Visiting Houston's most affluent residential area during the holidays has been a longstanding tradition. I remember marveling at the massive scale of decorations as a teenager, and I can still attest to that experience for the houses that actually participate. However, as I revisit a decade later, the lights felt underwhelming due to the large proportion of undecorated houses. I imagine some residents may have already taken down their lights 4 days after Christmas, but that's still before New Years and likely does not explain more than 50% of the houses being left in the dark. And yet, the tradition lives on for many Houstonians. The right lanes of River Oaks Blvd come to a near standstill in both directions and plenty of people stroll on foot. I highly recommend walking over driving due to the abysmal traffic. For parking, avoid turning onto River Oaks Blvd altogether; several nearby streets allow for curbside parking (assumed, since those streets do not contain towing signs). Perhaps the amount of decorations peak on Christmas Day, or this year simply represented an unfortunate anomaly. The free lights still make for a beautiful sight regardless. I wouldn't mind coming back next year if I'm nearby, as was the case for me this year, but leaving the house for a 20-minute trip would be out of the question. read more

Beautiful Christmas lights!! Beautiful homes!!! We love River Oaks!!! Horrible crowd in some nights. I am glad they had security watching the place because some people have no respect towards others' properties. Drinking beer while driving, parking their car, setting up beach chairs on the sidewalk and leaving empty beer cans and food wraps on people's gardens is absurd. So disgusting. I was thankful security addressed the people and they had to gather their garbage and leave. Thank you security guys!!! Pretty amazing Christmas lights!!! read more

River Oaks Christmas Lights - Holiday Decorating Services Near Me

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I'm always puzzled on how quickly they get up all of these lights because ya gotta boom em like way early in the year . The staff has that rich personality to em basically there the HOA but a lil nicer . Now they don't pay for any damages to the lights or your property which they should be held accountable for . Plus the pricing how do I put it ya gotta be rich AF . Now this business is only limited to this neighborhood which if ya want your business to do good year round then maybe expand. Overall I'm not rich enough to even afford this business and if you are you should Probably get a much cheaper better quality Christmas light business to do your lights . read more

Awesome at Christmas Time! So much fun for my adult children and my grandchildren! Such beautiful decorations! We look forward to going every year! read more

Without question the greatest neighborhood Christmas lights display on the North American continent.

I saw this a few times. This year it seemed like not as many houses participated as in the previous years. This is still worth checking out and you don't need a tour guide or anything. You can park along the street then walk around. Just park in the same area as other people if you're unsure. Just a tip, make sure you explore the main area as well as some side streets. Some of the decorated houses are kind of hidden. read more

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River oaks is the area to view Xmas lights. Would hate to live here during the holidays at night because of congestion. But otherwise, this is the place where all the rich folks live like House of Ho (ho ho). Plenty of parking around the area two Sundays before Xmas. I think Friday and Saturday have the highest traffic. Maps show the areas west of River oaks blvd on Inglewood and del Monte as being the best places. But actually most of the neighborhood is lit. You can just start on one street north of San Felipe and keep zig zagging on the streets (driving east and west) one street at a time up to Inglewood. Or do the reverse and start up to at Inglewood and zig zag down to San Felipe. Yes there's traffic but it keeps moving and who wants to rush the experience anyway right? Go enjoy! read more

We drove around RO Christmas night to look at lights and it was surprisingly packed. I haven't been to RO in several years to look at the lights and when I did, it was never this crowded. Not all homes were decorated, but a good 75% were decorated in some sort of way. The more extravagant displays obviously had more traffic. There were some people walking instead of waiting in their vehicles - be careful if you decide to do this as they now tow vehicles if they're parked in prohibited areas. We even saw a horse drawn carriage with people in the rear, which reminded me of Pecan Grove. Overall, it was a unique experience but kiddos can get stir crazy waiting in the long traffic lines - mine sure did! read more

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OVERCROWDED, River Oaks Blvd is so overcrowded, many beautiful lights in other parts of River Oaks. Stay off the Blvd read more

We had a wonderful time seeing the River Oaks Christmas lights! The displays were beautiful, and we loved seeing Santa! It was a great way to get into the holiday spirit. read more

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River Oaks Christmas Lights 2021Beautiful Oak Trees Lights Video clip: https://youtu.be/VFPM3zHtu2o Walking in River Oaks in Houston, Texas during the Holiday Season. River Oaks is one of Texas's best decorated Christmas neighborhoods. read more

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terrible trafficc don't go nonone doingtheir lights this year so tour is cancelled...

Updated review from the last two years visiting for Christmas lights. So the Christmas lights 4 years ago was so beautiful every home on every street was lit up. The past two years theirs barely any homes lit way too many cars. They're some trees that are lit up a whole street of homes and that's about it. We left because my kids was getting upset and went 40 minutes away to a neighborhood all decked out read more

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The traffic is terrible. They need to figure it out as lights are beautiful but I say stay seat until they do!

The Christmas light traffic is terrible. Every intersection on River Oaks Blvd is gridlocked from 6:00 PM until the lights go off for the evening. read more

What a great way to enjoy Christmas lights during this holiday season in the comforts of your car. I found this free event on social media and thought this was a fun and socially distant event during this pandemic. We came the day after Christmas just some time after sunset. Apparently, we weren't the only ones with this idea in mind. Obviously, the traffic here was pretty bad on a Saturday night. But, the upside was that the cars moved slow enough for us to take pictures of all the pretty holiday lights. I've got to say, River Oaks does it big. It's like holiday lights on crack. So beautiful and extravagant. We thoroughly enjoyed it. My favorites from the light displays were the tree wrapped lights, especially the ones that were wrapped all the way up, including all the tree branches; the spherical and star lights; and of course, the gorgeous hanging tree lights. Just magnificent. It truly felt like Christmas and the holidays driving through these streets. Some things to point out, though. The main River Oaks Boulevard street was packed with cars going north. But, my suggestion is to take a drive down the less crowded smaller streets in River Oaks, namely Chevy Chase Drive, Delmont Drive, and Inwood Drive. The other thing about the smaller streets is that they have ample parking. So, if you truly wanted to stop to take pictures at a particular home you like, you can do that and then go back to your car afterwards. You can then return to River Oaks Boulevard going south from Inwood Drive to enjoy the remaining lights, since it's going to be less crowded going down this direction. From their event page, I think they stated that most of these lights won't come down until after New Year's Day. So, you still have time to enjoy the beautiful light displays. I think if you go on a weekday night, it won't be as crowded. Also, going early just after sunset may also prevent running into crowds of cars. This was my first time coming here, and I freaking loved it. Come and check them out if you haven't done so yet. You won't regret it. read more

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This place has to be one of the best neighborhoods in Houston with Christmas lights. The only thing I don't like is the traffic, seems to be more heavier the closer Christmas gets. read more

River Oaks Christmas Lights - Lights in River Oaks - Holiday Decorating Services Near Me

Hello, wealthy folk of Houston. Those are some mighty nice lights ya got there. Don't mind if we all stroll by craning our necks to see your collection of fine art and curly wooden stairway whilst simultaneously enjoying the 20k+ you spent on hiring a crew to install your Christmas lights. Speaking of those Christmas lights. They're amazing. And your neighbor appears to be using the latest technology in holiday lighting...and the other neighbor created a Spanish moss effect out of lights on their front tree. Talk about keeping up with the Jones - we hope you all keep it up. The neighborhood seems to have organically turned itself into a free community light show complete with horse carriages, drones flying overhead and bumper to bumper traffic on Christmas night. read more

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Huge houses. Tastefully appointed lights. Lots of traffic as Christmas approaches. Looking for Elvis, Star Wars, Snoopy...? You won't likely find them here. Not tasteful enough. Even references to the baby Jesus are few and far between. Still, it's a beautifully lighted neighborhood. My suggestion? Ditch the car. Dress the labradoodle in his Christmas finest. And take the family on a long walk. There is one house with a live Santa. Just look for the line. Be careful about letting your kids run around people's lawns unsupervised. They might have an educational encounter with the River Oaks police department. read more

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Came here with my family just before Christmas. It was absolutely beautiful. We just found street parking and walked around because there were so many people and so much traffic. Beautiful lights on almost every home. We heard there is even a Santa Claus to take pictures with but we didn't make it to him. We walked around for about two hours and still didn't see all the homes. Definitely a must do if you're in the Houston area around Christmas time. read more

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pretty lights, make sure to go when there isn't a huge rush. i wouldn't recommend walking around, driving is so much better

A tradition for me and nothing more magical to get you in the holiday spirit! Not to mention it is free and how sweet for the folks in this neighborhood to tolerate the thousands of cars blocking traffic! Thank you for that. If you go do it on a week day, arrive just at sun set and park off street (Chevy Chase Drive is good) avoid the no parking signs, of course, and walk around for an hour...you will not be disappointed. read more

AmaZing light displays on these beautiful mansions! Much better than some other cheesy light shows you may go to. Stunning displays that these homes have put up. Only downside is the traffic you may encounter on the streets. But well worth checking out every winter! read more

Horrible traffic congestion. The lights were okay but nothing beats Pecan Groves lights and lots less congestion.