Dyker Heights in Brooklyn is considered Christmas Central here in the city in terms of holiday decorations. The folks here have been competing with each other for 17 years to see who can provide the glitziest, gaudiest, most Christmassy Christmas lights on the block. (Well, more than one block--100 houses join in on the fun.)

Most of the homeowners plug in the weekend after Thanksgiving and keep them lit through the first week of January.

Life-sized carolers, bear-shaped topiaries....a 14-foot, 800 pound animatronic Santa. Eighteen-foot toy soldiers, reindeers, snowmen and everything else that represents the season is on display--bigger and brighter than you'd find anyplace else.

You can hop the subway and take the tour on your own (83rd to 86th Streets between 11th and 13th Avenues...take the D train from West 4th to the 79th St. and Ulrecht Ave. stop), but it's probably more fun to take a guided tour.

The A Slice of Brooklyn tour runs every night in December (except the 24th and 25th) at 6, 7 and 8 PM and lasts about 3 and a half hours, as it also makes stops in other Brooklyn neighborhoods. Adult tickets are $65 and children under 12 cost $55. The bus will meet you at Union Square so you won't have to deal with the subway.

You'll leave with candy canes, refrigerate magnets and great stories courtesy of the guides. Because, come on, anyone who decks out their home like that has to be a character! Case in point would be Lucy Spata, dubbed the Queen of Christmas, who started the tradition back in the '80s. Lucy took the holiday so seriously that she included a stipulation in her will that her children would only inherit her home if they decorated it every year. Now that's dedication.

Image via Bodhichita/iStock