What to do on Christmas in London?

You will be pretty well limited to the area around your hotel. Most of London pretty well shuts down, including local transit, for Christmas day, and nearly so on the next day, Boxing Day.

Virtually no public transport of any kind, no trains (maybe one or two exceptions somewhere in the country) and no tubes and practically no buses of any sort. You may be able to get a taxi (at a high price) or one of a few minicabs.

Certainly no trains to Cambridge, and nothing will be open.

Christmas is a day to stay home with family.

Plan your meals well ahead. There may be a few ethnic places for a meal or if you are in an apartment you may want to cook for yourself.

No public transportation available.

So what to do?

Explore on foot the neighborhood where your accommodation is located. You’ll find that many ethnic restaurants are open, even some pubs.

Watch the King’s first Christmas speech on the telly.

Enjoy time with whomever you are traveling with.

Thanks so much for the heads up ! Sounds like we will need to scout out what might be open in our neighborhood well in advance !!

We ordered Christmas meals as take out, picked up Christmas Eve early morning. We were renting a house with kitchen . This was planned way in advance with help from London friends. On Christmas Day we walked in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. Watched the Queen’s annual TV address at 3pm. This will be King Charles III first Christmas Address. Had our reheated Christmas Dinner, turkey and trimmings, with mince pie later.

A few years ago we spent Christmas in London. We stayed near Westminster Abbey and walked through St. James Park on Christmas morning with many other Londoners. Walks of London does do some tours that day as well, so worth looking into.

We had a reservation for dinner mid-afternoon (most places have fixed-price menus and are booked well in advance) then went to a movie. I am sure we walked at least 8 miles that day.

Christmas Eve expect many venues to be closed or to close quite early. Again, dinner reservations are essential.

Some neighborhood pubs might have availability for walk-in dining either Christmas Eve or Day, but I would not count on it. If you do not know where to start with dining reservations, ask your lodging host, whether hotel or apartment, what they advise and look at online sources like Open Table.

For Christmas Eve at Westminster Abbey, we booked tickets online when they were released in October in the Abbey’s website. It took us several tries to get four tickets. We were online to enter about an hour in advance. We attended the 4 pm service. We had dinner reservations that evening at The Ivy, Covent Garden.

Except during the pandemic, it has been a custom with me to spend Christmas and New Year's in London. It will be the same this year.

Much of what I would say has been said. Take a nice walk and count the businesses that are open. Don't expect any public transit so plan things near your accommodations. If you want to eat out on Xmas, make reservations in advance. Many pubs have Christmas Day meals but you must reserve.

If all else fails, KFC is usually open on Christmas day.

As also noted, most shops and markets will close early on Christmas Eve. Not all will open on Boxing Day.

If your hotel is within walking distance of Trafalgar Square there are 2 London Walks that are running Christmas Day.

https://www.walks.com/our-walks/walks-by-date/?d=2022-12-25

thanks so much to all !! we booked a walk!! and have asked the apt owner about places that might be open for meals/food!
I love this forum!!!

Rick devotes a whole page in the London guide to how to handle Christmas, you do have the book yes? Page 484 and 485, in fact (I just peeked).

I like a previous suggestion, go to Paris for the day!

We bought the pocket size Rick Steve’s book for easier handling but will go tomorrow and take pix of 484 and 485 to see what he had to say!! Love the Paris idea as well!
Thanks so much

The Eurostar doesn't run on Christmas day, so Paris for the day is a tricky proposition.

You could fly to Paris for the day but how are you going to get to and from the airport?

And why would you think more is open in Paris on Christmas?

Yes Paris is clearly not an option … getting there and back isn’t possible, though it does seem like more is open in Paris than London. But now we do have a plan to take a walking tour and we’ll keep working on finding a restaurant to eat in or take out from. !!

Most of Europe pretty much is on quiet mode for holidays like Christmas, Easter, Good Friday etc. Get a market like Marks & Spencer or Tesco scoped out in advance and get your groceries and drinks soon after you arrive. Definitely check with your apt owner about dining and book those well in advance. Keep it as simple as possible to avoid the stress.

Have spent a number of Christmases in London. Great day to explore your neighborhood on foot.

What neighborhood is your accommodation?

If there is a park close by you’ll enjoy seeing folks out and about wearing new winter coats, hats, scarves, gloves. Kids on tricycles. Dogs on leash.

If anywhere near to the Hyde Park the annual Peter Pan Cup race occurs in the Serpentine.
http://serpentineswimmingclub.com/our-special-races

Or sign up for a London Walks. www.walks.com. Only difficulty will be getting to their starting points unless you research the distance between your accommodation and where they convene.

There will be movies to see. Most likely crowded.
Ask you host if there are nearby movie theatres.

Have your host provide a list of nearby pubs and check their websites to see if they’ll be serving on Christmas Day. Reserve if they are. Have Had some great Christmas roasts in pubs.

Remember pubs aren’t like American bars. Yes alcohol is served but pubs are places where families including children and dogs meet.

Lastly you are in London, a melting pot of humans and religions, some which don’t celebrate Christmas.
If restaurant or cafe owners they’ll be open for business.

Christmas Day is a perfect day to meander. There will be cabs charging higher fares than normal but no busses or tubes or trains.