The best Christmas lights not only help to illuminate our homes and light up the skies during the cold, dark winter months, but they’re also failsafe mood setters, adding sparkle, joy, and wonder during the festive season.
Christmas lights are the icing on the cake when it comes to decking your halls and ushering in the Christmas feels, whether you go for an artificial Christmas tree or plan to rent a Christmas tree. Like hanging up your Christmas wreath, and decorations. stocking up on Christmas wrapping paper and ordering your Christmas food hamper, decorating your home with Christmas lights is a festive moment to savour.
There are so many offerings when it comes to Christmas lights, from light-up animals to sparkly garlands that can adorn your mantlepiece or staircase - and so much more. In the list that follows you’ll find lighting options to suit all tastes and budgets.
The best Christmas lights 2021
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Whether you want to imbue soft and subdued lighting in your living room to create a festive cosy mood or use bright, vivid lighting outside your home to create a winter wonderland effect, we've rounded up the best Christmas lights for 2021, with twinkly options from John Lewis, Oliver Bonas, Marks and Spencer and more.
1. Pom Pom String Lights
Expect a fight for the seat wherever you hang these soft pom pom string lights. Featuring 200 warm white LED lights, they're mains powered and feel fluffy to the touch - just the thing for bathing a dark corner with the warmest, Christmassy glow. Use them to give your Christmas tree a glow-up or string them around your table, mantelpiece or favourite chair.
The reviews are glowing too. One customer wrote: 'I bought these lights to brighten and soften our dark hallway which it has done beautifully. We wanted something warm and welcoming for Christmas as well. These lights have brought a second benefit which I did not expect. My 3-year-old has Autism and sensory needs and he has found these lights equally warm and calming that we have bought a second set for him. The lights are incredibly soft in terms of touch and sight too. We have had so many compliments about them that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. Well Done OB!'
2. LED Willow Stag's Head
The only way to mount a stag's head on your wall, this cruelty-free festive masterpiece is definitely one of the best Christmas lights we've seen. Made from willow, it features 80 warm white LED lights and requires three AAA batteries.
LED lights are energy-efficient and have a long lifespan so there's no need to take this down once Christmas is over. This item is part of the Snow Mountain theme at John Lewis, inspired by the Scottish Highlands and featuring whites with warm neutrals, soft blues and silver tones.
3. Ombre Rainbow Christmas Lights
The best Christmas lights are ones that reflect a bit of your personality so if you're a lover of all things colourful, go for this glorious string of technicolour lights. Drape them around a small Christmas tree for a contemporary look or wrap them around your favourite piece of furniture for a bit of extra Christmas pzazz.
When you switch them on, the 500 LED lights cycle through the colours - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink and white - creating a rainbow of twinkling colour.
And the reviews speak for themselves. One happy customer had this to say: 'Best. lights. ever. So beautiful.' Another wrote: 'These bright and well-made lights have brilliantly adorned our window and look amazing!'
VIEW AT NOT ON THE HIGH STREET | £56
4. Christmas Dinosaur String Lights
If dogs aren't your thing, how about dinosaurs? Kids will love these cute dino Christmas lights - and they're bound to bring a smile to the faces of the grownups too. They're for indoor use only so they're perfect for the playroom or a child's bedroom. There's only one problem - we reckon they won't want to take them down once Santa has been.
They're battery operated and you'll need two AA batteries.
5. Multi Coloured Confetti String Fairy Light
If you fancy something a bit different but don't want to fork out loads on lights, these confetti fairy lights are one of the best Christmas lights we've found. You can choose between a mains or battery-operated version and it has a built-in timer so you don't need to worry about forgetting to turn the lights off.
With 108 LED lights, these would look lovely hung over a mirror or nestled inside a vase for a modern festive Christmas vibe.
VIEW AT NOT ON THE HIGH STREET | £31.95
6. Outdoor Hanging Star Light Duo
Here's a set of the best Christmas lights for traditionalists. Your home will look like a hygge haven straight from the pages of a Scandinavian interiors magazine with this gorgeous setup.
Suitable for indoors or out, this star light duo is ideal for brightening up a wall or a window in readiness for Christmas. They're bigger than they seem - the large star is 58cm and the regular star is 38cm - and both feature delicate bead detailing and 310 warm white LEDs. A hanging string is included and the lights have a six-hour timer so you can set them for the same time each evening.
7. Christmas Holly String Lights
Add a burst of festive colour to your Christmas decor with these holly-shaped LED lights. They're battery operated and the string is 3m long so they're perfect for curling around a bannister or draping over your mantelpiece.
These cheerful Christmas lights are great value for money too so they're a good choice for bringing the festivities into a child's room.
8. Neon Merry Tube Light
Go for understated chic with this mains-operated neon light. It's suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. The bulb isn't replaceable but this item is energy efficient and has a longer lifespan than standard filament bulbs.
Teens, in particular, love a neon light so we think these are the best Christmas lights if you want to bring a bit of cool yule to a house with older kids in residence.
9. Dachshund Outdoor Christmas Figure
No self-respecting dachshund-loving home should be without one of these cute fellas.
It's bigger than it seems at 65cm tall and it's weatherproof and comes with ground hooks, so you can keep him outside to give passersby a chuckle. Featuring 80 warm white LEDs, it even has a timer so you can set this little pup to light up your life at the same time each evening.
10. Percy Pig lights
Fans of Percy Pig will get a kick out of these cute Christmas lights. They're about as far from festive as you can get but they're sure to bring a smile to little faces if you're looking for an affordable set of Christmas lights to pop in a Christmas Eve box.
The reviews also made us laugh. 'Bought these for my Percy Pig crazy daughter who couldn’t stop laughing when I gave them to her,' wrote one customer. 'They haven’t gone up yet...thankfully...but will adorn her Christmas tree this year and many years to come.'
VIEW AT MARKS AND SPENCER | £5
11. Warm White Multifunctional LED Lights
If nothing says 'Christmas' to you more than good, old-fashioned traditional fairy lights, then we've found the best Christmas lights for you. You get a whopping 1500 LEDs in this set and they can be used indoors or out. Perfect for showing off a garden or lighting up your driveway so that Santa won't miss where to land. There are 8 different settings to choose from, including static mode and gentle twinkling, so you can even match your lights to your mood.
There's just one review on these but it's super positive: 'I couldn't believe I got 89 metres of lights for such a low price. Should be able to cover the entire street now! Plugged them in to test - and nice warm white colour.'
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