London Christmas Walks 2025 – the Magic of the Season
Christmas in London — now that’s something special. No city does it better. When December rolls in and the days draw short, London doesn’t hide from the dark — it dazzles it. It was built for pleasure, this town, and it meets winter’s gloom head-on with a twinkle in its eye and lights in every window.
It’s a city that refuses to hibernate. The streets glow, the shopfronts sparkle, and even the Thames seems to shimmer a little more brightly. You can wander beneath a sky of Christmas lights, cup of mulled wine or hot chocolate in hand, and feel that peculiar London magic — centuries of merrymaking condensed into one shining season.
Come with us on a London walking tour to discover all the festive season secrets and stories London has to offer.
Walking Tours
We’ve decked the halls this winter with a sparkling line-up of Christmas-themed walks and virtual tours through Central London – proper festive treats, every one of them. And of course, our much-loved regular London walks are still very much in the mix. Truly, the cup runneth over… the stocking’s fit to burst.
Book your tickets online to make sure you’ve got your place. Right then – shall we have a peek at what’s under the tree?
First, the classic London Walks Christmas Walk…
1. The London of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol & Seasonal Traditions
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol lies at the heart of the festive season. This tour explores the heart of this enduring story in its original setting, the old City of London in Victorian times. Here, where Dickens himself explored and studied every nook and corner, so too Ebenezer Scrooge walked from his counting house to his melancholy tavern and even more dismal lodgings. And as we make their acquaintance we’ll spice things with warming seasonal stories of turkeys and boars’ heads, Christmas puds, mince pies and pantomimes; cards, crackers, Christmas trees and mistletoe.
This walk will take place on various dates throughout December. The meeting point is just outside the exit of Tower Hill Underground Station.
Next, the Christmas Day Walks…
2. Christmas Morning, 1660 – Samuel Pepys’ London
the year London got its Christmas back…
3. The Christmas Day Charles Dickens’ London Walk
The 2025 Christmas Day Charles Dickens’ London Walk takes place at 2 pm on December 25. Meet the guides by the famous Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square.
4. The Christmas Day Christmas Lights Walk
The Christmas Day Christmas Lights Walk takes place at 5 pm on December 25. Meet Jack just outside Embankment Underground Station, the Villiers Street exit. (That’s the Villiers Street exit, NOT the river exit.)
All the rest, the 31 Days of Christmas Walks…
5. The Christmas Tree(s) Walks
Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree… Discover London’s most glorious constellation of Christmas trees, from classy Claridges to the famous Trafalgar Square one and beyond. And all are enriched by the backstories. We don’t just throw these things together. Our start time’s timed to perfection: 4 pm, just when they’re lighting up.
Get ready for these dazzling walks with Claire throughout November and December. The meeting point is at the Bond Street Underground Station, London (Marylebone Lane exit, by Disney Store – north side of Oxford Street).
6. London & the Nutcracker – the Ballet that Changed Christmas
“The Russians are coming!”
That was the joyous cry 90 years ago — and now, they’re coming again. Well, one Russian’s coming. Margarita. Bringing, just as her compatriots did nine decades ago, tidings of comfort and joy — and beauty, and wonder, and sheer delight. One Russian who’s also a Londoner, mind. Margarita’s a proud part of that 41 percent — the Londoners who were born abroad — and she’s got flawless English, a warm laugh, and a deep love for her city. This year marks 92 years since The Nutcracker’s London premiere — the night that changed the destiny of Tchaikovsky’s magical ballet forever. On this festive walk you’ll step into Christmas London as it looked in Tchaikovsky’s time: the candlelight, the carriages, the glow of shop windows and the thrill of music in the air. You’ll trace the composer’s visits — where he stayed, where he conducted — and discover the triumphs and heartbreaks of his remarkable life. It’s a story of art, exile, inspiration and transformation. You’ll hear how Russian dancers, musicians and dreamers helped shape London’s cultural landscape; how one enchanting ballet cast a spell that’s never broken. Whether you’ve seen The Nutcracker this season or not, this walk is a must — a pas de deux through Christmas London, guided by Margarita, an expert on the lives of her fellow Russians in the capital. Expect joy, music and a touch of magic as you uncover the secrets behind the world’s most beloved Christmas ballet. You’ll unlock fairy-tale surprises, learn how a chilly Russian winter helped invent the warmth of an English Christmas — and maybe, just maybe, reconnect with your inner child on a walk of pure festive enchantment.
Takes place at 10 am on December 7, December 14, December 26, and December 28. Meeting point is in Trafalgar Square, by Nelson’s Column.
7. Tinsel, Traditions & Tales of Christmas
“the route sparkles with yuletide splendour”
Step into a glittering Christmas card come to life as we wander through the West End in all its festive finery. This is the London where Christmas as we know it was born — where Victorians dreamed up the Christmas tree, the card, the cracker, and even Boxing Day itself.
This one’s created, curated and guided by Andy Hotels. And – this almost goes without saying – there will of course be a stop at one of London’s legendary hotels for a touch of festive luxury.
Takes place at 2.30 pm on November 30, December 4, and December 22, and at 6.30 pm on December 16 and December 27. Meeting point is Green Park Underground Station, London (Green Park exit, by the fountain)
8. The Christmas Lights Walk
Bring your Christmas spirit – and maybe your sunglasses. London’s going to shine.
Chandeliers and levitating gentlemen in top hats and raspberry waistcoats. What’s not to like.
The 2025 Christmas Lights Walk takes place seventeen times between December 7 and December 31. Meet Jack at 5 pm just outside Embankment Underground Station, the Villiers Street exit.
9. Christmas Lights Photography Tour
A creative combo of an experience where you can learn about night photography whilst enjoying a Christmas lights walk. You’ll have the opportunity to capture stunning Christmas lights photos whilst mastering some of the most creative elements of photography. We’ll visit the incredible main Christmas displays in Regent Street, Piccadilly, Soho, the Strand and some of the stunning landmarks of this city.
Through demonstration and a personalised photography practice you will develop your own creative vision while receiving expert advice on shooting in low light and long exposures.
Join these photography walk specials on December 3 & December 17 at 7 pm. The meeting point is just outside the Villiers Street exit of Embankment Tube. Don’t forget your camera!
10. Christmas Covent Garden Pub Walk
Covent Garden, the so-called ‘Garden of Venus’, boasts over sixty pubs and bars, many steeped in history and brimming with festive cheer. On this yuletide-inspired walk, discover the area’s most atmospheric establishments, stopping at iconic pubs, some dating back to the 1600s, for a taste of history and seasonal delights.
The 2025 Christmas Covent Garden Walk takes place at 6 pm on December 23. The meeting point is Tottenham Court Road Tube and is guided by Andy.
11. The Sherlock Holmes Christmas Walk
“Compliments of the season!” A goose and a hat are lost in a scuffle at a street corner. But where? Which street corner? A suspect spends time in a museum. But why? An investigation leads to a famous market. But how? We follow the crisscrossing paths of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson as they solve their only original Christmas-time case, and Arthur Conan Doyle as he reaches a crisis in his professional life. Where did the detective acquire his famous Stradivarius violin?
Where was the ‘Alpha’ public house which briefly hosted a hidden jewel? Where did Holmes himself live before he moved to 221b? Throw in a film location which links a silent screen Holmes and modern-day Sherlock, a fine house where one of Conan Doyle’s greatest friends lived, a theatre where the sleuth made a triumphant return on stage in the 1920s, and you have the recipe for this affectionate festive offering from the glory days of the Great Detective. Guided by Richard IV, who “specialised in early detective fiction at university, played Dr Watson on stage, contributes to the Sherlock Holmes Journal, is the Audiobooks reader for the Dr John Watson series.”
The 2025 Sherlock Holmes Christmas Walks take place at 2.30 pm on December 14 and at 10.30 am on December 27. The meeting point is just outside the exit of Goodge Street Tube Station.
12. The Last Christmas Music Walking Tour
Spend a memorable couple of hours singing, walking, discovering and feeling so very festive. Our musical walking tour of the West End Christmas Lights features locations from the movie Last Christmas inspired by the music of George Michael. There will definitely be lots of singing with song sheets and a mulled wine provided. So what are you waiting for?
This is definitely not your average London Christmas Lights Tour. Join Adam on Sunday, 14th December.
13. Eating Christmas
Ann, our Foodies London specialist, has whipped up a Christmas Foodies Tour. Stock up on tasty facts about festive food to impress your Christmas guests. Our Christmas Food walking route ends at that feast for the senses, Borough Market, where you can treat yourself to some delectable Xmas goodies.
This walk takes place on four different dates in December: on the 3rd, 13th, 17th, 20th and 23rd at 10.45 am, (so you get several bites at the cherry). The meeting point is just outside exit 3 (by the Royal Exchange) of Bank Underground Station.
14. Christmas in the City
Let’s deck the halls, lace up the boots, and step into the City of London at its most magical. Because if Christmas is anywhere, it’s here. It’s in the air, it’s in the lights, it’s in the bones of this ancient Square Mile.
The 2025 Christmas in the City Walk takes place at 10.45 am on December 13. Meet Alison just outside exit 2 of St Paul’s Underground Station.
15. Christmas Market Day in St Albans
The 2025 Christmas Market Day in St Albans trip takes place on December 17. Meet Alison at 10.45 am just outside the exit of West Hampstead Underground Station. (N.B. this one’s our UnLondon Christmassy outing.)
Virtual Tours
Sherlock Holmes & Conan Doyle at Christmas – the Virtual Tour
And the game’s really afoot for Holmes and Watson and Conan Doyle and the resident London Walks Holmes expert, Richard. Because he’s also treating you to an image-rich, very entertaining and informative and beautifully delivered – yes, it’s Richard, he of audiobook fame – Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle at Christmas Virtual Tour. It takes place at 7 pm on December 22nd. It’ll get you to London and in Holmes’ and Conan Doyle’s company at Christmas season wherever you are in the world. What’s not to like about that? And it’s two bites at the cherry because Richard will be repeating it at 7 pm on December 27th.
The Virtual Tour of the London of Charles Dickens’s Christmas Carol
Yes, a Virtual Tour for those of you who aren’t in London. It’s the next best thing to being here. Runs on Christmas Eve (at 7 pm). Come to London at Christmas time – right in the comfort of your own home – hobnob with Dickens and Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim and, yes, Ebeneezer Scrooge. And, yes, this one’s guided by Richard of audiobook renown. Those great words, that velvety voice of Richard – perfection!
A Charles Dickens Christmas Virtual Tour – his life, his work & his London
The Virtual Tour weaves an exploration of Victorian London with Dickens’s London Life and writing. On the tour we have a look at London at Christmas and the contribution Dickens made to it with his Christmas Books.
Join this virtual tour of Dickens’s life in London on December 16th at 7.30 pm on Zoom!
Christmas with Jane Austen Virtual Tour
On 16th of December at 7.30 pm we’re off to Regency England, off to meet Jane Austen and her circle at Christmas time. We’ll see how they celebrated Christmas, what their Christmas traditions were, etc. And if some of it is pretty unfamiliar, well, never fear, we’re in good hands – the distinguished emeritus Museum of London archaeologist Kevin Flude is in charge of all the arrangements. Kevin will be taking us round, providing introductions, shedding lots of light, explaining all.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Jane Austen devotee in possession of the good fortune of a couple of free hours must be in want of this virtual walk.”
Christmas Day Walks
Christmas Morning, 1660 – Samuel Pepys’ London
After 8 years of Christmas being banned during the interregnum, Christmas morning of 1660 must have been pretty special, wouldn’t you say? This is a Christmas Restoration walk in every sense of the word! And what better figure to accompany us on our rounds than that quintessential Londoner – let alone the greatest diarist of them all – Samuel Pepys himself. We’re following in his footsteps. Going calling on the Westminster that he knew. And immortalised in the diary. Lucky us. Because Pepys’ Diary, begun in 1660, is the most entertaining and joyful autobiographical record ever kept. Thanks to the quality of the writing, the little anecdotes (they’re like plums in a Christmas pudding), the illuminating profiles, the indiscretions, the insults and – tying it all together – the warmth of Pepys’ personality.
This Christmas walk takes place at 11 am on December 25th. The meeting point is by the big Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square.
The Christmas Day Charles Dicken’s London Walk
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me” – Charles Dickens.
Our afternoon walk is all about the man who some think invented Christmas – he didn’t! He re-invented it. Before Dickens and his stories came along Christmas was a rather small celebration on the Christian calendar. It was Dickens whose words plumped, fluffed and sprinkled Christmas all over the world making it the traditional Christmas we know today. So on Christmas afternoon we celebrate him, his words, his life, his London and his Christmas. A Christmas before Cola turned Father Christmas red. It’s a delightfully Dickensian and detailed look at – an exploration of – the alleyways and Victorian hideaways off the Strand and Covent Garden districts, places rich in Dickensian lore and associations.
The Charles Dickens Christmas Day walk starts at 2 pm. The meeting point is by the big Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square. (How appropriate is that?)
New Year’s Eve Walk
Hampstead New Year’s Eve Walk
See in the New Year – and see the fireworks – from the roof of London. This one works a treat. This is a New Year’s Eve to remember, for all the right reasons. It’s a class act. This is the way those who know do it. Join us at 9 pm at Hampstead Underground station.
Some of our favourite festive activities in London
Make it a very merry Christmas by enjoying the best festive activities to do in London – other than our sensational seasonal walking tours obviously.
Christmas lights
Piccadilly Circus may boast glittering lights year round, but at Christmas, other London shopping streets up their illumination game. Here, we answer some of your FAQs:
What dates to visit to see London Christmas lights?
Christmas lights are generally switched on in early November and will keep twinkling away until early January (Twelfth Night is 5th January).
How long do Oxford Street lights stay up?
Usually, Oxford Street goes early with their famous Christmas lights. Last year, 300,000 Christmas lights started shining on 5th November. The 2025 dates are yet to be confirmed.
Which are the best Christmas lights?
That’s a very subjective question, and the light displays vary each year. Oxford Street is probably the most renowned. Regent Street and St James have been refined of late with glistening angels and white illuminations. But Carnaby Street is a popular favourite, with a different theme each year making a powerful impact.
An enchanting experience outside of Central London, the illuminated trail at Kew Garden is a lovely Christmas-time installation of twinkling light displays.
Christmas shopping
You don’t have to max out your credit card. View the Christmas window displays in legendary London department stores like Harrods, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and Hamley’s for pure sensory stimulation.
You’ll find some of the best Christmas displays in Mayfair shopping arcades. Wander through Burlington Arcade by New Bond Street and be dazzled by the glorious decorations.
There’s nothing like a Christmas market and you’ll find them in Leicester Square, the South Bank and Covent Garden.
Winter activities
Go ice skating in one of London’s magical ice skating rinks at Somerset House or in the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.
Indulge in a festive afternoon tea at Claridge’s and see their breathtaking Christmas decorations.
Have a date night in one of London’s Christmas season pop-ups. Choose from dinner in an igloo or drinks in an Alpine lodge.
Private Tours
Want to organise a fun group social that doesn’t involve drinking games or competitive sport? Why not book a private tour tailored to your group. Bring your team or family together with one of our Christmas specials tour, just ring Fiona or Peter or Mary on 020 7624 3978 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll set it up and make it happen for you.
Don’t just take it from us. Here’s walker Wendy Coote’s verdict. “What a brilliant way to spend Christmas morning!!! Simon is a fantastic guide, very entertaining and engaging. His knowledge is exceptional. He brought out so many interesting facts about an area I have explored for ages but was totally oblivious to amazing history on nearly every corner. Forget a lazy Christmas Day… this is the way to spend it – in festive London. I loved every minute.” And, yes, full disclosure, the above image was AI-generated. Akin to the guide-generated mind’s eye ‘visuals’ on the walks. Which dovetail nicely with the actual, physical, trace survivals of 1660 London – and there are a lot of them – that you’ll see on the walk.
The Christmas Morning 1660 Walk takes place at 11 am on Christmas morning, December 25, 2025. Meet the guides by the big Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square.