Step into the festive magic of the capital with our 2025 London Christmas Lights Walking Guide. Every winter, London’s most iconic streets and neighbourhoods are transformed by spectacular Christmas light displays, from Oxford Street to Covent Garden and beyond. Whether you’re a local or visiting during the festive season, this guide highlights the best places to see Christmas lights in London while soaking up the city’s Christmas atmosphere.
Essential Items for Your Christmas Lights Walking Tour:
- Ensure you have a smartphone with map and data capabilities. Secure your valuables as pickpockets may take advantage of the bustling crowds. Phone snatchers are unfortunately rife in London at the moment, so make sure you have a secure way to hold your phone or camera while capturing these stunning lights. Consider using a wrist strap, phone lanyard, or anti-theft bag to keep your belongings safe while enjoying the festive scenery.
- Bundle up in WARM clothes – don’t forget a hat, scarf, and gloves. In case you do, there are two large Primark stores along the way.
- Bring a power bank to keep your phone charged throughout the walk.
- Consider a scooter or buggy for kids; the walk isn’t easy, and a bike might not be the best choice.
I’m back with my 2025 London Christmas Lights Walking Guide, and this year we’re starting at Selfridges after a cosy dinner at YO! Sushi. The Selfridges Christmas shop windows are Disney-themed this year!
There is also a huge illuminated Disney castle, which forms part of the overall festive installation. Lighting up the space directly outside Selfridges, it’s a real show-stopper and a must-see stop on this walking route.
Along this road, you’ll see the star lights that have been hanging above Oxford Street for the past few years. They haven’t really changed, so you can walk the entire length from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road and see the same display throughout. They’re still beautiful, but if you’ve seen them many times before, there’s nothing particularly new.
Once you’ve finished taking in the Christmas window displays at Selfridges, I’d recommend stepping away from the main road. Turn left onto Duke Street, then right onto Barrett Street, and within a short walk you’ll reach St Christopher’s Place. Here you’ll find charming festive decorations and lovely photo opportunities, tucked away from the busy shopping streets.
There’s a small side road called Gee’s Court that you can use to guide yourself back onto Oxford Street. Turn left, then continue walking and, on the right-hand side, you’ll soon come across New Bond Street — so you will need to cross over if you’re already on the left. New Bond Street is lined with luxury shops that many of us probably admire rather than shop in, but the festive window displays are well worth seeing. Brands like Montblanc, Chanel, Christian Dior and Cartier always go all out, and the displays here are genuinely gorgeous.
Do keep in mind that there is currently some construction along one side of the street, so it can be quite noisy at times. That said, the full length of New Bond Street is still really lovely to walk along. From here, you can continue all the way down and end up at Piccadilly, with Fortnum & Mason on the left as you approach.
Alternatively, before walking the full length of New Bond Street, you can turn right onto Bruton Street. Walk all the way down and you’ll reach Berkeley Square, where you can usually see a festive display outside Annabel’s. While I haven’t checked it out myself this year, Hedonism Wines typically has a lovely Christmas display too.
On our route, we carried on all the way down New Bond Street and turned left, where you’ll spot Fortnum & Mason, before walking straight down to Piccadilly Circus.
From Piccadilly Circus, you can see the gorgeous angel lights along Regent Street St James. If you continue walking, you’ll also come across the large Christmas tree outside the Sofitel hotel.
You can then turn back on yourself and head up onto Regent Street, where you’ll see a slightly different style of angel lights. While these displays are the same every year, they’re still absolutely beautiful and definitely worth seeing. You could continue all the way up Regent Street towards Oxford Circus for the Carnaby Street lights although they aren’t a must-see. You may still want to check them out — at least you know they’re there if you do.
We ended up turning back again and walking towards Leicester Square. There are a few festive lights here, as well as the ice-skating rink and Christmas market. The market is free to enter, but ice skating does need to be paid for if you fancy it.
From Leicester Square, we made our way towards Covent Garden. It’s almost one straight road, so it’s very hard to get lost. Covent Garden has stunning festive displays, including a huge Christmas tree and even fake snow every hour near the tree, which is definitely worth timing your visit for. There’s also a beautiful Chanel display, plus a cute festive LEGO installation featuring a LEGO Santa and a reindeer.
If you continue down Southampton Street, you’ll end up on the Strand, where there are more lovely Christmas lights.
This is where our Christmas lights walk finished, but you could easily continue from here by crossing Waterloo Bridge to check out the lights along the South Bank.
Although we didn’t include it in this year’s walk, I’d also highly recommend Chelsea, which usually has a really beautiful festive displays. Battersea Power Station is another lovely spot well worth adding if you have the time.
Below, you’ll find a map showing all the locations featured in this guide. You can follow my suggested walking route or use the map to create your own route at your own pace.
While this guide showcases many of London’s must-see Christmas lights and festive displays, it’s just a snapshot of everything the city has to offer during the holiday season. From tucked-away streets to lesser-known festive spots, London is full of magical corners waiting to be discovered. There’s even a Snoopy trail at Fleet Street! If you’re keen to explore even more routes and hidden highlights, my 2024 London Christmas Lights Guide is still available and features alternative walks and unique locations to enjoy the festive glow.
