See London’s lights and festivities with one of these Christmas tours, because fighting your way down Oxford Street at Christmas is enough to turn you into Scrooge.
London is coming down with a serious case of Christmas fever, but you won’t see it stuck underground on the District line, will you? Across the capital, the lights are turning on, and tinsel and baubles have started to festoon places all over town. It’s impossible not to feel at least a little Christmassy as you wander around with the lights shining in your eyes. However, with it being Christmas and all, maybe you should treat yo self to something a little extra! You know we’re right, and there’s no better way to see London’s Christmas lights than with one of these super-festive tours.
1. An open top bus ride
Premium Tours will be running their festive tours at 7pm between November 19th & January 4th, 2018. Find out more and book yourself a ticket here.
2. Christmas fitness tours
Get pumped, because you can now get your daily dose of exercise in whilst eyeballing some pretty lights. Fever have nabbed tickets to the Christmas fitness tour, which guarantees some seriously social festive fun along with your 10,000 steps. London Fitness Tour will have you power walking from Covent Garden to Borough to the sound of some fantastic festive beats, all whilst taking in the ice rinks and sparkling illuminations of central London. The tour ends at a Christmas village too – as if you weren’t feeling festive enough already!
Dust off those trainers and get your tickets here.
3. An afternoon tea bus tour
There are two types of afternoon tea. One is a refined, sedate affair where you nibble on cucumber sandwiches and lounge in comfy chairs. The other is, well, the same, except you’ll be in a double decker bus, rollin’ round London and checking out the lights. B Bakery offer afternoon tea bus tours with a filling festive menu – think chestnut mushroom quiches, Santa’s cupcakes, as well as scones with lashings of cream and jam. Their evening tours make a trip down Regent Street to check out the displays, and a belly full of scones will only improve the experience. (To be fair, what experience can’t they improve?)
There are multiple tours each day – find the best one for you and book here.
4. On yer bike son!
Pedal power isn’t just for morning commutes; it also makes for a stunning Christmas lights tour. The London Bicycle Tour Company offer their own illumination tour, and the route is a humdinger. Beginning at the Southbank and ending with a cycle over Waterloo Bridge, the tour takes in the sights of Westminster, Kensington, Chelsea, Covent Garden, and Soho. Plenty of opportunities to see the lights, markets, and decorations that make a perfect London Christmas! Your tour guide also comes fully equipped with a boombox to blast out some Christmas bangers, and the complimentary Santa hats will make you feel like you’re dashing through the snow. Or slush, rather – this is England after all…
Tours depart at 3:30pm daily, from November 17th to January 6th, 2018. Find out more and book a spot here.
5. In the lap of luxury
The fanciest tours in town involve tea in ornate places, naturally. Well, this one begins with tea at Westminster Abbey – fancy enough for ya? Once you’ve wolfed down turkey sandwiches and orange tarts in the Cellarium Cafe, you’ll be whisked away onto a fleet of luxury coaches for a trip around central London. And when we say luxury, we mean luxury. Picture cruising alongside the sparkling illuminations of Regent Street in your reclining chair, uploading your pictures to social media with free Wi-fi, and generally feeling like a royal. Afterparty at the palace, anyone?
Tours are operated by Evan Evans, and run every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from December 2nd. You can find out more and book a spot here.
For the full slate of festive illuminations across London this year, check out our handy roundup of the capital’s Christmas lights! If you’re a sucker for anything festive, we also have guides to Christmas markets, ice skating, and winter pop-ups.
Featured image: @emily.jane.pearson