As the daylight dwindles, botanical gardens and other public outdoor venues turn on fanciful light shows to attract visitors. November and December are the prime months for such extravaganzas.

Now through December 29, the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, Scotland, features a one-mile winter trail with a laser garden, neon spiral trees, larger-than-life “icicles” and glowing boats in a festive flotilla.

Holiday at the Arboretum in Dallas, Texas, spotlights “The 12 Days of Christmas” (photo, below) with more than one million lights turned on throughout the garden at night. This outdoor exhibit, open from November 9 through December 31, features 25-foot-tall Victorian-style gazebos that come to life, depicting scenes from the traditional carol.

The Holiday Festival of Lights in Charleston, North Carolina, is turned on every evening from November 15 through January 1, 2020, in James Island County Park.

“Wild Lights” are promised at the Detroit Zoo November 16 through January 5, 2020. More than five million LED lights will illuminate trees, buildings, and 280 sculptures (more than 230 of which depict animals).

Christmas at Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, England (photo, above left), includes a Winter Light trail through the grounds illuminated with colorful lights. Giant fairy-light baubles provide an Instagram frame in the Stables Courtyard, and, inside the Coach House is an immersive light installation with rising and falling orbs. It’s open Wednesdays through Sundays November 16 through January 5, 2020 (and includes a Christmas Fair with 80 artisan vendors).

Enchanted Forest of Light is an interactive, nighttime experience in Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge, California. The one-mile walk travels through unique lighting experiences including interactive, large-scale light displays. It’s open November 17 through January 5, 2020.

In Kew Gardens outside London, England, laser projections will illuminate the Temperate House, there’s a “Flickering Fire Garden”, and glittering spiral trees during “Christmas at Kew”, November 20 through January 5, 2020.

Live music and holiday treats including gingerbread cookies and hot cocoa are promised at the Enchanted Garden of Lights at Rock City, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, from November 22 through December 31. Wander down the North Pole Highway, and then stop off at the Magic Forest, Arctic Kingdom, North Pole Village, and Yule Town.

In the Bedgebury National Pinetum, Gouldhurst, Kent, England, a one-mile path will feature lighted treetops in seasonal colors plus a “Vortex Tunnel” with “ribbons of light” and a Water Fountain Finale with jets of colored water dancing to Christmas classics from November 22 through December 30.

Over at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England, the Great Lake and the waterfall will shimmer and sparkle with lights along the trail through the parkland November 22 through January 1, 2020. An aerial light show will fill the sky with dancing bands of color.

The Winter Lights exhibit in the North Carolina Arboretum at Asheville, open November 22 through January 4, 2020, includes a 50-food animated tree.

Winterlights returns for a third year to Newfields, Indianapolis, Indiana, November 23 through January 5, 2020. It’s an outdoor winter wonderland with apple cider, hot chocolate and s’mores. Lights dance to music on the Lilly House lawn, and special glasses will be available that transform every one of the 1.5 million lights into a shimmering snowflake.

At Stourhead Gardens, Wiltshire, England, a festive trail under tree canopies drenched in seasonal color and dripping with “shards” of light, frosty snowflakes, stars, and baubles will be open November 29 through December 30.

The City of Arab, Alabama, kicks off the holiday season November 29 when Arab City Park is transformed into Christmas in the Park, a festive and “over-the-top” display of merriment and holiday splendor. More than two million lights will illuminate the night sky and decorations galore will line the sidewalks through December 31.

Zoolights at the Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, provides a spectacular display of 2.5 million lights arranged into hundreds of luminous displays. It begins November 29, and runs (mostly on weekends) through January 5, 2020.

More than 750,000 twinkling lights are promised during the 2019 Holiday Light Show at the Rotary Gardens in Janesville, Wisconsin, most evenings from November 29 through December 30.

Belton House, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, promises topiary trees draped in lights that flicker in time to holiday classic tunes November 30 through December 30.

Along a mile-long path in the Chicago Botanic Garden November 22 through January 5, 2020, the night will come alive with color, imagination, and sound, from a playful “choir” of singing trees to a waterfall of light. Visitors to Lightscape will find themselves stepping inside a cathedral of golden light, walking down an avenue of luminous linden trees, and moving through colorful ribbons of light.

In Arden, North Carolina, the drive-through Lake Julian Festival of Lights illuminates a Buncombe County park with 50 animated and stationary light displays November 30 through December 23.