As London is very close to the Netherlands, I have been to London many times. One of my best friends lives in London, so I can always make an excuse to go to London 😉 You just can’t go wrong with a visit to London, and especially not during Christmas time. The British really go all out during Christmas, which makes London the perfect stop during Christmas. I loved my first trip to London during Christmas, so I went two times in a row. You will find Christmas markets on every square, so you will have Christmas feels in no time.
Find some of my favorite spots in London below:
Ivy Chelsea Garden
The Ivy Chelsea Garden is probably known the most for its façade of flowers, which they change up each year. Once I discovered the Ivy on Instagram, I knew it needed to be part of my London travel plans. During Christmas they turn it up a notch and the façade is even crazier than normally! I expected the Ivy to be really exclusive, but it is really easy to make a reservation via their website. Don’t be turned off by the fancy interior; the Ivy is affordable (based on London standards). We had a big English garden breakfast and coffee for about £ 18, which is what you would pay about everywhere when you have an extensive sit-down breakfast. I visited the Ivy two years in a row, hence the different facades below.
Tower skating rink
My next recommendations include a skating rink, because what else is more Christmassy than a skating rink? I loved walking around in the Tower (Bridge) area where a beautiful skating rink was located. Near the tower bridge you will also find the Coppa Club, which is a restaurant that consists of Igloo bubbles. It is lovely to receive that feeling of sitting outside during Christmas, while actually being in a cozy and warm bubble. The restaurant takes online reservations. The whole area of the Tower is really suitable for a walk, as lots of the houses and pubs have traditional Christmas decorations.
Somerset house
Somerset house also has a skating rink in a classic courtyard and it turns pink at night. Next to the skating rink you can sip on mulled wine in the bar with skating rink views. The beautifully decorated tree was gigantic! Somerset house also has an art gallery, so that could be an interesting combination.
Skating rink at the Natural History Museum
This is another spot where you can combine ice skating with cultural activities. There is an enormous skating rink located right next to the Natural History Museum, the museum is the perfect background for romantic Christmas pictures. When we were visiting the ice rink, we also hopped into the Natural History Museum (which is free!). In the entrance hall of the Natural History Museum there usually is an enormous skeleton of an animal, which even I found really impressive, as I usually only visit art museums.
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a nice shopping area, where you will find lots of cute Christmas decorations. Covent Garden understands Instagram value, so they change up the decorations yearly. The sister restaurant of the Ivy Chelsea Garden is located here (Ivy Market Grill), which is also a good stop.
High street and Carnaby Festival
The main shopping streets of London have fantastic light installations around Christmas time. You have to visit after the sun has gone down (which luckily is really early around Christmas time), to admire all of the lights. The Carnaby Christmas Lights are an absolute highlight. All the shops in this area participate in the decorating, I loved Liberty’s! It can get pretty crowded at night, so you have to be prepared if you want to continue your trip by metro as the metro stations of Piccadilly Circus will be absolutely packed. We walked to the next stop 😉
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is one of my favorite areas in London and it gets even better during Christmas time as most of the houses have small, tasteful decorations. You can read my blogpost about Notting Hill here.
Kew Gardens
The Royal Botanic Kew Gardens have a light show each year during the Christmas weeks which apparently is really good. I unfortunately was too late booking tickets and they were all sold out, so I will put this on my list of things to do next time I am celebrating Christmas in London.
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