Well, folks, it may only be September, but for many the countdown to Christmas is well and truly underway. With Christmas shops opening up already, and the famed Christmas movies channel back on our screens, festive cheer has already started arriving in London. So, if you’re looking ahead to the festive season, and planning your trips into the city to celebrate, here are the most wondrously festive things to do in London at Christmas.
1. Marvel at amazing Christmas light displays
Some of the most dazzling sights in London, any time of year, are the Christmas lights that string themselves up around the city. They’ll typically start going up around early November to illuminate the nights with festive cheer. Here’s where you’ll find some of the best examples:
💙 Mayfair
2. Get inspired by superb Christmas trees
Jostling for the top position as the best thing to do in London at Christmas is checking out London’s tree-mendous Christmas trees. There are all manner of tree designs to be found around the city each year, ranging from abstract to traditional and completely bonkers. Our favourite Christmas trees can usually be found at the following locations:
💎 Claridge’s
🎅 Leadenhall Market
3. Wander around a marvellous Christmas market
London’s Christmas markets provide the perfect spot for a cosy night out, a festive stroll, or some last-minute Christmas gift shopping. With plenty of hearty street food, mulled wine, and boozy hot chocolate to enjoy, they provide all the trappings for a charming Christmassy day out. While we await more details for this year’s markets, these are the ones we reckon are likely to return:
❄️ Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park (tickets already available!)
⛄️ Winter By The River, London Bridge
🌇 Leicester Square Christmas Market
🎅 South Bank Christmas Markets
🍽️ King’s Cross Christmas Markets
4. Glide around an atmospheric ice rink
Is it even the holiday season without an ice rink (or seven)? These festive ice rinks provide some unmissable fun regardless of whether you’re gliding across the ice like a pro, or hobbling along clutching the barrier. We’re looking forward to the return of these lovely ice rinks at Christmas:
🧊 Glide at Battersea Power Station
5. Get in the festive spirit with a magical Candlelight concert
Candlelight is bringing the magic of the festive season to London with this series of magnificent candlelit concerts. Songs from some of our favourite crimbo films, from Love Actually to Home Alone, will sound as well as jazz renditions of Christmas classics like “Winter Wonderland” and “Let It Snow” inside some of London’s most spectacular settings. Keep calm and jingle all the way to one of these utterly festive Candlelight concerts this December.
🕯️St Mary’s Church
🕯️Southwark Cathedral
6. Warm up in a cosy winter igloo
Every year, a whole host of magnificent winter pop-ups take over rooftops, riversides, and terraces, steadily feeding Londoners a diet of glorious food, warming winter cocktails, and toasty vibes. Lovely stuff – especially when you get to cosy up in an igloo all the while. These were some of our favourite spots last year that we reckon will return in 2024:
⛸️ Glide at Battersea Power Station, rink-side igloos to escape the cold and watch others glide on by.
🏢 Skylight Tobacco Dock featured panoramic rooftop views, igloos, and an ice skating rink in 2023.
🔥 Thor’s Tipi at Winter Wonderland isn’t technicallyyyy an igloo (at all), but it’s got similar vibes with added warmth and joviality.
7. Hit the shops for some Christmas presents and decor
Now, a few of London’s Christmas stores have already opened (SHOCKINGLY early if you ask me), but there are plenty more to come. Stores all over London love to get dressed up for Christmas, including these can’t-miss spots:
😍 Liberty’s – already open
🎁 Harrods – already open
⭐️ Selfridges
🗓 Fortnum & Mason
💛 John Lewis Oxford Street
8. Be enchanted by a jaw-dropping light festival
Sure, London’s Christmas lights are already a spectacular sight, but these light festivals go above and beyond. You’ll find festive Christmas light festivals everywhere from the boughs of Kew Gardens to the railways on the outskirts of London. Here are a few of our favourites from past years that should return for Christmas this year:
🎇 Christmas at Kenwood
🌈 Enchanted Eltham
🎄 Kew Gardens
🚂 Epping Ongar Light Fantastic
9. Dine in a beautifully decorated restaurant
When Christmas comes a-calling, everyone from neighbourhood restaurants to Michelin star spots busts out the decorations. These spots are sure to be full of Christmas cheer once again this year:
🎠 sketch, Mayfair
🎄 Churchill Arms, Kensington
❄️ Daphne’s, Chelsea
🧊 Seabird, Southwark
⛄ Dalloway Terrace, Fitzrovia
10. Sip on a bevy of Christmassy drinks
There’s more than just mulled wine and boozy hot chocolate to sip on at Christmastime in London. Indeed, many of the city’s cocktail bars offer up some stunning Christmas drinks. We reckon these spots will be serving up delicious festive sips when the holiday season rolls around:
🎄 Miracle at Henrietta, Covent Garden
🐟 Sexy Fish, Mayfair
🍸 London Bridge Rooftop Bar
❄️ Tattu, Soho
11. Wander around some festive museum exhibitions
Even London’s museums can’t resist getting in on the holiday spirit. Ahead of future exhibitions that have yet to be announced, these museums can always be counted on for Christmassy displays.
🦖 Every year the Natural History Museum, dresses up its T-Rex in a fearsome(ly cute) Christmas jumper and terrifying(ly adorable) Santa hat.
12. Have a cuppa with a festive flair at these Christmassy afternoon teas
What’s better than celebrating the festive season with one of the most quintessentially British customs there is? These London spots can almost certainly be counted on for some wonderfully Christmassy afternoon teas this year:
⭐ St. James’s Hotel & Club
🥂 The Savoy, Strand
🫖 The Gallery at sketch, Mayfair
🎅 Gatsby’s Room, Mayfair
🍪 Biscuiteers, Notting Hill & Belgravia
13. Visit Santa at one of his grottos
Look, half the point of the season is to annoy an old man in a white beard and red hat with requests for the LEGO set of the Death Star from Star Wars, right? If you – or one of your younger family members – fancy an audience with Mr Claus himself, head on over to one of his grottos around the city:
😅 Shrek’s Adventure – Shrek The Halls, South Bank
🎅 Alexandra Palace
🦌 Vauxhall City Farm
🧑🎄 Santa’s Grotto at Camden Market
🛍️ Santa’s Grotto at Hamleys Regent Street
So there you have it: some of the best things to do in London at Christmas. Keep your eyes peeled on this page though, as we’ll be updating throughout the year as we find out more!