On now · 2 November 2026 to early January
No one does Christmas like London.
The first lights go on 2 November 2026 and the city stays lit until January. Markets, rinks, light trails and the department store windows, walked in the right order and at the hour they are worth seeing.
What is actually on
Magical Christmas lights
Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street and Covent Garden. Different installations, ten minutes apart, and a walking order that means you are not doubling back.
Oxford Street 2 Nov 2026, Covent Garden 11 Nov, Bond Street 12 Nov
Christmas markets
Southbank Centre Winter Market, Leicester Square, Old Spitalfields. Which are worth an evening, which are a row of huts selling the same candle.
Mid-November to Christmas Eve 2026
Winter Wonderland
Hyde Park's Christmas fair in full: the big wheel, a full fairground, market stalls and an ice rink. Free to walk through, but the wheel, rides and rink all need booking ahead separately.
Mid-November 2026 to early January
Iconic storefronts
Fortnum & Mason, Liberty and Harrods put real money into their Christmas displays. A twenty-minute walk that costs nothing and photographs beautifully.
From 12 November 2026
When the lights actually go on, 2026
Every 2026 switch-on in the city, in date order, so you can build an evening around the ones that are lit while you are here.
- Oxford Street2 November
- Regent Street2–8 November
- West End4 November
- Carnaby Street5 November
- Covent Garden11 November
- Marylebone Village11 November
- The Strand11 November
- Bond Street12 November
- Savile Row12 November
- Leadenhall Market12 November
- The Churchill Arms12 November onwards
- Christmas at Kew13 November
- Knightsbridge13 November
- Soho Kids Christmas Lights18 November
- King's CrossMid-November
- Connaught VillageMid-November
- Chelsea Winter Village25 November
- Trafalgar Square tree3 December
The first lights go on 2 November 2026.
Most visitors see three of these and call it a night. A Christmas walk gets you round the best of them in one evening, in an order that does not double back, at the hour they are actually worth seeing.
The walks worth booking for Christmas.
All tours →
3 hours · Max 8
Soho after dark
A night out with someone who knows where the door is.
From £65pp
8 hours · Max 8
London in a Day
Everything you came for, walked properly, in one go.
From £95pp
Up to 8 hours · Up to 8, larger on request
Private day, your itinerary
You tell us what the day is for. We build it.
From £480 per group
The rest of the year
London is four different cities.
We push one season at a time because that is how people actually travel. Here is what the others look like, so you can pick the trip rather than take the one you happen to land in.
- Winter in LondonJanuary to February
- January and February are when London stops performing. Museums are empty, restaurants take walk-ins, hotels are half price, and the light between three and four in the afternoon is the best of the year.
- Spring in LondonMarch to May
- Six weeks where London is at its best and not yet full. Cherry blossom in the squares, the parks turning over, and daylight until eight without August’s queues.
- Summer in LondonJune to August
- Summer is when London is busiest and most rewarding at the same time. The whole game is timing: which hour, which entrance, which side of the river.
- Autumn in LondonSeptember to October
- September and October are the locals’ favourite months. Summer’s crowds gone, the parks turning, and everything still open before the winter hours come in.
Do Christmas properly.
One message with your dates. We come back with a plan, not a brochure.