I’ve heard it said that London is the ultimate Christmas city.
It definitely puts on quite a show come Christmas time! But the drawback is that, during the “festive period” (as it is called), the streets are MOBBED. The holidays in London are both magical and chaotic; enchanting and stressful. This year, I was lucky enough to have my loved ones come to London to visit me during the holidays, so I got to spend the “festive period” being a tourist in my new city. Despite the obvious stress that comes with trying to guide your clan through crowds of people, it was a lovely time, and I’m glad to be able to give it some coverage on this site. Because ✨Christmas London is a destination unto itself.
🎄 Christmas in London 🎄
When Christmas comes around, London erects an elaborate array of seasonal tourist attractions that draw visitors from around the UK, Europe, and the world. The two biggest holiday fixtures are (1) a Christmas carnival in Hyde Park called Winter Wonderland, which I am skipping this time around, and (2) an incredible display of Christmas lights stretching all across Central London. On top of that there are lots of cozy seasonal things scattered around London like Christmas markets and displays.
I spent a good amount of time this year wandering around Central London taking in these lights. The streets were often crowded with people which made the experience less than relaxing, but at least you get to spend more time looking up than down. Once you get into the heart of the city and find your way into one of the more festive areas… it really is pretty magical.
The gallery below covers a lot of ground. Here’s where these photos were taken and what they depict, moving vertical down through the gallery, going left to right as normal…
A Christmas choir in Trafalgar Square
A Christmas market in Trafalgar Square
The celestial-themed lights display on and around Carnaby Street in Soho
The sparkling magic of Regent Street at sunset
St Mary Abbots Church in Kensington
Assorted snaps of Soho
Outside & inside the Price of Wales Theatre for The Book of Mormon (hilarious, highly recommend)
There’s a lot more to see, but it was Christmas I wasn’t trying to go full-photographer mode out here. These are all iPhone pictures. It was enough work just moving through these crowds at all.
Christmas Eve Midnight Mass @Westminster Abbey
The one time in the Christmas season when I got to see central London free of the crowds I was complaining about earlier in the section above was when we went to midnight mass on Christmas Eve at Westminster Abbey. We got there a bit early so we could walk around… amazing, even at 11pm Christmas Eve, there are tourists crowded around Big Ben. But outside of that, these normally-bustling streets were downright peaceful.
This was actually the first and only time I’ve been inside Westminster Abbey—and I think it’s going to be hard to top. Dating all the way back to 1066, this is the church where they hold royal weddings and perform the coronations of newly minted monarches. In fact, it has been host to 40 royal coronations so far, as well as 16 royal weddings. And it’s also got a lot of very important people buried here, including kings, queens, AND Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking. You’ve probably heard of them.
Despite all of this pomp and circumstance, on Christmas Eve, this was just a church. And although we did book tickets for this in advance, they were free, and available freely to the public. The service itself felt like your typical catholic mass, but it was still well worth the trip.
When the clock struck midnight, London’s underground stopped running, so we walked a few blocks and took an Uber home.
And then we enjoyed a peaceful Christmas Day in London. Big shout-out to my people for making the trip across the pond to spend the holidays with me in London. I’m a lucky dude. 😘
Track of the Day ⏯
🦸🏻♀️ Artist ✖️ Playlist 🎧
About The Author 👋
Peter was born & raised in Columbus, Ohio and started this blog when he moved from Boston to Hanoi (Vietnam) in 2014. After years based in Nashville working on his band, The Great Palumbo, he now resides in London, UK.
