Published 2026-09-21 by the Rushxo team. More guides.
Short answer: London's Christmas season runs from the light switch-ons in early November to Twelfth Night, and most of the big festivals overlap in December. Book the ticketed ones (Kew, Hampton Court, the rinks, panto) early and midweek; leave the free ones (lights, Trafalgar Square, Southbank) for whenever you are passing. Dates below are the announced or usual ones; venues confirm in the autumn.
| Festival / event | Where | Dates (2026/27) | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| West End lights switch-on | Oxford, Regent, Carnaby, Bond Street, Covent Garden | early to mid November to early January | Free |
| Southbank Centre Winter Festival and Market | South Bank | early November to early January | Free entry |
| Christmas at Kew | Kew Gardens | 13 November to 3 January | about £61 adult |
| Hyde Park Winter Wonderland | Hyde Park | mid November to 3 January | free to about £7.50 entry; rides, rink and shows extra |
| Hackney Empire pantomime | Hackney | 21 November to 31 December | £15 to £55 |
| Hampton Court Winter Palace and ice rink | Hampton Court Palace | 28 November (rink from 20 November) to 3 January | rink about £17 to £25 |
| Trafalgar Square tree lighting and carols | Trafalgar Square | Thursday 3 December, then most evenings to 24 December | Free |
| London Palladium pantomime (Cinderella) | Argyll Street | 5 December to 10 January | £35 to £195 |
| Christmas light trails and markets: Greenwich, Kenwood, Leicester Square, Battersea Power Station, Canary Wharf | various | late November to early January, venue-confirmed | free to about £30 |
| Carols at the Royal Albert Hall and St Martin-in-the-Fields | South Kensington / Trafalgar Square | throughout December | £10 to £70; some services free |
| New Year's Eve fireworks | Thames, Westminster to Blackfriars | 31 December, midnight | ticketed about £20 to £55; free views from the hills |
| New Year's Day Parade | Piccadilly to Whitehall | 1 January from 12:00 | Free |
The West End, Trafalgar Square and the South Bank are walking and Tube territory; do not take a car into them in December. Winter Wonderland is Hyde Park Corner or Marble Arch by Tube, but a car makes sense for a group with small children late in the evening: Winter Wonderland taxi. Kew and Hampton Court are the two where a car is the sensible choice after dark; both are 30 to 40 minutes from Heathrow and we run fixed-price Christmas at Kew transfers with no evening surcharge. For office and family parties, an V Class or minibus beats four cabs. And on Christmas Day itself, when nothing else runs, a pre-booked car is the whole plan.
For presents: Greenwich Market (independent makers, best on weekdays), Columbia Road on Sundays (flowers and small shops), the Southbank Centre Winter Market for food gifts, and the craft stalls inside Spitalfields. For atmosphere rather than shopping: Winter Wonderland’s Bavarian village and Leicester Square, where the stalls are the same in every city. If you want one gift-buying morning, take Greenwich and get there by DLR or car before 11:00.
The department-store grottos (Harrods, Selfridges, Hamleys) book out by mid November; Kew and Hampton Court have their own, less frantic. For skating with a view choose Hampton Court or Somerset House; for a big rink with everything else on site, Winter Wonderland. For shows, the Palladium and Hackney Empire pantomimes are the safe family choices, and A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic is the one for adults and older children.
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland (mid November to 3 January), Christmas at Kew (13 November to 3 January), the Southbank Centre Winter Market and festival (early November to early January), Hampton Court's Winter Palace (28 November to 3 January), the Trafalgar Square tree and carols from 3 December, plus light trails and markets at Greenwich, Kenwood, Leicester Square and Battersea Power Station. Dates are confirmed by each venue in the autumn.
Winter Wonderland for rides and the circus, Christmas at Kew for the light trail (pushchair friendly), Hampton Court for skating with a palace behind you, and the Palladium or Hackney Empire panto for an evening indoors.
Yes for Kew, Hampton Court, the ice rinks, panto and Winter Wonderland peak slots; they sell out weeks ahead for weekends. Weekday early-evening slots are cheaper and easy to get.
Both are awkward by public transport after dark and are 30 to 40 minutes from Heathrow or 40 to 60 from central London by car. A fixed-price car per vehicle, especially with children, is the usual answer; we run Kew and Hampton Court transfers with no evening surcharge.
Kew, Hampton Court, Winter Wonderland, parties and the airport. No evening or holiday surcharge.
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Planning the whole holiday? The Christmas and New Year transfers page covers airport runs on the days with no trains, New Year's Eve pickups around the fireworks closures and party transport, all at fixed fares with no seasonal uplift.