Dreaming ahead...

In London:
Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park
A Panto ( see if one is scheduled for Wilton’s Music Hall )
The Queen’s Message on the Telly on Christmas Day
Midnight Mass at St Paul’s
Ice skating at either Somerset House or the Natural History Museum
Christmas Lights on Regent, Oxford streets.
Santa Runs
The Pudding Race at Covent Garden
Chelsea Psyhic Garden Christmas Market

And understand public transport is non existent on Christmas Day.

When will you be here? Christmassy events start in mid/late November (Christmas lights go up in shopping centres) and continue ... but Christmas Day itself is very much a quiet family day when there’s no public transport and very few things open.

In London, ice skating at Somerset House. Ride on the top of a normal London bus down Oxford St and Regent St to see the lights.

Anywhere in England: go to see a panto (very specific British Christmas tradition) and a church carol service - the weekend before Christmas is a good time to find one.

Go to a Christmas market (with caution - they’re all a bit samey). Lincoln’s Christmas market has a beautiful setting but it’s only on the first weekend of December, I think.

Don’t expect snow or anything like Dickens or that tiresome Cameron Diaz film where she spends Christmas in a snowbound cottage.

For some it’s just a long haul of commercialism, crowded shops and stress...

You have a similar post on the Scotland forum. Just a word of warning - wherever you go over Christmas and New Year, you will find accommodation expensive - usually at least double the rate of mid December. There are 6 of you, so a cottage would make more sense than a hotel, so you need to start looking ASAP, as many will already have been booked. Scottish-country-cottages.co.uk or English-country-cottages.co.uk have a good selection.

London will be particularly expensive.

You will probably not have snow and daylight hours will be short, particularly if you head north. A good base would be somewhere between Evesham and Malvern, which would offer good walking plus day trips to nearby Stratford upon Avon, Cheltenham, Hereford, Worcester and the Cotswolds. You won’t be paying the premium for staying in the Cotswolds.

Another option would be the fantastic Northumberland coast, with its many castles and the magical Holy Island - a shorter journey from Edinburgh.

We loved our Christmas in London. We got tickets way in advance for the service at Westminster Abbey on the 23rd(since public transport is very limited at night on Christmas Eve). We went to Harry Potter at Warner Brothers studio on Christmas Eve. Our daughter still talks about it 4 years later-she liked it better than our Christmas visit to NY.

I responded on your Scotland thread.

Thank you, everyone! Please keep the ideas coming! To those who noted I placed a similar request on the Scotland thread...you are correct. I posted there first and then I grew concerned that not as many folks visit that forum. (I may be wrong.) Honestly, if we come, we will spend a couple of weeks, probably with time split between Scotland and England. I know that Christmas Day itself is very quiet in the UK--which is fine with us. We'll attend church, make ourselves a Christmas meal, and spend a family holiday just like everyone else. :) We've been to the UK twice as a family, but always in the summertime. This would be a new adventure.

Jennifer, I love your suggestion of Northumberland--one of our favorite areas of the country. Do you have specific suggestions for Christmas events in the area?

We live in the northwest of the US in the mountains, so we are accustomed to the short days of winter and much harsher weather than the UK. I will admit that that part does not appeal to me...but the rest of the adventure does! :)

Heather

I have been to Northumberland in the depths of winter, but not over Christmas. Visitnorthumberland.com will have details of what’s on nearer the time. The Alnwick Garden has a Christmas market at weekends from mid November.

Most towns will have a pantomime running around Christmas and there will be local farmers markets.

One of the country houses I mentioned in my other post to you is in Northumberland. Their 3-night “festive break” over the holidays begins on December 27, so in between Christmas and New Year’s.

https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/holidays-and-tours/festive-walking-alnmouth/

I’m glad I got to do it once, but not sure I’d do it again. And, I was there in December but left before Christmas as I was well aware that everything shuts down.

I’m from Chicago, so I’m used to cold weather. The temperatures were warmer than back in Chicago, but that cold damp weather wasn’t exactly pleasant either. You’re also dealing with high latitudes so the days are very short. It can snow, but cold rain is more likely.

However, I did throw myself into it just as I do during a Chicago winter. St Martins in the Field had a performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, which I’ve never seen live. There was a huge, and crowded. Christmas market in Hyde Park, Harrods was amazing. And, of course, the museums aren’t weather dependent. Many pubs will have mulled cider or mulled wine. I was also visiting a friend, so we spent a lot of time with each other.

Liberty department store is beautifully decorated for Christmas. At least it was the one time I saw it, years ago; I've read here that it still is.

You have already received great suggestions and this forum was so helpful to my planning for a London (pre-Christmas) visit. A couple of recommendations not already mentioned and some advice.

Recommendations:

• Christmas at Kew
• Shopping at Borough's market--bought many of my gifts here and if I was renting a flat would have shopped here for my Christmas dinner groceries.
• Gingerbread City at the V&A

Advice:

• Westminster has limited hours over the Christmas holidays, so if you plan to tour, check out their schedule in advance. We were surprised at how few options we had to tour the week before Christmas.
• Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park is spectacular and also very popular. We got great advice from two young women while we were standing in line for another event to go before 8:00 as they waited about 30-45 minutes to get in. We went early, about 6:00 and let about 8 which allowed us to enjoy without all the waiting in line.
• Buy your tickets early for Key Garden and the Pantomime, especially since you are traveling with so many people. I waited too long for Kew and had to buy on the secondary market. The issue wasn't paying more (although I did), but that there were very few places to buy resale tickets. Didn't get to see a Pantomime because didn't get the tickets far enough in advance.
• Be prepared for the weather, we were there 8 days and it rained 6 of them. Lucky for us the skies were clear when we did Christmas at Kew and WinterWonderland.

Have a great trip, even though I got really sick during the trip, I really did enjoy my time in London during the holidays.

Sandhy

Thank you, everyone!!! I'll be saving all these suggestions. I have to smile at the weather comments--I appreciate them very much, but we live in the Cascade mountains and are used to extreme weather in the winter. We also spent over a decade in Portland, so we know what grey is as well. We've definitely got the gear needed for Scotland.

Someone here at home mentioned York as a possible Chrismas-season destination. What do you all think about that? We've had York on our short list of places to visit, but haven't yet made it there in the last two trips. Maybe this time we should?