiful and Disney characters are decorated all over. a really nice place for children. and as a matter of fact my inner child is not dead yet, so I really enjoyed walking down the beautiful lightened trails. there are food stalls over there, u can have warm kettle corn with warm hot yummy cocoa, also ice cream, hot dogs, fries, chips and all. and for parking one should buy the prepaid parking for 15 dollar, otherwise u can walk for almost 3 miles to go there.

Definitely a must-​see during the holidays in Austin. The Trail of Lights is so much fun and… it’s FREE! I went on a Thursday night (12÷10÷15) and it was not too crowded at all. We parked at the local Austin high school and walked to the Trail of Lights as it was close by. All of the different lights that you see are donated by different local Austin businesses. There is also tons of food offered throughout your walk that are from local Austin restaurants/​food trucks. There are smores, pizza, donuts, kolaches, chicken, funnel cake, corn dogs, candy, etc. I would definitely suggest getting dinner or dessert here! There is a lot of seating near all of the food trucks. There is also a ferris wheel but the line was awfully long when we were there.
All in all, the Trail of Lights is so much fun! Make sure you donate at the end because the event is so amazing!

I have been coming to the trail of lights for as long as I can remember. I am glad the city brought it back. The last couple of years they have tried so hard to improve it. There are way more food vendors than there have every been. They have my old favorites while trying to make improvements. I did miss the «dancing» tree to the Charlie Brown music, maybe it will come back next year. The Penny Backer bridge is new this year. My husband proposed to me at the Zilker tree in 2008 so the place will always be special. Yes, the crowds are more than ever but welcome to the new Austin. We have over 2 million people in the city. Make the best of it. For those of us who grew up here we are making the best of it. Be sure to make a donation at the end of the trail to keep this wonderful tradition going. I hope more business try to sponsor displays. Thank you City of Austin.

This years trail of lights was a bit bigger than last year but not by much. There where what seemed to be a lot more people than I remember seeing last year which made it kind of crowded as well. With this being said I enjoyed our platinum passes and even though they where a tad over priced we got valet parking, an hour early, entrance to the park before the mob of people stormed in, tickets for the rides and a couple free adult beverage tickets. The passes also allow you to enter heated tent areas with snacks hot cocoa and indoor restrooms on trailers rather than porta potties. If you have children you will appreciate these passes a lot more than if you are just going with a few adults.
All together the experience was fun and it seems like they do a little extra each year. It was a pleasant experience in the end and we will be back next year. I’d recommend going as early as you can because it gets very crowded and you won’t be able to get as much out of it as you might want to. Ride lines are kind of long and the line for Santa pictures at the work shop are ridiculously long. Platinum passes let you cut in line on the ferris wheel and carrousel which helps a little. There is also plenty to eat with all the food trucks that show up so come on an empty stomach…

What a difference a couple of years make. Ferris wheel, food truck parks with an incredible variety of eats, bars with all the fixings and places for the kids to burn off energy. There are even MORE displays and trees adorned with lights.
Go with your family and enjoy all that Austin has to offer.

We were very disappointed in our experience. We bought parking passes, followed the directions on the passes, and ended up waiting over an hour to get into the park. Others did not follow the directions and for in within 15 minutes. Parking and directional staff were rude and unhelpful. They were literally yelling at people to haul fast through the parking lot at the exit.
Come on Austin, you can do better than this.

We really enjoyed the trail of lights. This was our first time to attend and I was surprised by the number of food options at the place. I tried the s’mores, some asian chicken and some tamales and corn. Enjoyed it all.
The parking was hassle free, even though it was $ 15. I was glad we parked in the zilker lot, just for the ease of parking and not having to wait to ride the shuttle back to the other lots. The volunteers working the event were great and they were taking photos for people that wanted group shots, very cool.

I’ve only attended this event once before and was very pleased with the turn out. I really liked how they had everything set up. Kudos to the hard working people who put the decorations together.
I tried to get food from each of the food truck venues that were there but I failed. From what I remember, I did manage to get hot chocolate and kettle corn.
I really enjoyed sitting around the huge fire pit. And I can’t wait to take a ride on the carousel with my son and fiancé this year. This is going to be a great start to our Christmas as a new little family. God Bless and Happy Holidays.

I can deal with the lameness, but my God the logistics of entering, parking, walking, walking, walking… walking…
Oh then you get there and it’s like cool, where’s the good stuff? Then you realize that’s it. Then you start thinking about the walk back, the 3 hours of your life you can’t recover, and the $ 18 you paid for the privilege of only having to walk a mile to get to the trail.
I think this was one and done for our clan.

I’ve lived in Austin for seven years now and I finally got to visit the Trail of Lights last night. Yeah, I know. I’ve been trying to go since I moved here, but something always came up — I had to go back home for winter break, then they didn’t have the event for a couple of years due to lack of funding, and then I was just busy. Excuses, excuses, excuses, but not this year! Oh, no, this was going to be my year.
It was everything I could have hoped it would be. I went on the second night it was open and you know what? It wasn’t too crowded. Maybe I just got lucky with my experience or maybe I’m just not such a Negative Nancy when it comes to free events. I also didn’t have to deal with traffic, but that’s because I am crafty and I planned ahead. Why pay $ 15 for parking when I can park somewhere else and take a Lyft to the event? It was cheaper to take a Lyft to and from my car than it was to pay for parking AND I didn’t have to wait in any long line to park my car. Success!
The trail itself is just great. I personally love Christmas lights and driving through neighborhoods to look at lights is one of my favorite things to do during the holidays, so the Trail of Lights is right up my alley, but I really think this is great for anyone. I really liked the bat cave and the creepy little armadillos. There’s a ton of vendors here, too, so you can get food and drinks, but I was so focused on the lights that I skipped out on all of that. There’s also a ferris wheel! I skipped that, too, in favor of looking at the lights, but it’s something to do for next time. H-​E-​B also had a little area set up where you could get a free book — how cool is that? H-​E-​B is always doing the coolest stuff.
Don’t forget to take the obligatory ‘I’m spinning underneath the Zilker Christmas Tree!’ picture. Everyone should have one.
The Trail of Lights is exactly what you make of it. You could go and complain about the traffic and the crowds, or you could go and have fun because it’s free and the city of Austin doesn’t have to do this for us. Personally, I’m going to enjoy the heck out of it because it’s the holiday season and who needs that kind of negativity? Lighten up!

The holidays are upon us in Austin, and if you’ve spent any time in this wonderful city you know the Trail of Lights have been a holiday staple for years. In fact as an Austin native, I can’t think back to a year when my family and I haven’t celebrated the Christmas season at the Trail of Lights. It’s magical, and brings back so many wonderful memories of spinning under the Zilker tree, smelling and feeling the warmth from the beautiful Yule Log, and most of all enjoying the spectacular lights with the Austin skyline as the backdrop. Hope you get out to enjoy the trail. #trailoflights

So everything you’ve ever read here is right.
It’s just only OK. The parking is way far away from the event. It can be crowded. The path is long but not really that decorated. And the things that are there are… um… strange. The lights are beautiful, but the cardboard cut outs of things like Cartoonland and poorly done Disney characters and Austin buildings come to life are a little creepy.
There are some really beautiful lights though and I took some excellent photos. But for all that hassle, maybe not worth it.
It’s really for kids, and kids will love it. But for the adults… eh.

I have to give this an eh. The lights were really pretty, and there were lots of them for sure. But the stand up card board cut outs of the characters is sort of cheesy. I know I’m jaded as I come from western mass and we have Bright Nights. There every character, every tree, every everything is done in lights. Not a phony stand up cheesy anything.
If you truly want to see a beautiful holiday display you’re gonna have to travel. But as I said, the lights are pretty.

The trail of lights event was pretty exciting. On account that it was free, I know Houston has events similar to this one, but it’s not free. That’s the difference.
The temperature was freezing, but the Christmas lights were rolling my lights in for more.
I adventured this trail with three Unilocalers: Issac W., Darren M., and Wayne R. The event was packed with people of all ages. I’m just glad they had a full amount of food trucks to feed hungry people like myself.
It was fun.

This was my first year going to Trail of Lights and I was really impressed! Traffic getting close to Zilker was insane. I would recommend parking in Lot A since it’s very close to the big Christmas tree near the entrance. Passes need to be purchased online ($ 15) prior to going.
They sell carnival food and have local food trucks. There are 3 food stops in the actual trail. If you’re really hungry, I would recommend stopping at either the first or second stops which had more actual food options instead of just candy and popcorn.
I thought the actual lights were impressive. I know some reviews complained that it’s only meant for children but I went with a group of adults and we had a good time enjoying the lights.
It’s definitely something you have to see at least once to get you in the Christmas spirit!