Christmas has returned to London with a more normal display of Christmas lights, decorations, treats, and other events this year. Over the past few weeks, I have had a walk to see some of the best Christmas lights and decorations that London has to offer this year. For those who have not been able to get to see them, I hope that these photographs will be enjoyed, even though it is not quite the same as seeing them in real life. There are some great displays this year and some firm old favourites too. This article lists all of the different areas of London where you can see some of the best festive decor and try some festive treats.
Covent Garden: Covent Garden is always a pleasure to visit over the holiday season. This year, events and exhibitions returned to normal levels. In fact, they actually seemed to do more than they have ever done in the past. The Pink Figaro car (which has its own Instagram) was located in Covent Garden with a floral display at the end of November.
Also from the end of November, Disney's "Frozen" took over Covent Garden due to the theatre performance at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. A display with falling snow and music launched at the end of November along with a day filled with "Frozen" ice sculptures with ice sculpture carving. The infinity tunnel of lights at Conduit Court (on the edge of the market) was also themed with white and blue lights and neon lyrics to the entrances and exits of the infinity tunnel. Later in the season, a fashion show inspired by "Frozen" was on display in the market. (The full blog post is here.)
Also new to Covent Garden this year is a Christmas food market so visitors can get food and drink. Indoor dining domes have been set up outside the market amongst several decorated Christmas trees, and visitors had to reserve them in advance.
Also on the entrance to the market was a tunnel created. It was lit up and encouraged photographs.
The large Christmas tree is also back at Covent Garden this year.
The mistletoe and giant silver baubles have also returned to the market along with floral displays. They have been firmly amongst the Christmas decor for several years now.
For several years (with the exception of the past few), Lego had created installations at Covent Garden. They have returned again this year with a "Carousel of Creativity" display and a group of gnomes amongst some of the floral displays. (The full blog post is here.)
Additionally, at the end of November, one of the sculptures of balloon dogs from artist Whatshisname was displayed with a Christmas bauble. The others were removed, and this one was only on display earlier in the season. (The full blog post about the art installation from Whatshisname at Covent Garden is here.)
The Ivy restaurant at Covent Garden always contains a festive display. It is not as lavish this year as it has been in previous years. It is white, silver, and green with snowflake motifs.
Miracle at Henrietta is a pop-up bar specialising in Christmas cocktails. This was the third year that I have visited it, although I did not visit it last year but did the previous two years. (To read more about it, click here.)
Some of the restaurants and shops across London have been decorated beautifully, such as this little Santa sleigh with a group of dogs as reindeer pulling it. This restaurant, Clos Maggiore, is located in Covent Garden. I thought that it was such a cute display.
Connaught Village: Connaught Village came onto my radar this year. It is a part of London that I've not really visited before. It is located just to the north of Marble Arch and consists of a row of specialty shops. The festive Christmas lights were put up at the end of November and are inspired by the seasonal film "Love Actually" and feature quotations from the film. The street itself contained white light netting from one end to the other.
Miracle at 34 Mayfair: This restaurant, located in Mayfair close to Grosvenor Square, is decorated exteriorly this year. The past two years, the interior of the restaurant was filled with hundreds of Christmas baubles hanging on the ceiling and walls. (You can read about last year's here.)
Annabel's: Located off Berkley Square in Mayfair, this exclusive nightclub has become a firm favourite go-to for seasonal displays. This year, the building has been transformed into a giant gingerbread house. It looks amazing during the day and is transformed with lights at night.
Mayfair: Several of the high end shops are now decorating for Christmas with some new ones this year. Chanel is one of the new ones and features a larger-than-life perfume bottle. Ralph Lauren has expanded their display and offers coffee (though they did offer the coffee last year too, but it's on a much larger scale). Tiffany's also has a new larger display. Cartier, which did kick off the popularity with their picturesque display, has gotten bigger and better. Stella McCarney has returned with the neon lights that have appeared in past years.
The Christmas lights down New Bond Street have remained the same for the past few years with white peacock feathers.
Bill's Restaurant in Soho (Brewer Street): New to the Christmas decor this year is Bill's restaurant in Soho, which has been transformed into a giant smiling Rudolph. At dark, the nose and antlers shine.
ChinChin Labs Ice Cream in Soho: On the menu this year at popular ChinChin is a dessert that is a menu secret. It is a Christmas tree shape of Basked Alaska. It is marshmallow meringue, ice cream, nuts, and sour cherries and tastes as delicious as it looks. (To read a post about this popular ice cream brand, see this post.)
Milk Train in Covent Garden: Milk Train are always on game with seasonal treats. They became popular and sought after a few years ago with their cotton candy ice cream creations. This year, they have a gingerbread ice cream. They also brought back their Christmas tree creation with ice cream and cotton candy, which I purchased last year. (To read about last year's Milk Train creations, click here.) (To read about Milk Train on this blog, click here.)
Peggy Porschen: Known for their beautiful cafe front and beautiful treats, Peggy Porschen is a must to visit. This year, they had a range of Christmas treats and a gingerbread theme to their cafe front. They had different cupcake flavours from mince pie to gingerbread to cranberry. They also had a hot chocolate special with gingerbread. There are two branches of Peggy Porschen's in London; one is on King's Road and the other is located in Belgravia. (To see last year's treats from Peggy Porschen, click here.)
Chestnut: One of London's newest bakeries, Chestnut occupies the space where the now-closed Dominique Ansel's was once. I had a peek inside, but there was a queue and not much seating. It is a smaller and more homemade affair that seems to specialise in breads and lunch. They do not stock a lot at a time, but there were four festive-looking gingerbreads.
Yolkin: I did not visit them this year, but Yolkin are famous for their ice cream macaron sandwiches. They have the same Christmas range each year with different festive motifs and flavours. (Yolkin Ice Cream Macaron Sandwiches - Christmas)
Fait Maison: This cafe makes beautiful treats, and I visited over Christmas last year but did not see what they had on offer this year as they have not advertised much. (Read more about Fait Maison Brunch and Holiday Cupcakes or see their range of treats when I visited last year here.)
Bubblewrap: Last year, I bought a reindeer ice cream. They have a similar reindeer ice cream bubblewrap creation this year. (See their treats from last year.)
Doughnut Time: Their doughnuts always look amazing and are on full display in windows with witty names. They have another great festive range this year. I am not a big fan of these doughnuts myself as they are too large and too sweet, but they always have fans. There are a few branches across London now.
Lola's Cupckes: Lola's can be purchased at multiple places across London, and they are in virtually every main station. They always go out with seasonal ranges.
Whipped: Famous for cheesecake and cookies, Whipped create some season treats. Unfortunately, their cafe near Covent Garden closed just before Christmas at short notice, but they do have a Brixton branch.
Humble Crumble: I did visit them again this year for their festive creation, which is their festive crumble flavour topped with whipped trees and sprinkled with white chocolate shavings.
Fortnum and Masons: This shop always looks extremely festive Christmas, and I love looking at the window displays. The past few years, the whole store has dressed itself as a giant advent calendar. I even managed to see the little clock work on the front of the building when I visited.
Liberty: Liberty department store has decorated its famous floor inside with a hot air balloon. With the exception of last year, the store has been creating a festive display inside the area here. The windows and floral display at the front of the building are also worth seeing.
Selfridges: I did not get to visit this year, but their windows are always filled with festive displays, and they offer up a lot of treats inside the food hall too. (To see last year's lights, see this blog post.)
Oxford Street window displays: The major department stores in London decorate along Oxford Street, but it looked empty last year. I did not venture down there this year. (To see last year's lights, see this blog post.)
St. Christopher's Place: This little alley (blink and you'll walk past it) near Selfridges off Oxford Street contains many restaurants and shops. There's always Christmas decorations down here, and they are slightly different each year. I did not venture down there this year, but you can read about it in my past posts. (To see last year's lights, see this blog post.)
Carnaby: I would argue that these are the best Christmas lights to see in London because they are different every year, and they really put on a display. This year, the theme is 'Canarby Kaleidoscope'. It features hundreds of reflective butterflies floating above Carnaby Street. The display is difficult to photograph because of the reflective nature of the materials, and it does not tend to capture well in photographs. It looks much better in real life. (To read more about the Carnaby Christmas lights this year, click here.)
Connaught Hotel Christmas Tree: Each year for the past several years, with the exception of last year, the Connaught Hotel commissions a Christmas tree design from different artists. This year, it is Annie Morris and Idris Khan. (You can read more about this year's Christmas tree here.)
Mount Street: Mount Street is the road that The Connaught Hotel and a lot of other restaurants and shops is situated on, and it runs from the top of Berkeley Square to Park Lane. It has gotten more festive this year with new Christmas lights in the shape of blue bows. A few of the restaurants and shops have also started to decorate more. Scott's is a seafood restaurant located on the road, and it has gone all out with festive lights and a sleeping moon with clouds.
Hedonism Wines: Located not far from the top of Berkeley Square, this large wine shop always has a festive display outside, and it had gotten bigger and bigger each year. However, it's a bit more muted this year and is best described as a winter scene. It features a snowman, bench, postbox, and a lot of snowballs. It is definitely there to encourage selfies, although I have not really seen it in many.
Burlington Arcade: Burlington Arcade is one of London's top arcades (and the most famous) at the edge of Mayfair. The arcade is decorated with a 007 "James Bond" theme this year featuring the colours white and gold, and there are gears and giant baubles and 007 motifs like the gun barrel imagery from the opening credits.
Regents Street: The lovely gold angels have returned to the street and are a firm favourite with many a visitor to London. They have been the street's festive decor for a few years now and were inspired by a traditional display.
Oxford Street: This year, Oxford Street is twinkling with thousands of gold stars hanging from strings of light. The stars are new this year and add a touch of magic to the street.
Seven Dials: Seven Dials returns with its silver, gold, and white lights, and the middle of the roundabout features a lovely display of lights and garlands across the street.
Leicester Square: The Christmas market has returned to Leicester Square with many festive twinkling lights, plenty of food and drink, and gifts galore.
The Strand and North Bank: The Christmas lights this year are new and feature blue and gold lights in the shape of baubles. Down toward Embankment are golden orbs of lights.
St. Pancras Christmas Tree: This year's Christmas tree at St. Pancras station is hosted by London Zoo. Last year was a trying year for the zoo. The Christmas tree is a bit more muted than in previous years, but it features a book filled with zoo animals and a tree with animals on it. There's a festive-looking penguin on the sign above.
Granary Square: North of King's Cross is Granary Square, and new this year is a giant cracker encouraging photographs and interactions. A giant pair of dice (a cracker gift) and hat/joke have popped out of the cracker.
A new tree has also appeared this year to replace the one last year at the square. The new tree changes colour.
Coal Drops Yard: One of London's newest shopping and night life areas hosts a new Christmas tree each year. This one is interactive and changes colour and pattern.
Soho: Soho's Christmas lights this year have been designed by children. Central London schools contributed to this with artwork submitted in May for the lights to be created.
The Shard: Each year in December, the stop of the Shard is lit up with different colours that cycle through in different patterns. I did not get a chance to go this year.
London Bridge: The area around City Hall and from London Bridge to Tower Bridge has Christmas markets and Christmas displays. Also check out Hays Gallery for a Christmas tree. I did not get a chance to visit this year.
Harvy Nichols: This department store has been brightened up with every colour in the rainbow and stained-glass effect designs.
Harrods: The whole shop is covered in lights, and there are nice window displays. However, the top attraction this year is a giant Chanel sculpture marketing their perfume.
Chelsea: I do not know where to begin here, but if you walk around Chelsea, you are bound to find some lovely displays, such as the two below.
The Ivy Chelsea on King's Road: This year, the Ivy have been inspired by the story of the Grinch. The village, mountain cave, and Grinch stealing Christmas have all been included in the display. This display is always a firm favourite.
King's Road: Giant Christmas trees, lights, and floral displays are located down King's Road.
Victoria and Victoria Station: Victoria has had several Christmas decorations placed around, and an advent calendar Christmas tree is on display in the station.
Tate Britain: Tate Britain's winter commission has not taken place this year, but you can read a post about the popular installation by Chila Kumari Singh Burman that displayed last year. "Remembering a brave new world".
Churchill Arms in Kensington: The Churchill Arms is London's best-dressed pub with Christmas trees covering the outside of the pub. It is worth a visit and is a little different each year.
South Bank: South Bank has a festive Christmas market on select weekends. I am not sure of the times. However, there's a lot of street food and restaurants along South Bank, so there's always something going on here. They are also hosting a version of their own Winter Lights exhibition until January 9, so it is worth a visit to see some illuminated artwork.
Winter Wonderland: After last year's cancellation, Winter Wonderland is back on again this year, but visitors must purchase tickets in advance in order to visit. This is to prevent over-crowding. Visitors can ice skate, visit a circus, shop at Christmas markets, enjoy food and drink, enjoy various roller coasters and other rides, and much more. I have not been this year, and I don't want to go. It's too busy at the best of times for me.
Previous London Christmas lights are below:
- Where to see London's Christmas Lights and Decorations in 2020
- Where to Buy Christmas-Themed Treats in London (2020)
- Where to see London Christmas lights and decorations (2019 Edition)
- Christmas in London 2018 - Lights and Displays
- Where to see London's Christmas Lights 2017
- London's Christmas Lights 2016
- Christmas Lights and Windows 2015
- London Christmas Lights 2014
- London's Christmas Lights 2013
- London Christmas Lights and Window Displays 2012
Previous London Window displays are below (I've phased these out as they have not been as interesting the past few years and more interest seems to be on the facade of the building as opposed to displays inside the windows):
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