Holiday Lights in the Gardens at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo puts up more than a million lights every night from November 27 into early January, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., with live entertainment and holiday food. There are no tickets: entry is free, with a $10 suggested donation at the gate. Spend the afternoon at Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, a 4-acre garden more than 100 years in the making, then drive over for the lights. Here is how each works, and where to eat.
We run Botanical Garden Near Me, a directory of public gardens and arboretums across the United States, and we are a guest here. Top of Tampa asked for the gardens. They supplied the restaurants.
The plan, in order
Go to Sunken Gardens first: it is open until 4:30 p.m., last admission at 4, and you pay at the gate. Then drive to Largo for the lights, which start at 5:30. Holiday Lights needs no ticket, so you can arrive any time before 9:30. The garden’s own pages give both January 2 and January 3 as the last night, so do not save the visit for the very end. Sunken Gardens is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Holiday Lights in the Gardens, Largo
The Florida Botanical Gardens are at 12520 Ulmerton Road in Largo, more than 100 acres of formal gardens and native habitats run by Pinellas County, with over two dozen collections and a 2-acre children’s garden. By day they are free, open 7 a.m. to sunset, closed the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Holiday Lights in the Gardens runs nightly from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. from November 27, 2026 into early January, with more than a million lights, live entertainment and holiday concessions each night. There is a $10 suggested donation for each person over 12, paid at the gate by cash, card, PayPal or Apple Pay, but you may enter without donating. Parking is free at the Ulmerton Road and Walsingham Road entrances, with accessible parking at Walsingham. If weather closes the gates, the garden posts it on Facebook.
Sunken Gardens, St. Petersburg
Sunken Gardens is at 1825 4th St. N. in St. Petersburg. George Turner Sr., a plumber and gardener, bought its 4.1 acres in 1911, and his sons brought in the first flamingos in 1955. The southern live oak in the Oak Pavilion is about 150 years old, with limbs spanning more than 150 feet. It is open Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday noon to 4:30, with last admission at 4. Adults are $18, seniors 62 and up $15, and children 2 to 12 $8, sold at the gate only. Plan on about an hour and a half to two hours. There are nearly 200 free parking spaces, shared with neighbors, and no pets. Breakfast with Santa is on Sunday, November 29, 9 a.m. to noon, $65 a person including all-day admission, by advance request only.
The full list
Hours, prices and directions for each of these, with the official page for each, are on our side. The botanical gardens near Tampa page on Botanical Garden Near Me lists them, closest first.
Where to eat after
Two tables in Clearwater near the Largo lights and one in St. Petersburg near Sunken Gardens, each checked against its hours. They come from Top of Tampa lists: Clearwater, Clearwater Beach and St. Petersburg burgers. The scores are theirs, not ours.
Cesare At The Beach
Insider Score8.0
Italian · Clearwater
Dinner before the lights. About 5.7 miles from the gardens on South Gulfview Boulevard, open from 5 p.m. every day until 9:30, 10 on Friday and Saturday. Lobster bisque, escargot and chicken Alfredo.
Frenchy's Rockaway Grill
Insider Score7.6
Seafood · Clearwater Beach
After the lights. About 6.9 miles from the gardens, open until 10 p.m. every day, 11 on Friday and Saturday. The grouper sandwich and the smoked tuna dip.
The Chattaway
Insider Score6.5
Burgers · St. Petersburg
After Sunken Gardens. About 2.9 miles away on 22nd Avenue South, open from 11 a.m. every day until 9:30 p.m., 10 on Friday and Saturday. A cooked-to-order burger at covered picnic tables, and tea served in china.
Scores are Top of Tampa Insider Scores. Restaurant photographs from Yelp and Tripadvisor.
Sources. Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation, Holiday Lights page and home page; Pinellas County, Florida Botanical Gardens page; Sunken Gardens, home, Plan Your Visit, Breakfast with Santa, History and Plants pages and its events listing; all checked October 23, 2026. Restaurant hours from Top of Tampa records. Top photo: a fountain pond at the Florida Botanical Gardens by Aghosh31, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0; other photo credits are under each photo.
Botanical Garden Near Me writes for Botanical Garden Near Me. Botanical Garden Near Me lists public botanical gardens, arboretums and conservatories across the United States, with hours, admission and directions taken from each garden's official site. This piece was written for Top of Tampa.