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Do you want to go for a Christmas light drive around the Upstate and see all the best (and free!) home displays? Have you seen long lists ofChristmas light displays? Are you overwhelmed by the holidays this year? We’ve got seven driving routes for 2025 to help you enjoy the season without a lot of stress since we already did the work for you!

Load the family in the car and follow these routes for a super simple yet super special night (or nights) of enjoying Christmas lights together.

Disclaimer: Kidding Around is not responsible for property damage, neighborhood safety, or any possible injuries of any kind that may happen while driving, stopping, and viewing holiday lights and decorations. Drivers and property owners maintain all responsibility for general safety, operating a vehicle safely, light-viewing enjoyment, and holiday cheer. Drive slowly, be respectful, share holiday magic, and don’t be a Scrooge.

Submissions are closed for 2025 but if you want to be included in the 2026 list, you can come back and fill out our Holiday Light Display form and be sure to include a photo of your display.

While we do our best to offer accurate information, please check with these venues and organizations before visiting. Please help keep Kidding Around free by not copying and reproducing this content without written permission. Please note that things like inclement weather can impact a display status. If you see more while you are driving around the Upstate, be sure to share the info in the comments of our Holiday Lights List for folks to check out!

Tips For Enjoying The Holiday Light Displays

While there are plenty of paid attractions you can visit with your family, if you are looking for some budget-friendly fun, and admiring the work of homeowners, you have come to the right spot.

We have separated light displays in the Upstate into several easy-to-follow routes. Do them all in one night, or turn them into several nights of fun. Throw your fuzzy jammies on, grab the tumbler of hot chocolate, popcorn, and hit the road.

We have gathered the best of the best in the Upstate to curate this fantastic list. Homes with light shows that include music (and sometimes even hot chocolate and Santa) are included and worth the drive. Here are a few tips to make the most of the routes provided:

Disclaimer: Kidding Around is not responsible for property damage, neighborhood safety, or any possible injuries of any kind that may happen while driving, stopping, and viewing holiday lights and decorations. Drivers and property owners maintain all responsibility for general safety, operating a vehicle safely, light-viewing enjoyment, and holiday cheer. Drive slowly, be respectful, share holiday magic, and don’t be a Scrooge.

2025 Kidding Around Christmas Light Driving Tour Map

2025 Christmas Light Driving Tours

Addresses on the Greenville route:

Addresses on the Easley route:

Addresses on the Simpsonville Route:

Addresses on Five Forks driving route:

Addresses on Spartanburg driving route:

Addresses on the Greer route in order of driving route:

Addresses on the South Greer route in order:

All of these are very close together but lots of fun! Be sure to follow the one-way street signs. Big thanks to Nikki L. who helped us to compile this one.

Addresses on the 2025 Conestee Route:

BONUS: No Route Christmas Light Displays

There are several holiday light displays in the Upstate that are too far from any of the routes to be added to them but that we still think you’ll like. They are noted in purple on the map and their addresses and info is below.

2025 Editor’s Picks For Top Holiday Home Light Displays

Here are some of our favorite synchronized displays:

Please be sure to completely fill out the form, including any online links to information available like dedicated social media pages or posts. The more information we have, the more likely your home will be included in our content.

If you see more while you are driving around the Upstate, be sure to share the info in the comments of our Holiday Lights List for folks to check out.

Looking for more lights? See what lights are waiting for you in the Midlands in our Christmas Lights Near Columbia, SC list. We also have Christmas Lights Driving Tours in Columbia.NEW! Heading to Charlotte? We have 4 Mini Christmas Lights driving trails in Charlotte that highlight the best homes in the area.

Hundreds of people, including children, are quarantined in South Carolina on the heels of an upstate measles outbreak, which health leaders said stems from a lack of vaccinations and recent holiday travel.

At least 111 people have contracted measles since the outbreak began in early October, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH). Of the cases reported in the state's northwest region, 105 people were unvaccinated, state epidemiologist Linda Bell announced during a Wednesday, Dec. 10, news briefing.

The remaining six included three people who received only one of the two recommended MMR doses, Bell said, while another person was vaccinated and the vaccination status of the other two is unknown.

At least 254 people have been placed in quarantine − 16 of them in isolation, Bell said.

"This significant jump in cases is unfortunate," Bell said. "Vaccination continues to be the best way to prevent the disruption that measles is causing to people's education, to employment and other factors in people's lives in our communities."

Bell said authorities traced 16 infections to the Way of Truth Church in Spartanburg County in the northwest part of the state. The church, in the city of Inman, is part of South Carolina's Upstate region which also includes Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens, and Union counties.

More than two dozen new measles cases reported in South Carolina since Dec. 5

Since Dec. 5, Bell said, 27 new cases had been reported, bringing the total number reported to the DPH this year to 114.

Declared eradicated in the United States in 2000, measles recently made a comeback as vaccination rates have dropped.

Earlier this year, two children ages 6 and 8, died from measles amid an outbreak in Texas where Department of State Health Services data revealed more than 94% of cases were in unvaccinated people, USA TODAY previously reported.

"If people are willing to be vaccinated, receiving an MMR vaccination within 72 hours of exposure has been shown to prevent measles infections," Bell said.

What is measles and how is it spread?

Measles is a highly contagious, viral infection that primarily, and most severely, affects children. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it infects the respiratory tract before spreading throughout the body.

It's a vaccine-preventable disease, and according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, one in five unvaccinated people who contract the virus end up hospitalized.

Measles is spread through contact with infected nasal or throat secretions, or by breathing in the virus after it's coughed, sneezed or sent into the air by an infected person, according to WHO. The measles virus can remain contagious in the air or on contaminated surfaces for up to two hours.

Symptoms of measles

Measles symptoms usually appear seven to 14 days after contact with the virus and typically include high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes, according to the CDC. Measles rash appears three to five days after the onset of the first symptoms.

Other signs and symptoms of the virus include:

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund

Looking for Santa in neighborhoods near Greenville & Spartanburg? Several fire departments in the Upstate have an honorary team member who lives in the North Pole. It’s true, and seeing Santa on a firetruck in Greenville, SC, and Spartanburg, SC has solidified a tradition for many families. Santa will visit close to 80 neighborhoods around the Upstate by firetruck, spreading Christmas joy!

He’s really busy this time of year, so the most efficient way to get a last peek at all of the good boys and girls of the Upstate is to hitch a ride with first responders and zip through neighborhoods. Reindeer magic only works at night, in case you were wondering, so this is the best way!

Santa on a Firetruck: Greenville, SC Neighborhoods

Local first responders are giving Santa a tour of the Upstate! See if he’s coming to your neck of the woods.

Santa Visiting Spartanburg Neighborhoods

The details of this annual event have not been announced for 2025, but please Stay tuned to the Inman Fire Department Facebook page for updates and schedule changes!

Track Santa on Christmas Eve

Don’t worry if you weren’t able to catch a glimpse this year of Santa before his big day! We have two other ways for you to track him on his journey this week.

In1955, a young man accidentally called the Continental Air Defense Command asking if they had seen Santa flying through the sky. The child had meant to call a Santa Hotline, however, the person who answered the phone that Christmas Eve just happened to be the Commander in Chief, Colonel Harry Shoup. The Colonel instructed his team to keep looking for Santa on the radar screens and at that moment a holiday tradition was born.

Join the team at NORAD to track Santa on Christmas Eve night, and you will be able to watch them track “Big Red 1” in real-time as he makes his way across the world.

The I Heart Radio streaming service has a station dedicated to all things Christmas that not only includes 24/7 Christmas music, but Santa will be checking in with listeners on Christmas Eve with Updates!