London Today

Christmas in central London

Regent Street closes to traffic for the switch-on, Hyde Park fills with a fair for six weeks, and the courtyard at Somerset House turns to ice — with the dates the organisers themselves published, not the ones the listings sites repeat.

Where to go for Christmas

2026 dates

Red angels with outstretched wings hung across a curving street of cream stone buildings

Christmas

Regent Street lights switch-on

Regent Street and St James's · London

A wide orange-red oval rink in front of a flat cream neoclassical facade, one small dark figure crossing it, on a warm off-white ground

Christmas

Skate at Somerset House 2026

Somerset House · London

A cut-paper market hall with a glass roof under strings of small paper lights, a tall paper fir tree at its side, on a midnight blue ground

Christmas

Covent Garden Christmas lights switch-on 2026

The Piazza, Covent Garden, WC2 · London

A dark cut-paper big wheel and a red-and-white striped tent standing on a white band of snow, a bare tree and two small firs between them, on a warm off-white ground

Christmas

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland 2026

Hyde Park · London

A theatre stage with its red curtain drawn back on a snowy night, a snowman standing in the snow under stars and green northern lights

Christmas

The Snowman at the Peacock

Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street, Holborn · London

A cut-paper teacup the size of a room with a tiny paper figure on a swing hung from its handle, on a dusk blue ground

Christmas

Cirque Alice at the Royal Festival Hall

Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX · London