Holiday Light Shows in Northern Suburbs of Chicago

Holiday Light shows light up Cuneo Museum in Vernon Hills and Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Take the family to a holiday light show, a special holiday treat available only during the Christmas season. The ground of the properties holding these holiday light shows are festively illuminated, for a magical experience in the Chicagoland area.

A Winter Wonderland Holiday Light Show is a festival of lights that you can drive through. Admission is per car, not per person. The Village of Vernon Hills and the Cuneo Museum and Gardens in Vernon Hills are presenting the light show together. The show opened on the day after Thanksgiving and will continue through January 2, 2010. Wrap the family up in warm clothes and take them for a wonderful drive through the festival of lights. The per car fee for the drive through tour of the Cuneo grounds is $5 Monday through Thursday and $10 Friday through Sunday.

Cuneo Museum also offers a mansion tour, which is separate from the outdoor light show. The walk through tour features the Victorian holiday decorations in the historic mansion. The mansion tour, which runs December 8-12 costs $7 per person and is free for children under 15.

The Cuneo Museum is near the the northwest intersection of Route 21 and Route 60 in Vernon Hills, Illinois (behind Westfield Hawthorne Mall). The entrance in on Route 60, west of intersection of 21 and 60.

Chicago Botanic Garden Winter Wonderland

The Chicago Botanic Garden on Lake Cook Road in Glencoe is transformed into an oasis of tinkling lights, garden sculptures, horticulture displays, an indoor snowfall and the Wonderland Express. The Wonderland Express is a display of garden scale trains and miniature Chicago landmarks. New for 2009 are models of Barack Obama's Hyde Park home, Michelle Obama's childhood home and the Union Stockyards Old Stone Gate. Some of the returned Chicago landmarks in miniature are the Shedd Aquarium,

The Regenstein Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden has been turned into a magical indoor wonderland of plants, trains and greenhouses. The greenhouses are specially lit.

Chicago Botanic Garden also offers outdoor winter activities, for the family including ice skating and snowshoeing.

Admission to the Chicago Botanic Garden is free, but there is a fee of $20 per car for parking. Tickets to the Wonderland Express garden train exhibit are $10 for adults and $8 for children (3-12) and senior (62+). For additional information call 847-835-5440.

Resources:

Cuneo Museum
Chicago Botanic Garden
Village of Vernon Hills

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