The Christmas Day Charles Dickens London Walk

Trafalgar Square

Guided by David T. or Mary or Matt or Richard III or Simon

Walk Times

Day Walk Type Start Time End Time
25 December 2023 Special 2 pm 4 pm Winter

Please note the cost for this walk is £20 per adult and £10 for kids

Just to get you in the mood here are a couple of very short reads from the walk.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

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?) N.B. the walk ends in Covent Garden, very near the Strand and Trafalgar Square. And yes, there are cafes and restaurants in the area that will be open on Christmas Day.

“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. So on Christmas afternoon we celebrate him, his words, his life, his London and his Christmas. A Christmas before Cola turned Santa red. A Christmas in the gaslight. A Christmas in London – Dickens’ London.

We set our course by Dickens’s life and books and influences and of course Christmas and Christmas traditions in the magic lantern of his town, his London. 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. Great Expectations, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Pickwick and co. all take their turn on this stage. Other highlights include London’s finest Georgian alleyway and its sole surviving fragment of the Victorian underworld (a dark and mysterious subterranean place “where one could easily be murdered with the placid reputation of having merely gone to the seaside”). Guided by David, Mary, Richard III, Simon, Mark, Stephen, Delianne and Paul.

A very special walk topped off by the fact that it’s the one day of the year when there’s virtually no traffic, meaning we have the streets to ourselves!

Anything else? Yes, there are cafes and restaurants in the area that will be open on Christmas Day.

But let’s give the last word to Tiny Tim: “God bless us, every one!”

CHRISTMAS DAY CHARLES DICKENS’ LONDON WALK – THE PRACTICALS

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?) N.B. the walk ends in Covent Garden, very near the Strand and Trafalgar Square. And yes, there are cafes and restaurants in the area that will be open on Christmas Day.

See our full Christmas programme here!

LONDON WALKS REVIEWS

“What an amazing tour of London. Filled with history and amazing views of old alleyways and their architecture. Me and my girlfriend could not have spent Christmas day in a better way. An amazing 3-hour tour took us all the way from Trafalgar square to the blackening warehouse, up narrow alleyways to Covent garden. Our tour guide David was an amazing person. Filled with knowledge about Charles Dickens and London in general. Thank you London Walks and especially David for this amazing tour.”  731matthiasb from Malta, TripAdvisor, December 2019

“This year, I decided to do something different for Christmas and do two London Walks tours. The first was a Samuel Pepys tour (with Richard the Third) and the second was a Charles Dickens tour (with David).
The tour guides knew their stuff and clearly loved what they did. Thumbs up to David, in particular, who seemed to talk to each person on the walking tour (e.g, asking where they were from, what they taught, etc), which made it more personal. Also, I had no trouble hearing them, despite the crowds.
I’ve lived in London for a few years and often do the touristy stuff. However, I still feel like I learnt a lot and am keen to do more walking tours. Please note that these tours do involve a lot of walking, occasionally with stairs. However, if anyone had mobility issues, I’ve no doubt the guides would have been accommodating.”  Travelling_Tweet, London, TripAdvisor, December 2019

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