At 5 p.m. on Friday, November 27, Danville will light the Old Oak Tree downtown. At that same hour, just up Danville Boulevard, the doors at 170A Alamo Plaza will close on the first day of an exhibit with steam, diesel and electric locomotives running through miniature Swiss, Belgian, Danish, Italian and German scenery.
Alamo's heritage oak stands in Andrew H. Young Memorial Park, across Danville Boulevard from the plaza, and its turn usually comes later. So for a little more than five weeks, Alamo's holiday season starts in a shopping-center storefront next to the post office, and the money from it goes to the food bank.
Storefront 170A, next to the post office
The exhibit is called "A Trip Through the European Countryside." The San Francisco chapter of European Train Enthusiasts puts it on with the Alamo Improvement Association. The November 2026 issue of Alamo Today places it at 170A Alamo Plaza Shopping Center, near the post office and Body Rock Studio.
Admission is $5, and children six and under get in free. Proceeds go to the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, and visitors are asked to bring a nonperishable food item too. That makes the show one of the few holiday outings in the San Ramon Valley where the ticket itself is the donation.
The show has been here before. The chapter's own archive includes Alamo exhibits in 2022 and 2023, and the 2022 run lasted from November 25 to December 31. The plaza's owner, EDENS, advertises this year's edition on its Alamo Plaza page as "Alamo's beloved holiday tradition returns." This year it runs a few days past New Year's, closing January 3, 2027.
Five countries on one layout
The layout is the reason to go more than once. Alamo Today lists these scenes on the 2026 layout:
- A railroad station in Switzerland
- A Belgian racetrack
- A Danish farm
- A villa in Tuscany, Italy
- The Havel Bay Railroad Bridge in Potsdam, Germany
The train show also includes a scavenger hunt that Alamo Today calls challenging "for young and old alike," plus displays on the history of European railroading. The scavenger hunt is the part that rewards a second visit. A child who rushed through on Thanksgiving weekend will find more on a slow weekday afternoon in mid-December.
Members of the chapter design, build, store and transport their modules themselves, and the group's full modular layout can range from 900 to 2,100 square feet.
A schedule built around the holiday weeks
The show keeps a Wednesday-through-Sunday schedule, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed Monday and Tuesday most weeks, plus Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Both of those holidays fall on a Friday this year, so each of the last two weeks loses a day in the middle.
| Week | Open days |
|---|---|
| Thanksgiving weekend | Fri. Nov. 27 to Sun. Nov. 29 |
| Dec. 2 to Dec. 6 | Wednesday through Sunday |
| Dec. 9 to Dec. 13 | Wednesday through Sunday |
| Dec. 16 to Dec. 20 | Wednesday through Sunday |
| Christmas week | Tue. Dec. 22 added; closed Fri. Dec. 25 |
| New Year's week | Tue. Dec. 29 added; closed Fri. Jan. 1; last day Sun. Jan. 3 |
Both added Tuesdays fall in the weeks of Christmas and New Year's. Before planning around any other day early in those weeks, check the EDENS listing.
The early December weekdays are the quiet stretch. Doors close at 5, so a weekday visit has to fit before the drive home, not after it.
The oak across Danville Boulevard
Alamo's tree lighting happens at Andrew H. Young Park, at the corner of Danville Boulevard and Jackson Way. On October 21, Contra Costa County Public Works announced that a contractor would prune one tree there on Friday, October 23, "in preparation for the upcoming Holiday Tree Lighting Festivities."
The tradition goes back decades. A 2018 DanvilleSanRamon report called that year's festival the 33rd annual. The Rotary Club of Alamo says it organizes the ceremony and plays a key role in funding it, and describes it as a gathering with Santa, local school choruses, hot cocoa and seasonal treats.
In 2024, Alamo Today's December 2024 issue listed the lighting for Sunday, December 8, from 4 to 6 p.m., at Andrew H. Young Park, 3000 Danville Blvd., with music from local schools, Santa Claus and hot chocolate. A 4 p.m. start on a December Sunday puts the lighting near dusk and within the train show's 10-to-5 Sunday hours. Arrive early, see the trains first, then walk across Danville Boulevard as the oak comes on.
The rest of the region is already on the calendar. The San Ramon Times roundup of 2026 tree lightings lists these neighboring dates:
- San Ramon: Friday, Nov. 20, 6 to 7 p.m., City Center Bishop Ranch
- Danville: Lighting of the Old Oak Tree, Friday, Nov. 27, 5 p.m., downtown
- Walnut Creek: Holiday Parade of Lights and Tree Lighting, Thursday, Dec. 3, 6 to 8:30 p.m., Broadway Plaza
- Lafayette: "It's a Wonderful Life in Lafayette," Friday, Dec. 4, 4 to 6 p.m., Lafayette Plaza
For an Alamo household, that list sets the order of the season. Opening day for the trains is the same day as Danville's oak lighting, and Walnut Creek and Lafayette follow within a week. In 2024, Alamo's lighting fell on the second Sunday of December, later than any of those dates, so the plaza storefront is the one Alamo holiday event that runs the whole season.
A December plaza with a new neighbor
According to DanvilleSanRamon, the former Rite Aid space at 130 Alamo Plaza is being renovated into the first Vim + Vigor Fitness "Reserve Club," which the company calls "our most elevated fitness experience." Its opening was scheduled for December. If it opens on that schedule, the plaza will have two new uses running during the same weeks.
Some of the plaza's regular routines also fit around the show. The Sunday farmers market runs at 200 Alamo Plaza from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot near Bank of America. The train show opens at 10, so on any of its six Sundays you can pick up produce, see the layout and be home by early afternoon without moving the car. We covered how much of Alamo's community life already centers on this one lot in our earlier piece on the Alamo Sunday. In December, it adds a model railroad and a food drive.
The plaza already holds the post office, Safeway and the Alamo Women's Club, which hosts many of the community's public meetings. The train show's last day is Sunday, January 3. Bring $5 and a can of soup, and children six and under get in free.
If you're in Alamo for the holidays and wondering how your own home fits into the year ahead, I'm happy to talk it through over coffee between errands at the plaza. When you're ready, Christina Beil can prepare a thoughtful, no-pressure look at your home's value. Request Your Home Valuation.
