We’ve now entered 2025, but before we move on with the new, I wanted to look back at the last weeks of 2024. Christmas, to me, is the most magical time of year. And what a treat it is, living in one of Europe’s largest cities! Christmas in London means thousands of fairy lights, spectacular Christmas trees, and lots of small Christmas markets. There are also many seasonal attractions and events taking place, welcoming crowds of visitors. So if you’re curious what Christmas in London looked like in 2024, join me on this throwback photo journey!
Christmas lights at Oxford Street
Let’s start our journey on one of London’s most famous streets – Oxford Street. Filled with hundreds of shops, it’s one of the busiest parts of the British capital. Every Christmas, this popular shopping destination is decorated with start-shaped lights. They are usually installed in early October, and officially switched on around early November. Simple, but cute!
Oxford Street is home to a few department stores, and some of them take their Christmas decor quite seriously. For example, John Lewis always has rich illuminations covering the whole building, while Selfridges have the most amazing Christmas Shop at the lowest floor of their store. It usually opens early – around the start of October – and has a wide variety of Christmas tree decorations and festive home decor.
And if you wander away from Oxford Street into some of the adjacent roads, you may find even more festive decorations – like this classic Christmas tree, found on the side of the road next to Hanover Square. It seemed out of place, but it was pretty!
Angels of Regent’s Street
A stone’s throw away from Oxford Street is Regent Street, with some of the most famous Christmas decorations in London. These spectacular angels, known as Spirits of Christmas, light up Regent Street with thousands of fairy lights. If you’re in London before Christmas, make sure to have a walk around that area. It’s super busy, but undoubtedly spectacular!
It’s not just Regent Street alone that’s nicely decorated – a lot of the smaller adjacent roads have their own illuminations. And just around the corner from Regent Street is Liberty London – a luxury department store, located in a building spectacular both outside and inside. At Christmas, you’ll find a large Christmas section on the top floor, with tons of Christmas tree decorations and festive sweets.
Leicester Square Christmas Market
If you walk from Oxford Street and then via Regent Street, you’ll end up close to the first Christmas Market in this post, located on Leicester Square. It may not be huge, but it has all the essentials: mulled wine, stalls with unique items that can make good Christmas gifts, and lots of food options, including grilled German sausages.
Trafalgar Square Christmas Market and the Norwegian Tree
From Leicester Square, you can take a short walk to the second Christmas Market of our journey, located on Trafalgar Square. It has a couple dozen stalls running along the front of the National Gallery, albeit largely with the same vendors as those on Leicester Square.
Trafalgar Square is also famous for its Christmas tree. It’s a long-running tradition that the tree is gifted by the Norwegians, to thank for the British support during WWII. After being felled in an official ceremony at the start of November, the tall tree is then shipped to London and decorated with fairly lights in a traditional Norwegian fashion – running vertically. The lights are officially switched on on the first Thursday of December.
Christmas at Harrods
If you enjoy exquisite decorations, make sure to visit the Christmas Shop in Harrods. This famous department store knows how to celebrate with a blast! The Christmas Shop opens as early as in October, and it’s filled with Christmas ornaments and luxurious chocolates and sweets, perfect for Christmas gifts.
Festive decorations at Fortnum & Mason
Another high-end department store famous for its Christmas decorations is Fortnum and Mason, located near Piccadilly Circus. Outside, the building turns into a gigantic advent calendar. Inside, you’ll see stunning decor and lots of great-but-expensive gift options.
Christmas Markets by the Thames – Southbank Christmas Market, Winter by the River
Now, let’s talk about the Christmas Markets near the Themes. There are two: one near Southbank, the other – called Winter by the River – between London Bridge and Tower Bridge.
Winter by the River is probably my favourite Christmas Market in London. It’s not huge, but it offers a lot of unique gift shopping opportunities, more than the markets at Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. I also generally love the architecture of Hay’s Galleria, which looks even better with the large Christmas tree and festive decorations. Winter by the River also has my favourite stall to look at – it has dozens of Christmas ornaments, all of them moving, singing and flashing lights. Tacky? Yes. Would I have a place for something like that at home? Probably not. But do I love looking at items like that? Absolutely!
The Christmas Market at Southbank, located under a bridge, is mainly focused on takeaway foods, with a couple of gift-selling vendors. It’s a good location for meeting friends during the festive period.
Covent Garden
Covent Garden, beautiful all year round, gets even more spectacular in December. A massive Christmas tree, illuminated with thousands of lights, takes the prime location. The rest of the area is decorated with smaller trees, and the Apple Market gets a makeover with huge bells and baubles under the ceiling. A large disco ball hanging in the middle of the hall brings the decorations to life with sparkling light reflections.
Winter Wonderland
Winter Wonderland is one of the most famous Christmas destinations in London. I never know how to best describe it. It’s not your typical Christmas Market, it’s so much more! Winter Wonderland has a large fun fair with a few rollercoasters, a giant Ferris wheel and tons of carousels for the little ones. It has a Bavarian village, in which you’ll find German-style food and drink: grilled sausages and mulled wine, as well as a bar with live music.
There is also an ice rink in Winter Wonderland, a big slide made of ice, a circus, an a Magical Ice Kingdom with an exhibition of ice sculptures. And last – but not least! – there’s also the Angel Market with some Christmas gift shopping options, and lots of food and drink stalls.
Winter Wonderland requires booking a ticket ahead of time. Depending on the day and time, ticket prices range from free to around £10. The additional attractions should also be booked in advance.
This year, I visited the Magical Ice Kingdom (my favourite part of Winter Wonderland), which featured an exhibition themed around Alice in Wonderland. I also enjoyed some mulled wine and a serving of hot apple crumble with custard.
Winter Wonderland is incredibly popular, and usually very busy. I usually go quite early, in November, and on a weekday, when the crowd is more manageable. On a December weekend, expect it to be much more crowded.
Christmas At Kew
One of my favourite places in London are Kew Gardens, and one of my favourite times of year is Christmas. So naturally, a Christmas event at Kew Gardens is right up my street. I went to Christmas at Kew for the first time last year, and I loved it! This year, I couldn’t resist and also visited this winter attraction. In the evenings, Kew Gardens turn into a lights trail, with a long path running around the gardens. There are numerous large illuminations throughout the route, as well as light spectacles. Then, at the end of the trail, there was a wonderful fountain & light show, on the pond in front of one of the large palm houses. Beautiful! It was a bit of a journey for me to get to Kew Gardens from my home in East London, but it was well worth it.
Annabel’s
This may seem like a bit of a random place to include in this post, but it’s well known to Londoners who enjoy Christmas decorations. Annabel’s, a private members’ club in Central London, makes a huge effort every year to put out a stunning display outside of the building. In 2024, it featured a snow globe with a peacock inside.
Canary Wharf
I also visited Canary Wharf in December, whilst doing my Christmas gift shopping. This skyscraper-filled area was even more beautiful than normally with a handful of Christmas decorations, including some Christmas trees.
Canary Wharf doesn’t stop the fun after Christmas, though. If you happen to be in London at the end of January, consider visiting Canary Wharf for their annual Winter Lights festival – it’s free of charge to attend!
Home Alone in Concert – Royal Albert Hall
In Poland, one of the most popular Christmas films is Home Alone. I watch it every year and can never be bored of it. So when I saw the Home Alone in Concert event at Royal Albert Hall – a film screening backed with live orchestra and choir – I knew I had to attend. Tickets were already sold out when I found out about it, but I spent the next few weeks keeping an eye on the official resale website and eventually managed to get a spot.
The event didn’t disappoint. I had so much fun watching one of my favourite films in the beautiful surroundings! It was one of my favourite days in December and I would happily go again next year.
Final thoughts
What a treat it was to enjoy the festive sights of London once again! The 2024 decorations didn’t disappoint. I was glad to be able to attend some of my favourite events, including Winter Wonderland and Christmas at Kew Gardens, and I’m looking forward to what Christmas 2025 brings. But for now – Happy New Year, everyone!
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