Every December, someone in the office gets handed the same assignment: find a holiday party that is not another banquet room with a cash bar. If your team (or your friend group, or your in-laws) would rather have a few laughs, a few drinks of their own choosing and a lot of twinkle lights, there is a better answer than a ballroom. It is a heated vintage trolley holiday lights ride that boards at a Gilded Age mansion.
What is the Naughty Holiday Party Ride?
The Naughty Holiday Party Ride is the adults-only (21+) version of the lights tour: roughly two hours, a heated trolley, Christmas music and a route that changes through the season to catch the best-decorated blocks. Guests bring their own drinks aboard, which makes it part lights tour, part rolling holiday party. Rides start from around $75 per person, and the holiday light ride page has current dates and booking.
It is a natural fit for office parties, girls’ nights and date nights. Teams that would rather talk than shout over a DJ tend to love it: everyone sits facing each other, nobody has to drive, and the windows do the entertaining.
Where does a BYOB holiday lights trolley pick you up?
This is the detail worth checking before you buy. Some BYOB holiday light trolleys in the Twin Cities ask guests to check in at a downtown bar, which means carrying a cooler through a parking lot or down a busy sidewalk in December. Ours boards at the historic Pillsbury Club mansion at 100 E 22nd St, and the drinks you brought only travel a few warm steps from the club room onto the heated trolley. There is free parking across the street, too.
The setting matters more than you would think. You gather in a limestone-faced 1912–14 mansion by Hewitt and Brown before you ever step on the bus, so the party starts the moment people arrive instead of after a cold wait on the curb. Details on the house are on the Pillsbury Club’s plan-your-visit page.
What if the group includes kids, grandparents or coworkers who do not drink?
Book Santa’s Nice Ride instead. It is a one-hour, all-ages version with Christmas music, narration, a holiday market stop with local Minnesota artists and a vote for the best-decorated home. Prices start around $30 per person. Some teams split the difference: the family-friendly ride for a lunch-hour outing with partners and kids, the Naughty ride for the after-hours crowd. Our guide to picking between the Naughty and Nice rides walks through the differences.
How do you plan a group holiday trolley outing?
A few practical tips from a house that hosts a lot of celebrations:
- Book early. The rides are popular and tend to sell out, especially on weekends.
- Pick one person to be the organizer, and have them call (612) 900-3220 if the group is large or you want to ask about private options.
- Dress warmly for the walk from the car and the stop-offs, even though the trolley itself is heated.
- Pair the ride with dinner or a drink at the Pillsbury Club before boarding. Check the club’s page for hours and reservations.
- Plan a safe ride home. The trolley drives so you do not have to, but the evening does not end at the curb.
Where can out-of-town coworkers stay?
If colleagues are flying in for the party, 300 Clifton is a short drive from the Pillsbury Club and is the only mansion in Minneapolis you can tour and sleep in. The estate, roughly 20,000 square feet, was owned by Eugene J. Carpenter, who chaired the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts from 1911 to 1922. The city records its history on the Eugene Carpenter House landmark page, and our own history page tells the longer story. Each room has its own personality, from the Crystal Mansion Room to the Georgian Room.
More holiday ideas for the same night
Make a full evening of it. Meet Minneapolis, the city’s tourism bureau, keeps a running list of holiday lights displays and tree lightings in Minneapolis and a broader Winterapolis holiday guide, and a stroll through Loring Park, nearby, makes a pleasant before-or-after walk. For the lights themselves, see our neighborhood guide, where to see the best holiday lights in Minneapolis.
Ready to book? Reserve the Minneapolis holiday lights trolley, then book your room at 300 Clifton or call us. You can also browse Minneapolis Trolley Tours for more rides.
Keep reading: Where Should You Stay for Thanksgiving Weekend in Minneapolis?