Colourful Christmas Lights in London 2024
By Momtazbh
Hello festive season! Brrrrrr! It’s getting cold out there! But it’s not all doom and gloom when we’ve got Christmas Lights to look forward to. It’s time to start planning where to go to see the Christmas lights of London alongside seasonal installations and other wintery light shows for full on festive fun in the capital.
If you want to be the first to see this year’s dazzling displays, the Christmas lights of London switch on events are the first glimpse of the themes. Though some of the themes and dates still under wraps I can confirm where from past experience where you could head to enjoy the most colourful Christmas lights in the capital.
Ready for some festive photography? Lights, camera, action!
The best Christmas lights London – switch ons
Christmas in Regent’s Street – switch on Thursday Nov 7th
It wouldn’t be Christmas in London without a trip to Regent’s Street. For 2024, their theme is ‘The Spirit of Christmas’ and it’s set to feature 30 light-up spirits. To be honest, I have no idea what they mean by spirits…are they implying ghosts? We’ll have to wait and see. In keeping with a theme in recent years to make the Christmas lights of London more sustainable, the 300,000 shimmering lights will be set on a timer.
And it’s not just Regent Street getting a glow up, but the neighbouring streets in St James too.
Christmas in Oxford Circus –
switch on Tuesday November 5th)
The first of the light switch ons but usually not the most interesting in London. Oxford Street used to be the heart of shopping in London but now it’s bang in the middle of two Westfield Shopping Centres and regular stores have closed in favour of endless luggage and sweet shops, the area has lost some prestige. For 2023, Oxford Street’s light display supported a children’s charity called Starlight and consisted of dangling rows of twinkling stars, all of which were fully recyclable. They were also on for fewer hours a day with a view to reducing their carbon footprint and saving money.
Christmas Lights of London – Oxford Street
Christmas Lights of London – St Christopher’s Place
And while you’re in the vicinity of Oxford Street, it’s worth wandering through St Christopher’s Place which is just off Oxford Street as well as looking out for the lights in South Molten Street and Bond Street. Here, it’s not just about the lights but the whole aesthetic with window displays in the high-end boutiques as they part and parcel of going to see the lights.
Christmas in Covent Garden – switch on Tuesday 12th November
Covent Garden jumped on sustainability a while back. For several years in a row the Christmas decorations inside the main market hall were the same – huge disco balls and giant mistletoe. Then last year they changed things up and adorned it with huge glittering gold bells. So it’s possible they may return. Covent Garden’s biggest pull is it’s huge Christmas tree and wondering the markets is a sure fire way to get into the festive spirit so it’s must-visit to see the Christmas lights in London here.
This shot of Digital Content Creator Anoushka captures the scale of just how huge the bells were in Covent Garden in 2023
But it’s not just the market that makes Covent Garden the best place to come for colourful Christmas lights in London.
It’s the adjacent areas like Seven Dials, the boutique shops and restaurants in the vicinity along side annual pop-ups from brands that makes it such a feast for the senses. I just hope these Santa dogs are returning!
Christmas in Carnaby Street – switch on Thursday 7th November
So where I mentioned that Oxford Street’s lights can be a bit ‘meh’ Carnaby Street Christmas Lights tend to have one of the more exciting and creative Christmas light installations in London. Each year the themes gets more and more social media friendly. Last year the themewas Carnaby Universe with cosmic vibes consisting of light-up planets. As well as the main street they also have colourful surprises around this infamous shopping quarter, so look out for great window dressing.
For 2024 they’ve announced a theme of Into The Light with a sustainable display that is set to last five years. No images have been revealed yet but it’s be described as being immersive, featuring sculptural light forms that may stretch up to six metres.
Take a look at it on their Instagram for what they created in 2023, let’s hope it’s still as colourful this year!
Christmas in Trafalgar Square from Thursday December 5th
Much later than the other Christmas lights in London but it’s all due to tradition. The huge tree here is an annual gift to London from Norway who unveils it on the first Thursday of December – makes sense, as it’s a real tree so it means the needles will last until Christmas Day. The area also comes alive with Christmas shopping huts with food and gifts (but they’re mostly mass-produced tacky items rather than anything useful) so don’t get carried away!
Other areas to keep an eye on for photogenic Christmas lights in London are:
PADDINGTON
In previous years they’ve had a giant bust and bus, a bauble-filled telephone box and for 2023 they had some giant frames…
but they weren’t ideal for selfies, you needed someone else to shoot you in them for the best composition!
BATTERSEA POWER STATION
Battersea have their own lights show and art installations filled with twinkling Christmas lights and also an ice skating rink. They claim it’s the only riverside one in London though in previous years you could just about spy the River Thames for the ice skating in Greenwich. It definately bring a winter wonderland vibe.
BELGRAVIA / ECCLESTON YARD
Eccleston Yard is such a cute and quirky quarter of the capital that’s buzzing in the summer and looks wonderful dressed for Christmas too, here’s what they’ve done previously.
MARYLEBONE VILLAGE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS – 13th November 2024
MAYFAIR
Sure, there are lights around Mayfair and at various shops and restaurants (there’s a lot of festive restaurant decor!) but the one stop always worth stopping for to see is the exterior of private member’s club Annabel’s which last years was a hot air balloon.
CHELSEA
Whatever the season Chelsea is the place to go for selfies. Their annual Chelsea in Bloom walking trails and recent Autumnal installations were all over social media and no doubt when Christmas gets underway from mid-November they’ll be much to admire too, especially their iconic walkway.
LONDON BRIDGE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
The heart of the action is Hay’s Galleria which has a huge Christmas tree. Then outside, leading all the way to Tower Bridge is a sprawling Christmas Market, filled with lots of food stands so visit it for snacks and mulled wine as well as Christmas shopping.
COAL DROPS YARD CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
I’m still not over what a vast improvement to King’s Cross Coal Drops Yard is. Its Christmas Markets ago-go here with plenty to enjoy from mulled wine to artisan foods and crafts. There are lat night openings too.
ELSEWHERE
Local London boroughs will soon be unveiling their lights and trees too. These are usually fun, family events with Christmas markets and activities. Keep an eye for dates from local listings, the local council etc.
Christmas lights immersive experiences in London
Coming into central London to see the lights and perhaps popping into Fortnum & Mason to look at Christmas cakes is an age-old tradition but who knew that these simple joys would be taken over by huge light installations and immersive experiences – even Santa never saw this one coming.
I’m no scrooge though, I’ll totally here for colourful Christmas light experiences. Here are some places to seek out the festive rainbow…
Tottenham Court Road / Outernet Global
The huge 360 video walls that greet you when you come out of exit 3 at Tottenham Court Road Station have become a London icon in a short space of time. Constantly changing with different themed light shows it’s highly likely they’ll be some kind of Christmas light show there.
Epping Ongar Express
The stuff childhood dreams are made of. This light-up steam train is part Polar Express part Harry Potter. It runs right up until January and is one of the most fun Christmassy things I’ve ever done. Definitely order a snack box and then sit back in your Epping-Ongar Express seats, surrounded by Christmas décor, enjoy the music and views. There’s also a stop off to stretch you legs and special dates when Santa is on board too.
Word of warning though when I visited the car-parking situation was an absolute nightmare on exiting. It was utter chaos, staff had no idea what was going on and as a result public did their own thing. So bear that in mind. Though parking aside I’d give it a 10/10 for fun, joy and colour it just could end stressfully.
Other destinations where Christmas Lights are expected to be an extravaganza include Eltham Palace and Kenwood House’s Light Trail (both are part of English Heritage) and Kew Gardens.
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland
Part fun fair and part extremely tacky gift stalls, with lots of places to eat and drink Winter Wonderland will always attract families and friends seeking festive fun, dazzling lights but it’s not for everyone – extremely colourful of course but loud and busy too. I visited once many years ago and just remember it feeling like beer festival and requiring lots of money. But this video on YouTube always springs to mind at this time of the year.
Christmas shopping in London – the season’s most colourful stores
Selfridges Christmas Shop
That one tradition that affirms the arrival of Christmas for me is visiting the Selfridges Christmas Shop. Not to shop because they are put of my price budget but to window shop, rainbow hunt and take pictures of aesthetically pleasing colour schemes. I love their themed Christmas trees and there’s also a whole section on wrapping paper and tree decorations as well as lights. They’ve also previously had sections specialising in neon lights.
This year’s the store opened three weeks earlier in September This year they have a staggering 1300 types of Christmas ornaments available. Still not as much as I saw and the Jewellery Museum in the Czech Republic but impressive nonetheless. However, when you actually go there as I recently found out the actual Christmas store is tiny, in previous years it’s been huge, this year it doesn’t even feel like a separate zone. I wasn’t that impressed!
Garden Centres
I don’t have a garden but I love garden centres, especially at Christmas. If you get a chance, seek out one of the huge garden centres like the ones around Crews Hill in Enfield. They are like Christmas villages and they stock more colours of tinsel and lights then you’ll find anywhere else. You may even discover some intriguing characters too like performing bears alongside the obvious – actual Christmas trees.
Most of the Christmas Lights in London stay on until early January, but that’s not the end of the season as far as colourful lights in London are concerned. There’s Canary Whar’s Winter Light’s event which takes place around mid Jan.
Whoever said London was a grey city? They clearly never visited at Christmas!
*This article will be regularly up-dated with locations, images, info as the Christmas Season in London unfolds so do bookmark the page and check back!
By Momtazbh
