Christmas lights in London are one of the city’s most magical traditions. As the days grow shorter, streets, landmarks, and shopfronts come alive with glittering decorations, festive markets and light trails. Some locations even host special events on their official light switch-on nights, making the season’s start extra special.
Highlights – Christmas Lights in London 2025
- 🎄 Over a dozen light displays across Oxford Street, Regent Street, Covent Garden, Chelsea and Kew Gardens
- ✨ Iconic angels and stars from The Spirit of Christmas to Oxford Street’s glowing canopy
- 🚋 Festive experiences including bus tours, markets, ice rinks and riverside winter lodges
- 🌿 Light trails and immersive shows at Christmas at Kew and Chelsea Winter Illuminations
- 🕯️ Lights on from early November 2025 to early January 2026
Leicester Square Christmas Lights & Ice Rink
During the festive season, Leicester Square shines under spectacular lights in the heart of the West End. Wooden chalets sell handmade gifts and traditional treats, and this year the square features a brand-new Skate Leicester Square ice rink. 📅 1 Nov 2025 – 4 Jan 2026
South Bank Winter Market and Lights
Warmly lit riverside stalls bring a cosy atmosphere to the South Bank, where you’ll find gifts, ornaments and seasonal delicacies. Light installations illuminate the trees and walkways, while Jimmy Garcia’s Winter Lodge serves hot drinks and raclette by the fire. Visitors can also try curling at the Curling Club nearby.
📅 3 Nov 2025 – 4 Jan 2026
Carnaby Street – “All Is Bright”
Carnaby Street celebrates Christmas with its new All is Bright theme, showcasing Soho’s creative energy and sustainability focus. More than 60,000 LED lights fill the street with vibrant colours and playful shapes.
📅 From 6 Nov 2025
Regent Street & St James’s – The Spirit of Christmas
The Regent Street and St James’s “Spirit of Christmas” display is one of London’s most iconic festive sights, a tradition dating back to 1954. Radiant angels stretch from Oxford Circus to Piccadilly Circus and along Jermyn Street. At the southern end, the Waterloo Place Christmas tree is a yearly favourite for photos.
📅 6 Nov 2025 – 4 Jan 2026
Oxford Street Christmas Lights
Oxford Street once again sparkles with thousands of white stars suspended above shoppers. The display supports the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, with proceeds from events helping seriously ill children.
📅 From 7 Nov 2025
London Christmas Bus Tours
See London’s festive glow from an open-top double-decker bus. The Christmas Lights Bus Tour takes you past Regent Street’s angels, Oxford Street’s stars and landmarks like Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, the London Eye and Big Ben. A live guide shares stories of London’s Christmas traditions along the way.
📅 7 Nov 2025 – 4 Jan 2026
Covent Garden – The Theatre of Christmas
Covent Garden dazzles with more than 300,000 lights, golden ornaments and a 20-metre British Christmas tree on the piazza. The switch-on launches The Theatre of Christmas campaign, celebrating London’s theatre heritage for seven festive weeks.
📅 From 12 Nov 2025
Marylebone Village – Merry Marylebone
Marylebone Village begins the season with its traditional Merry Marylebone celebration, featuring choirs, live music, stalls and late-night shopping. The evening ends with a celebrity light switch-on, plus a Ferris wheel, Santa’s grotto and charity raffle benefiting The Marylebone Project for homeless women.
📅 From 12 Nov 2025
Old Spitalfields Christmas Market
Old Spitalfields Market transforms into a festive wonderland, decorated with trees, twinkling lights and sparkling ornaments. Visitors can enjoy artisan gifts, fashion, food and drink in one of East London’s most atmospheric covered markets.
📅 From 12 Nov 2025
Bond Street Christmas Lights
Known for its luxury boutiques and jewellers, Bond Street is one of London’s most elegant streets for Christmas lights. Grand illuminated arches greet shoppers arriving from Piccadilly or Oxford Street. Stores such as Cartier are famous for their lavish festive façades.
📅 From November 2025
Leadenhall Market – Christmas Switch-On
The historic Leadenhall Market celebrates its Christmas lights switch-on with ceremony, led by Lady Mayor Dame Susan Langley DBE. A towering tree stands beneath the Victorian roof, surrounded by garlands, baubles and thousands of glowing bulbs.
📅 From 13 Nov 2025
Christmas at Kew – London’s Most Magical Light Trail
Christmas at Kew Gardens returns with a breathtaking 3-km light trail featuring several world-premiere installations. Highlights include Christmas Orchestra, where light and music merge, and In Bloom by a Dutch artist. The route runs from the Palm House to the Temperate House, ending with a spectacular finale. Look out for returning favourites like the Fire Garden, Christmas Cathedral and Pealight Tree, plus the newly illuminated Great Pagoda.
📅 14 Nov 2025 – 4 Jan 2026
Chelsea Winter Illuminations
In Chelsea, the King’s Road and nearby streets glow with trees and decorations, while Duke of York Square’s Ever After Garden shines with thousands of white roses.
This year’s Chelsea Winter Illuminations trail encircles the Royal Hospital Chelsea, guiding visitors along a 1.5-km path of light art, interactive installations and soundscapes. The Chelsea Winter Village offers free entry to markets, bars, workshops and live music — plus the Après Bar, Feast Quarter, fire pits for marshmallow-toasting and the Curling Club ice-curling rink.
📅 26 Nov – 28 Dec 2025
Belgravia Christmas Lights
Belgravia’s Elizabeth Street sparkles with festive lights and holiday cheer. Meet Santa and his helpers, enjoy performances by the London Gay Men’s Chorus, Fulham Brass Band and Solid Steel, and explore Eccleston Yards Christmas Market for gifts and mulled wine.
📅 From 16 Nov 2025
Greenwich and Cutty Sark
Greenwich offers family-friendly festivities including a new Santa’s Grotto inside Queen’s House, inspired by The Nutcracker, and the Queen’s House Ice Rink beside the Thames. The Greenwich Christmas Lights Switch-On features a lantern parade, music and markets at Greenwich Market, plus the illuminated Cutty Sark, whose masts sparkle like a giant Christmas tree.
📅 From 19 Nov 2025
The Shard – Festive Skyline Light Show
From 25 November, the top of The Shard lights up with a new design by Colombian artist Gustavo Zuluaga Villegas, featuring four nightly 15-minute shows visible from up to 60 km away.
📅 25 Nov – 31 Dec 2025
Camden Market Christmas
Camden Market welcomes visitors to its Ice Palace Grotto, where families can meet Santa and enjoy creative workshops. Festive lights line Water Lane, with snowflake-inspired patterns overhead and five decorated trees adding to the atmosphere. Live music, crafts and street food make it one of North London’s most joyful winter spots.
📅 From 6 Dec 2025
Plan Your Christmas in London
From Oxford Street to Kew Gardens, every corner of the capital shines with festive lights and events from early November to January. Whether you’re skating in Leicester Square, shopping in Covent Garden or exploring light trails in Chelsea, London’s Christmas season offers a truly magical experience.
