Christmas in London

melissadingmon

I'm flying into London on December 24th. I hear everything shuts down pretty solidly. I'm looking for suggestions on where to go and what to do on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day.

flowerhoney

Hm a lot of things do shut down, but london is a big place

Its not exactly in London, but Kew Gardens looks like it will be open over christmas day
http://www.kew.org/index.htm

You can also check out Time Out to see what events are going on and what will be open!
http://www.timeout.com/london/attractions

Also, not everyone celebrates christmas and since london has a boatload of tourists I'm sure things will still be open.

Check the museum schedules, take a walk in hyde park, go to some of famous markets, see a show on the west end (or fringe theater!) eat on brick lane. I for sure would check time out. A quick search for stuff between the 25th and the 27th brought up hundreds of results

Holler

London has a lot of tourists, but Britmas pretty much makes up for their lack of Thanksgiving and just about everyone has at least two days off, so you really should expect a lot of stuff to be closed. My heart is already breaking for you that the British Museum is closed all three days you'll be there.

I'm big on shopping (particularly in The Best Shopping City On Earth), so my list sort of reflects that:

I dunno what time you're getting in, but you probably want to go to Fortnum & Mason before 5pm on the 24th. You're gonna wanna get some christmas pudding and crackers (they make £1000 Christmas crackers with extremely fancy trinkets inside, but they also have normal ones). If you like snacks and fanciness, you Really Don't Want To Miss Fortnum's.

I also definitely recommend this Christmas market on the 24th before 10pm, which I was going to recommend alongside a trip to the BFI to take in a Christmas film and a drink in their lounge, but they're closed all three days, so no dice. At any rate, I'm sure you can round that off with whatever pub you can find.

Boxing day you're gonna want to get yourself to Liberty of London, and that area is shopping paradise, so you can easily lose an entire day there. I also recommend Hamley's toys, which is just near there on Regent street, and is a seven-floor toy shop that I honestly love. YMMV on that one, though.

Another odd suggestion, but if you find yourself near a Tabio location (it's a Japanese sock company), I would stop in and get some Christmas socks. Seriously, nothin' beats Christmas socks.

If everything else is closed, I know it sounds weird, but check and see if Mr. Kongs in Chinatown is open. If so, go there and get crispy seaweed. I've eaten a lot of chinese in my day, in places that generally have chinese food better than what you usually find in Britain (including China), but that crispy seaweed. No joke. If you're around there, get it.


I honestly have no idea what you do in London on Christmas day. I know it sounds like a waste, but honestly, snuggling up inside with people you care about and watching all of the Christmas specials that will be on is really great? If you made it to Fortnum's, sit back and eat the delicious treats you got yourself and queue up the Nervemind the Buzzcocks Christmas episode on iPlayer. So basically what I'm saying is that you're gonna want to catch up on your Dr. Who/Downton now, so that you can really get the most out of Britmas Day.

CelestialBadger

The UK has this habit of closing entirely on Christmas day. But restaurants are still open, although often need to be booked in advance rather than just swanning in.

In London, most shops will probably be open on Christmas Eve and Boxing day (when sales traditionally start; it's the UK equivalent of Black Friday).