Best Christmas Events in London for 2025 hand picked by our editors

What’s more Christmassy than visiting Santa’s grotto? Going for a pint or two with the man in red in his favourite boozer, of course. Humbug, an immersive Christmas dive bar, allows you to do just that – and join Mr Claus in rounds of games, sing-a-longs, live performances, storytelling and more. It’s all threaded together with a mission to cheer a weary Santa up and help him rekindle his Christmas spirit. Humbug’s 2025 return will include themed cocktails, festive grub from Bang Bang Burgers, a shrine to the queen of Christmas Mariah Carey, a beer can bowling alley, a grotto and cabaret from the venue’s regular cast. Saving the festive season never sounded so fun.

Each year, Hyde Park gets transformed from pretty park to a dazzling, snow-covered, Alpine-themed, 350-acre festive funscape. One of the largest Christmas events in the UK, Winter Wonderland returns for its eighteenth year in 2025, and is expected to welcome around 2.5 million visitors over six magical weeks. 

As you make your way around the space, you’ll find fairground rides, a child-friendly Santa Land (including a Santa’s Grotto, where presents lie in wait) and traditional Christmas markets where you’ll be able to buy gifts for all your loved ones, which has been freshly extended for 2025 with the addition of premium, artfully lit shopping spot Luminarie Lane.

A humongous light trail that takes over south west London’s 300-acre World Heritage Site botanic garden, Christmas at Kew has become a key date in London’s festive calendar since its first iteration in 2013. Visitors embarking on the 3km trail will get see the space lit up with dozens of larger-than-life illuminations, with both the venue’s glass houses and the trees that cover its grounds drenched in different hues. The whole thing is stunning, but don’t miss the lake, where you’ll catch reflections of the vibrant bulbs dancing on the water, taking the magical feeling to another level. For 2025, Kew’s iconic Great Pagoda will be adorned with festive lights for the very first time, too. Keep yourself toasty along the way with warming winter snacks from food vendors curated by Kerb, and make sure say hi to Father Christmas himself as you walk past. 

The DIY Christmas Art Market is a veritable jamboree of potential gifts – either to give to friends and family, or to treat yourself with. As well as art prints and risograph and screen prints, the market will have t-shirts, patches, comics, tote bags, ceramics, zines and independent publications on its stalls, ready to be wrapped up and put under the tree. Sample the eclectic creativity with a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie to really ramp up the festivities. 

If you've ever watched curling during the Winter Olympics and thought 'pass me that broom, I could do better', you're in luck. This winter, the Curling Club will be taking up residence in both London Bridge's Vinegar Yard and in a new Waterloo location, giving you the chance to have a go at this eccentric team sport. Both venues will be given a proper apres-ski makeover with wintry cocktails, Alpine-inspired street food and entertainment on hand.

If lounging around on Christmas Day and stuffing your face with treats sounds like something that gets in the way of your running streak rather than a dream way to spend a day, the Christmas Day Cracker Run is for you. Head to the outskirts of the city to a course by the Thames where you’ll be able to run for up to seven – yes, seven – hours. The minimum distance you have to complete to take part is 5km, but you can do as much beyond that as you like – up to a 50km ‘ultramarathon’. If you complete one lap (7km), you’ll get to take home a shiny medal and a goody bag full of yummy snacks. 

Given that their nation is home to Lapland, is covered in snow for half the year and boasts a healthy population of wild reindeer, it’s no surprise than the Finns love Christmas. You can expect plenty of festive feels at this always-popular annual Christmas Market at Rotherhithe’s Finnish Church. Browse traditional Finnish toys, design pieces, Christmas cards and plenty of Moomin memorabilia before tucking into barbequed food, cinnamon buns and salmon sandwiches, all washed down with a glass of steaming glögg. 

Does a £150 bar tab sound like it might come in handy during December’s largesse? Then grab your smartest pals and head to cosy Shepherd’s Bush hideout The Hawk’s Nest for a special festive edition of its ever-popular weekly quiz hosted by comedian Jamie Allerton. The winning team will drink for the rest of the night, but even if your general knowledge falls short, you can make use of the venue’s excellent weeknight offer and grab a margarita (the cocktail) and a margherita (the pizza) for £14.50. Just get down nice and promptly so you have time to order before the quiz starts at 7pm. 

Festive karaoke is a bit of a tradition for us lot in the Time Out office. If you’re also a fan of necking half a bottle of prosecco and belting out some Michael Bublé, you’ll love this festive edition of the phenomenon that is Massaoke, or ‘mass karaoke’. Popping up at O2 Kentish Town Forum this December, it’s offering you plenty of chances to warble along to Mariah, Wham, Slade and all your other favourite festive bangers soundtracked by a live band, and with lyrics on the screen in case you somehow don’t have every word of ‘Fairytale of New York’ etched into your brain. Christmas jumpers and festive fancy dress are of course encouraged.

There’s always something faintly Christmassy about Leadenhall Market, thanks to its Victorian architecture, and it really comes into its own when the festive season arrives, when twinkling lights and pretty Christmas trees return to the shopping arcade. In 2025, three pop-up markets offer an added incentive to visit. SoLo Craft Fair Christmas Market will happen on two Saturdays (Nov 16; Dec 7), offering handmade delights aplenty, and there's also The Vintage Furniture and Flea Christmas Market (Nov 24) for retro treasure hunters to pick up gifts with stories attached. 

This traditional fair will help you have a very Scandi Christmas with its stalls selling all sorts of festive Swedish treats, gifts, and decorations. A pop-up café in the church hall will serve open sandwiches with meatballs and cheese and the Swedes' take on mulled wine: glögg. On Sunday, join a special short service at the church ahead of the market opening. 

If you’re struggling to find the perfect, unique present for a loved one, the Christmas Independent Ceramics Market is bound to have the answer. The annual fair brings together over 150 ceramics makers, from students to established artists, all selling their distinctive wares in one space. Browse stall after stall of cups, sculptures and more and keep your eyes peeled for that special treasure. The market will make things more festive with a sound system to soundtrack your shopping, plus mulled wine and seasonal food to keep you refreshed on your search.

Hit up Urban Makers’ festive special for plenty of stocking-filler buying opportunities. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this Christmas, the market features 50 carefully curated, handpicked local and independent makers who will be manning stalls packed with homeware, textiles, accessories, jewellery, ceramics and original prints, all made with sustainability in mind. Once you’ve filled your bags tuck into festive street food, warming drinks and coffee. 

The Rivoli Ballroom’s interior is already enough to get you in the mood for Christmas, thanks to it being decked out in opulent red and gold. Imagine, then, how festive you’ll feel after watching some fantastic Xmas movies from within its four walls. This year, it’ll be once again screening some Christmas classics, from both ‘Home Alone’s to ‘Gremlins’, ‘Elf’, ‘Love Actually’ and, yes, ‘Die Hard’. Fight over whether that last one is a Christmas movie or not among yourselves – we’re going to be too busy tucking into popcorn and ice cream.

Dreaming of a kitsch Christmas? New York’s famous Miracle on Ninth Street bar is popping up in London for its seventh year, ‘50s Christmas decorations, nostalgic accessories and creative new spins on beloved cocktail favourites in tow. Past years have seen the bar slinging the likes of a Snowball Old Fashioned or a Christmapoliton, which includes cranberry sauce and absinthe mist – a take on Christmas trimmings that’s not for the faint-hearted. If you’re failing to get into the Christmas spirit, this is one great place to find it.

There's arguably nowhere in London more Christmassy than Covent Garden's Piazza in December. Every year, the shopping district aims to outdo itself for sheer festive pizzaz. In 2025, the theme is 'The Theatre of Christmas', which means that there'll be decorations taking inspiration from the nearby playhouses and the performances in them. And of course, this year will also see the return of Covent Garden's 55ft Christmas tree, decked with 30,000 lights. Meanwhile, the roof of the Market Building is adorned with 40 gigantic bells, 12 giant baubles and 8 spinning mirror balls in a reprise of its oh-so-festive annual display.

Given this market is held at the Chelsea Physic Garden, it makes sense that’s a top stop on the seasonal fair circuit for picking up some lush new plants and botanical gifts. But with over 100 stalls, there’s so much more on offer here, too, including jewellery, decorations, textiles, fancy toiletries and quirky gifts from indie designers. There’ll also be plenty of treats on offer to keep you sated while you browse, including mulled wine, hot choccies and other festive goodies.

Choosing just which grotto in London to meet Santa in can be hard, but London Zoo might just have the edge. Where else can you shake hands with the big guy and then go off and meet some of Mother Earth’s cutest creatures? This year, kids can take part in special Christmas crafts activities before they’re introduced to the man, the myth, the legend himself in his cosy grotto and receive a special gift to remember the day by. An audience with the man in red will cost extra, but the zoo’s other seasonal attractions – including a giant animal advent calendar, Christmas-themed animal talks and marshmallow toasting– will be open through to January.