What is the best Christmas lights display in London this festive season? Time Out editor’s favourite for 2025

Some towns only have one, slightly lacklustre Christmas lights display – a single string of white bulbs, in some cases. In London, though, we’re spoiled for choice: there are literally hundreds, many of which are extraordinary shows of festive illumination.

But no amount of Christmas spirit is going to give you the time to see all of the city’s lights displays, so we recommend prioritising only the best. Luckily, Time Out has put together a guide to help you do just that, naming London’s top Christmas illuminations for 2025.

This year, Time Out’s Things to Do Editor Rosie Hewitson chose Carnaby Street as the city’s best Christmas lights display. Here’s why. 

Carnaby Street does Christmas lights a little differently. Instead of rehashing the same old show (or wastefully creating a new one every year), it has an adaptable display which involves thousands of tin LEDs built into sculptures that twinkle high above the street itself. The display debuted last year, but was created with sustainability in mind so will return every winter until 2030.

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Carnaby’s 2025 display is titled ‘Into the Light’, with the lights taking the shape of huge Christmas crackers and stars. They’ve also changed colour, adding neon purples, blues, pinks, and oranges to last year’s gold and bringing ‘a welcome splash of colour to the dark winter skies above central London’. The iconic Carnaby Street arches will also be lit up this year.

Not everyone is as big a fan of Carnaby Street’s lights as us here at Time Out. Last year when they first went up some felt the minimalist vibes weren’t very Christmassy, and lacked the ‘wow factor’ of previous displays. Obviously we don’t agree, and as Rosie explained, the Soho display provides some much needed respite from the ‘Christmas kitsch’ we’re used to.

If you’d prefer something a bit more traditional, check out the rest of Time Out’s best Christmas lights list below, which has something for everyone – from an entire outdoor exhibition at the Southbank Centre to a pub covered in nearly 100 Christmas trees.

Read Time Out’s list of the best Christmas lights displays in London now.

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