Au Pair, Au pair England, England, Europe, Travel, Uncategorized, United Kingdom

Christmas in London

christmas-in-london

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. London has many pop up ice rinks, Christmas markets, beautifully decorated Christmas trees and streets with festive lights. I love London during this period. It is really easy to get into the Christmas spirit by visiting some of these places. Don’t miss your chance at snapping some cool pictures at some of the most instagrammable place in London during the festive season!

Christmas Markets in London

Winter Wonderland
21 November 2019 – 5 January 2020
It is the biggest Christmas Market in London. It is not really a traditional one, you can almost compare it to a theme park as it has so many different rides: roller coasters, haunted houses, Ferris wheel, Marry go round, trampolines and so much more. If you want to have a go on these you will need to purchase tokens at the site. There are some attractions which you need to book ahead of time online. In the IceBar you can try different festive cocktails in a unique environment.  You can also watch an amazing performance at the Zippos Christmas Circus or the Cirque Berserk. This year the Magical Ice Kingdom presents a beautiful woodland, where you can walk through amazing ice sculptures! Of course, you can also find many stalls selling handmade products, which are perfect as gifts for your loved ones.
For me, a visit wouldn’t be complete without having some tasty German sausage and mulled wine! As a Hungarian, I also must suggest that you find the Hungarian stall and try either the tasty chimney cake covered in cinnamon, coconut or cacao powder. Another delicious Hungarian street food they sell is lángos, which is Fried Bread. You can eat with onions, sour creme or cheese.
Price: Free to enter Winter Wonderland, but you will need to pay for the rides, ice skating and other attractions.

Leicester Square Christmas market
8 November 2019 – 5 January 2020
A small market with many stalls selling food and handmade gifts. Children can meet Santa at Santa’s Grotto.
Price: Free to enter the market. Tickets for Santa’s Grotto from £11.50.

Southbank Centre Winter Festival
8 Nov 2019 – 5 January 2020
A cute Christmas market with food and stalls selling handmade products.
Price: Free to enter the market.

 

Christmas Lights in London

During Christmas London’s main streets are decorated with beautiful Christmas lights. It is a pleasure to walk under them. You can also get on a Double Decker and sit at the top at the front row. The best view you can get! 🙂

Oxford Street
Christmas light switch on: 21 November 2019

In 2019 there will be 27 energy-efficient LED screens shining on the famous shopping street.

New Bond Street and Old Bond Street Lights
Christmas light switch on: TBC

Regent Street
Christmas light switch on: 14 November 2019

Carnaby Street
Christmas light switch on: 7 November 2019

In 2019 they used 1500 recycled bottles to create the display, along with repurposed fishing nets. They recreated underwater scenes trying to draw attention to the importance of ocean conservation.

Covent Garden

Christmas light switch on: 12 November 2019

Ice skating in London

Tower of London
16th November 2019 to 5th January 2020
Tickets: Adult from £15, Children 3-12 years old from £10.50

Hampton Court Palace Ice Rink
22nd November 2019 to 5th January 2020
Tickets: Adult from £15, Children 3-12 years old from £10.50

Somerset House
13 Nov 2019 – 12 Jan 2020
Ticket prices: Adult from £11, children from £8.50

Natural History Museum
19 October 2019 – 12 January 2020
Ticket prices: Adults from £12.65, children from £8.80

 

Winter Wonderland
21 November 2019 – 5th January 2020.
The ice skating rink is located around a lovely Victorian bandstand and it is the largest open-air ice rink in the UK.
Ticket prices: Adults from £9.50, children from £8.50

Skylight Ice Rink
31 October 2019 – January 2020
London’s first rooftop ice skating rink. There is also a bar on top with tasty food and different cocktails.
Price: Free admission to the bar. Ice skating costs £12 for a 45 minutes session, which includes skate hire.

London’s pop up Christmassy places

Christmas at Kew
20 November 2019 – 5 January 2020
I really enjoyed visiting Christmas at Kew. We embarked on a journey on a 1-mile long trail of lights. We witnessed amazing Christmas decorations, light shows, panto. There are many food stalls where you can treat yourself to some festive deliciousness and there are many rides as well for the kids.
Price: Adult: from £18, Family: from £52 Child 4 – 16: from £11

Hogwarts in the snow
16 November 2019 – 26 January 2020
You can witness how the Harry Potter film-makers created ice and snow for the winter scenes. You can discover the Studio in a festive makeover. The Great Hal is decorated as it was is the Yule Ball. It is a special experience for any Harry Potter fans. I visited the Studio without the festive decorations but would love to see it again looking all Christmassy.
Price: Adult £47, Child (5-15)  £38 , 2 adults & 2 children OR 1 adult & 3 children £150, under 4 free.

Backyard Cinema
6 November 2019 – 22nd Dec
There are two locations for the Backyard Cinema with different themes. Christmas at the Snowkingdom and the Winter Night Garden. After walking through a festive labyrinth you will arrive at a specially decorated room for your special cinema experience. You can watch the movie on beanbags or sofas. They show classic Christmas movies like Home Alone, Love Actually, The Holiday, Elf and also cartoons like Frozen, Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins.
Price: Adult beans bags start from £18.99, sofa seating £23.99. Child (under 12) £9.50 for sofa seating and £13.99 for beanbags. See website for full details.

Syon Park’s Enchanted Woodland
15th November to 1st December
You can walk along an illuminated trail in Syon Park’s Enchanted Woodland. You will see lots of fun decorations and light shows. The event is mainly aimed at children, but it is fun for adults as well. It takes about one hour to walk through the trail at a comfortable pace.
Price: Adult £10.00 Fridays, £12.00 Saturdays & Sundays. Children: £5.00. Family tickets also available.

Christmas at ZSL London Zoo
30 November 2019 – 24 December 2019
Visitors can meet Santa, watch festive movies and take part in some crafts activities with Mrs. Claus.
Price: You will need to purchase zoo tickets to visit these events. Adult from £27.00

Christmas Tree at Trafalgar Square
5 December 2019 – 5 January 2020
The tree is donated every year since 1947 by Oslo,  Norway as a token of gratitude for British support during the Second World War.
Price: Free

I hope you got plenty of ideas about what to do in London during the Christmas period. I would love to hear your suggestions. What do you like most about spending the festive period in London?

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I also have many great suggestions about unique things to do in London, which you can do anytime.

56 Comments

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56 Comments

  1. Faith Coates
    December 2, 2017 at 10:25 am

    I love the way Carnaby street changes up their lights every year – wandering down there at Xmas is a real treat.

  2. Akvile Stan
    December 2, 2017 at 11:01 am

    London always looks gorgeous over the Christmas period. I wish I could visit it! There’s always next year, I guess.

  3. Aneesha
    December 2, 2017 at 11:08 am

    This post is giving me fuzzy Christmas feels!

  4. Sarah
    December 2, 2017 at 11:17 am

    I really want to head to London, and Europe for Christmas one year. The Christmas markets, the Lanterns festivals are all things we miss out on with our Summer Christmas in Australia.

  5. Kristin
    December 2, 2017 at 10:14 pm

    Love all the beautiful lights! Sounds like London has a lot of fun places to explore for Christmas. I thought living in Germany there was a lot but London is pretty impressive!

  6. krista
    December 2, 2017 at 11:31 pm

    Christmas in Europe is quite possibly my favorite thing ever! All the markets and lights and London is just so beautiful, it feels like walking through a Christmas dream! these are beautiful photos!

  7. Taylor Fuller
    December 3, 2017 at 1:48 am

    i am so sad i just missed the lights! london is magical during chirstmastime!

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  25. Rebecca Vogt
    November 13, 2018 at 1:41 pm

    You had me at Langos 🙂

  26. Menorca
    November 18, 2018 at 9:36 am

    Omg i LOVE Hogwarts in the Snow! good to see all the options possible in december. I’d so love to experience all of these things sometime. Someone I know booked a 3 day trip to london- exactly during Christmas and it seems most places are closed 24tht o 26th. Any suggestions for specifically 25th and 26th?

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    December 12, 2018 at 12:49 am

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  46. Peter
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  56. The Jetset Boyz
    November 28, 2022 at 5:37 am

    Wonderful windows, marvellous markets & twinkling trimmings. We totally love how London goes to town for the festive season! With so many options for things to do at Christmas in London, it can be hard to choose. Still, variety is the spice of life and with so much choice, there’s something for everyone.

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