Limo companies offer Christmas-light tours

If a string of simple white lights around an evergreen isn't enough Christmas for you, then you might want to know about the Tidewater Tinsel Tour.

Seven local limousine and car service companies, all members of the Virginia Limousine Association, have put together the region's first tour of holiday displays. It's a three-hour guided ride past all the big, brash and bright sites the organizers could find.

This year, they're all in Virginia Beach. But the limo companies hope more "Griswalds" from other cities will vie to become part of the lineup in the future, said Paul Walsh, president of Superior Executive Transportation. (The Griswald family excessively decked their halls in the movie "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," starring Chevy Chase as the elder Griswald.)

Tidewater Tinsel Tour starts with "Holiday Lights at the Beach" on the Oceanfront boardwalk and moves on to other sites, including a house on Brockie Street that "has THE Griswald setup," Walsh said.

Prices vary by company but they're generally charging between $190 and $500, depending on the size of the vehicle and the number of passengers it can carry.

The operators hope the tour will become as popular as the Tacky Lights Tour in Richmond, which is booked solid every year, though they would never suggest that local displays are tacky.