Alternative Christmas events in London

Charles Dickens was one of the greatest London novelists ever, who also campaigned vehemently for children’s rights and social reform, but he was also obsessed with the spirits, phantoms and the supernatural (see ‘A Christmas Carol’ for starters). This exhibition, ‘To Be Read at Dusk’ explores Dickens’s more macabre interests and how he became a master ghost storyteller publishing over 20 spooky tales. Set in the historic surroundings of the brilliant Charles Dickens Museum, we guarantee your spine will be tingling. 

Don’t just stick stars on your Christmas tree, learn about them too. Explore the universe via a planetarium show at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich’s ‘The Sky Tonight’ planetarium shows. Each one is presented by a very clever astronomer, who’ll dish out the celestial goss on what’s in store for the stars for the month ahead. Whimsical, but also super fascinating.

Sick of having to share your pub snug with the overgrown branches of a Christmas tree? Visit phantasmagoric cocktail bar The Last Tuesday Society where you can drink inside a wunderkabinett of mummified cars ad crocodile skulls. Visit on the weekends December 10 to 11 and December 17 to 18 and you’ll also be able to pick up framed butterflies, specimens in jars, two-headed teddys, crystal balls and fine art erotica – y’know, your usual stocking-fillers at their absynthe parlor Christmas market. Don’t expect to be offered a drop of sherry here. 

Take a break from gazing at Christmas trees and get a load of Luke Jerram’s six-metre glowing sculpture of the moon as it returns to Greenwich’s Painted Hall. In essence, it’s a huge glowing sphere decorated in Nasa-inspired detail and it looks really, really cool, especially after dark when it’s all lit up. There’s an accompanying surround sound composition by BAFTA-winning composer Dan Jones and visitor daybeds so you can lie down and gaze up at it.