By the second week of December the question arriving at the Club is always the same: “Is there anything left for Saturday?” Sometimes there is. Often, by then, there is not. The Minneapolis holiday lights trolley boards at the Pillsbury Club on East 22nd Street, and its own booking page carries a small banner that says it plainly: this tour is popular and likely to sell out. So here is the honest answer to the question people ask us in the bar, in the market and by email, about when to book, which nights go first, and what to do if the night you wanted is already gone.

Yes, it sells out, and here is why

The reason is simple arithmetic. This is a vintage trolley, not a fleet of buses. Guests who have ridden it describe every seat being filled, and the private-charter page that offers the same trolley to groups describes it as ideal for ten to twenty-five people, which tells you roughly how many can share a departure. Multiply a limited number of departures by the nights in December and you get a season with a real ceiling. Add more than 700 Google reviews averaging 4.9 stars, and the ceiling gets reached.

Two rides share that trolley. Santa’s Nice Ride is the all-ages, one-hour version: Christmas music, a guide narrating the route and a vote for your favorite decorated house. The Naughty Holiday Party Ride is 21 and over, runs two hours, and begins with holiday cocktails inside the Club before anyone boards. They draw different crowds and they fill on different nights.

Which nights go first

We do not publish a seat count, and availability changes by the hour once the season is under way, so the only true source is the live calendar on the ride page. But the pattern is predictable, and it will not surprise you. Friday and Saturday evenings in the middle of December are the first to go, especially for the Naughty ride, which is where the office parties, the girls’ nights and the anniversary dates all land. The nights between the last school day and Christmas Eve fill next, mostly with families and visiting relatives on the Nice ride. Weeknights in early December are where you find the most choice, the most seats together and the least stress.

Routes vary through the season as displays go up and come down, so an early-December ride is not a lesser ride. It is a different one, and the guide will know where the good blocks are that week.

How far ahead to book

Book the moment you know your date. Waiting gains you nothing, and the seats do not come back. If you are bringing more than a couple of people, book together in one reservation if you want to sit together. If you are planning around out-of-town guests, book the ride before you book their flights, not after. It is the one part of a Minneapolis Christmas weekend that cannot be improvised.

Groups of ten or more should skip the public calendar entirely and ask about a private trolley. A private ride starts at the Club just like the public ones, holds ten to twenty-five people, and lets you set the time and the vibe, which for a December office party is usually the point. The Club’s Emerald Suite seats up to ten if you want a private room before or after.

If the night you wanted is gone

Three things to try, in order. First, look at the same week on a weeknight; a Wednesday ride with a drink in the Club beforehand is, in our experience, a better evening than a rushed Saturday. Second, look at the other ride. If the Naughty night you wanted is full, a Nice departure at a time that works, with a cocktail at the Club before rather than during, is still an hour of lights on a heated trolley. Third, join the trolley’s mailing list; the ride page says it plainly: sometimes they send free tickets.

Once you are booked

Your ride begins inside the mansion, not at a curb, which is the thing that separates it from every other lights tour in town. Arrive early. There is free parking across the street from the Club, a holiday market of more than fifty Minnesota makers to browse, handcrafted cocktails at the speakeasy-style bar, and dinner or appetizers if you want them. We have written a whole post on what to do in the hour before you board, and another on whether you need to be a member (you do not; you need a reservation). Hours and house policies are on plan your visit.

If you are making a weekend of it, the Club’s partner mansion, 300 Clifton in Loring Park, is the only mansion in Minneapolis you can tour and sleep in, and its guests get a trolley voucher with a direct booking.

Book it now, then relax

The lights will be there all December. The seats will not. Check the calendar and book your Naughty or Nice ride, then come early, have a drink under the oak beams, and let the trolley do the driving.

Keep reading: Where should you celebrate a birthday in Minneapolis? How to build a birthday night at the Pillsbury Club.