Best outdoor lighting to brighten up your garden

Those summer nights! Brighten up your garden with these super-stylish outdoor lights perfect for balmy evenings

There’s nothing cosier than enjoying a warm summer’s night sitting around a fire pit with your favourite tunes in the background.

The best outdoor lighting for your garden will create the perfect ambiance for your garden parties, offering a magical twinkle in under the stars.

You can choose from a host of different styles, including fairy lights, festoon lighting, lanterns, hanging lights and stake lights.

Whether you’re looking for solar-powered, battery or mains powered, we’ve rounded up the best outdoor lighting for your garden that will take your summer parties to the next level and allow you to stay out for longer.

1. Cox & Cox Solar String Hanging Lamp

The trend of taking the indoor out is soaring, and this outdoor solar floor lamp is the perfect way to create that living room feeling outside.

Powered by the sun, the filament bulb offers atmospheric lighting for the evening, perfect for those balmy barbecues.

Just add an outdoor rug and armchairs for the full cosy effect. And don’t forget the wine…

Price: £175, Cox & Cox – buy here now

2. 10m 20 LED Twinkly Smart App Controlled Festoon Lights

Festoon lights, but fun.

Twinkly offers a versatile range of smart home lights that can transform any space in a matter of minutes. Whether it’s for a BBQ space in the garden, to create the perfect vibe in your game room and more, Twinkly has got you covered.

Controlled via the Twinkly smartphone app, Twinkly lights all come with a completely unique mapping function, so you can create your own personalised effects, gradients and animations that are perfectly coordinated.

Price: £119.99, Lights4fun – buy here now

3. Graham & Green Outdoor Starburst Solar Light

Pretty and super-sparkly, light up your pathways or your living space with these stake lights.

Solar-powered, they conveniently automatically turn on at dusk and off at dawn so you don’t need to worry about a thing… Apart from what cocktail you’re serving up.

Price: £26.95, Graham & Green – buy here now

4. BlueFire 31ft 50 LED Ball Fairy Lights

These ball fairy lights are something of a bargain considering you get 31ft and 50 bulbs.

There’s also eight different lighting modes that you can choose from using a remote control, from sequential for flashing and slow fade.

Easy-to-use and simple to hang, they’re a great investment for stylish summer parties.

Price: £19.99, Amazon – buy here now

5. Lights4fun 50 Warm White LED Outdoor Battery Fairy Lights On Clear Cable

If you’re anything like the rest of the nation, you’ll have a few (small) summer garden parties in the calendar.

Create a magical feel to your garden with warm white fairy lights, a fail-safe way to make your outdoor area look super-cosy and ultra-pretty.

Drape them over your fence or wrap them around a tree for an instantly glamorous look. You’ll get around 180 hours of light before the batteries will need changing.

Price: £10.99, Lights4fun – buy here now

6. Argos Home Solar 20 Festoon Warm White Lights

Festoon lights are a great go-to for outdoor lighting, often being seen at weddings and events.

But you don’t need a special occasion to light up your garden with them – just drape them around across a patio area or hang from a tree for ambient barbecues and garden get-togethers.

These are solar-powered festoon lights, so pop them where they’ll catch the sun and watch them light up a night.

Price: £20, Argos – buy here now

7. John Lewis Astro Homefield Outdoor Pendant Ceiling Light

Up your garden lighting game and impress your guests with this outdoor hanging lamp.

The industrial-led design is ultra-cool and unique, but you’ll need to create an awning to hang it from.

You can also use this indoors as a ceiling pendant if you fancy an interiors refresh.

Price: £160, John Lewis – buy here now

8. Marcel Swinging Monkey Indoor/Outdoor Light

Splash out on this king of the swingers and you won’t regret it. Marcel the cheeky monkey can hang around in the foliage or take pride of place at your outdoor dining table, making a real talking-point piece.

He comes with a three-metre rope that means you can drape him over anything and he’ll add real personality to your next garden party. Jungle fever…

Price: £290, Dowsing & Reynolds – buy here now

9. Nordic House Stainless and Leather Lanterns

Whether bought together or on their own, these lanterns create a beautiful candle-lit evening outside and also add a chic style element too.

Add pillar candles inside as well as decorative touches like stones or shells if you fancy getting creative.

The cosy glow of the candlelight is reflected in the glass and steel frame creating a lovely finish.

Price: From £55, Nordic House – buy here now

10. Lights4fun 10 Large Globe Bulb Ingenious Festoon Light Bundle

Festoon lights, but not as you know them… These oversized festoon bulbs are super-cool and will add a designer feel to your outdoor ‘living room’.

The warm white light emits an atmospheric glow, and there’s a life expectancy of up to 30,000 hours, making them a great investment.

You can also add more lighting belts to this one if you have a bigger space to cover, and could have up to 125m of lights together.

Price: £169.99, Lights4fun – buy here now