We have been out & about Discovering the best lights & garden displays in Ashbourne...... Scroll down for a map....

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1. Top 5 individual houses

Some houses have really gone all out with decorations top to bottom..... In no particular order our 5 favourites are.....

• Clumber Close DE6 1JZ
• Chestnut Drive DE6 1HT
• Brookside Meadows DE6 1RS (2 houses)
• Northcliffe Road DE6 1FE (3 houses)
• Greenway DE6 1EF

We recommend you walk to Northcliffe Road - there are several great houses and it is worth the effort (otherwise be ready for a 6-point turn). The other roads have more space to turn your car, but you will of course get a better view on foot....

2. Best for daytime...

Clumber Close DE6 1JZ (near the bottom of Premier Avenue) is our favourite road for daytime viewing, with lots of inflatables and decorated trees. It is also fabulous after dark. We love the motor-cycling santa and the amazing tree lights. There is plenty of space to turn your car.

3. Best for driving by...

These can all be seen without getting out of your car and without any awkward dead ends.

• Ashbourne Town Centre is really sparkling for Christmas. There is a magnificent Christmas tree in the Market Place and twinkling lights festooned above and around the streets. Many shops have filled their windows with festive displays. Parking is free after 2pm in December. Why not have a bite to eat, do some shopping and walk around...... And don't forget the Christmas competition...
• We love the house & garden on Derby Road (on the left half way up), festooned with gold lighting and a group of reindeer on the lawn.
• There is a fabulous house at the end of Park Avenue with their flagpole lit from top to bottom.
• Windmill Lane has a showstopper tree on top of a garage, a Star of David and (keep driving until the houses finish) another fabulous flagpole.
• Stanton Road is very cheerful with lots and lots of houses lit up....
• And of course, this section would not be complete with mentioning the manger, unmissable next to Park Road traffic lights.

4. Most elegant

These houses have shied away from garish colours and inflatables and instead gone for understated elegance. Our favourites are all in the Hilltop area.

• We think the best is Barton Drive (off Harlow Way - drive anticlockwise round the loop)
• Also worth visiting off Harlow Way are Litton Croft and Davenport Grove.
• Turnpike Way is lovely.
• Thorpe View has one stand-out house which makes it worth the trip.

5. Best of the rest

• The Green Road past QEGS towards the market place.
• Lathkill Drive (easy to combine with Stanton Road).
• Whilst you are visiting Brookside Meadows it's also worth a walk down Okeover Avenue and Brookside.
• There is great house on Highfield Road near the M&S roundabout.
• George Street is worth a walk (don't take your car).
• Lodge Farm Chase has one good house and Lower Pingle Road has another.