By mid-December in Denver, the sun drops behind the Front Range around 4:35 p.m., and for a few minutes the snow on the peaks turns pink. Soon after, the City and County Building switches on its holiday display at the head of Civic Center Park. Across town, families in knit hats carry cups of hot chocolate through the Denver Zoo and Denver Botanic Gardens. We bring your group to those displays and home again on our Denver holiday lights tour.
When you reserve, we go over the displays on your list, how many people are coming, and any extra stops, such as dinner downtown. We settle the pickup and drop-off points for each attraction at the same time, along with a return meeting point, so everyone knows where to find the vehicle after visiting a display. Larger vehicles need every stop on record in advance, because street access near some entrances is limited.
The walk-through paths take about an hour each, so an evening with two displays and a stop for dinner usually runs four to five hours. We pick up at homes and hotels across the Denver metro area, and your first pickup time depends on when your earliest timed ticket starts.
Where the venue permits, your chauffeur brings the group close to the entrance on your Denver Christmas lights tour. Your chauffeur works for us directly, not for an app or a subcontractor. Everyone on our team completes screening and training, and each vehicle is licensed and insured.
If you’re visiting with young children, tell us whether you’d prefer a shorter stop or a more flexible schedule, and we plan the evening that way.
Visiting Denver for the holidays? If your group also needs an airport pickup, we can arrange that separately from your evening lights tour.
The same displays return every year, though dates and ticket rules change each season. Three of the big displays are walk-throughs:
The Denver Christkindlmarket returns to Tivoli Quad on the Auraria Campus, where visitors can browse holiday stalls and enjoy seasonal food. The City and County Building’s light display is a separate downtown stop, so we plan the evening around both locations rather than treating them as one attraction.
On a weekend in early December, the Parade of Lights, a tradition since 1975, covers about two miles of downtown streets. If your outing falls on the Parade of Lights weekend, we’ll review downtown road closures and identify suitable pickup and drop-off locations. The parade route may affect which other stops fit into your evening.
Our fleet has a vehicle for every kind of holiday group:
The walk-throughs at the Botanic Gardens, the zoo, and Chatfield Farms sell timed tickets. The City and County Building and the Parade of Lights are free to watch from the street.
Yes. An hourly reservation can cover several displays in one evening. How many fit depends on the gaps between your admission times and the driving between venues, so we map the order when you book. If you want to add or drop a stop during the outing, we’ll check whether the change fits your reserved time.
Yes. Our ADA Sprinter Shuttle carries up to 14 people, including one passenger in a wheelchair, who boards by a roll-in entry rated for 800 pounds. Straps hold the wheelchair in place. Blossoms of Light has wheelchair-accessible paths, though some spots turn icy on cold nights.
Once the gates on York Street close for the night, families walk out with cold cheeks and empty cocoa cups. Since October 2007, Hermes Worldwide has driven local families and companies to evenings like these. A tour like this also makes a good holiday gift, especially for grandparents who would rather not drive icy roads after dark. Which displays would your group want to see first on a Christmas lights tour in Denver? Write the date inside the card, and we’ll take them from one display to the next that evening.
One of our December clients took a moment to write this review on Google: “As always, Hermes’ driver was on time, courteous, and professional for our ride to enjoy the Holiday Lights. It’s great to know we can always count on Hermes to be there, on time, without fail.” (Debbie D.)
When the ticket emails arrive in your inbox, the next step is a call to +1.303.577.7600 or a note to reserve@hermesworldwide.com. Requests for any date in the season also reach us by the reservation form.
