You may have noticed a Christmas tree or two popping in London recently. The capital's festive firs range from the traditional to the avant-garde, and everything in between — including the Connaught's canine caper by artist Suzy Murphy, pictured above. Kick back and have a scroll through some of London's finest Christmas trees of 2022.
St Pancras International
St Pancras station is often liberal with its interpretation of a 'Christmas tree' — previous incarnations have involved a Lancôme Eiffel Tower adorned with perfume bottles, and a mahoosive pop-up book. This year's festive centrepiece is a 33-feet-tall cityscape, made up of hand-drawn London landmarks: phone boxes, the London Eye, Big Ben... and naturally topping the confection, St Pancras itself. It may not seem patently Christmassy, but the 'tree', which is made in partnership with The Prince's Trust, is peppered with maids a-milking and lords a-leaping in a nod to its inspiration, the 1955 short film, On the Twelfth Day. Plus, all those lights through the hundreds of little windows glow with cute and cosy vibes.
Aqua Shard
As in previous years, Aqua Shard is supporting Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, with special Christmas dishes being sold to raise money for the organisation.
The Christmas tree, designed by McQueens Flowers, toes the line with the theme too, decorated with baubles that represent the hospital, including animal ornaments for the names of the different wards (Robin Ward looks after children with immunology and infectious diseases and Lion Ward which looks after children with cancer).
Battersea Power Station
New for 2022 is the Christmas tree at Battersea Power Station, which itself opened to the public as a shopping centre in October. This classic-looking tree can be found outside the southern end of the building, towering up over two levels, and making for a satisfyingly symmetrical photo opportunity between two of the power station's iconic chimneys:
Glide ice rink at Battersea
At the opposite end of Battersea Power Station, alongside the river, is Glide ice rink, which has its own Christmas tree at the centre of the skating action. It's sponsored by Jo Malone, hence the huge branded gift boxes slapped across it, and it's at its best at night, when its lights twinkle thusly:
Tower of London
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Head to Tower Green within the Tower of London to spot this 22ft Christmas tree, 'guarded' by 12 wooden Beefeater cutouts. That's not the only festive spruce in the fortress this year — a smaller one can be found near the entrance, surrounded by three lions, representing those given as a gift to King Henry III. It's part of a 12 Days of Christmas themed trail around the Tower, which also includes nine wreaths representing rowdy ravens, and five gold coins, reflecting the history of the Royal Mint at the Tower. Festive and historic? We love it.
Hampton Court Palace
As festive days out go, Hampton Court Palace is a solid bet. Its ice rink is flanked by the palace façade on one side, and the River Thames on the other, with a beautiful, traditionally lit Christmas tree right in the middle.
Hampton Court Palace is also home to light trail Palace of Light, which has its own bushy Christmas tree located within one of the courtyards.
Sheraton Grand Park Lane
The art deco interior of the Sheraton Grand Park Lane never fails to impress (the Palm Court Restaurant in particular is a marvel), and never more so than at Christmas, when a generously bedecked tree welcomes visitors through the revolving door off Piccadilly.
Gordon's Wine Bar
An email from @GordonsWineBar and I am suddenly envious of their Christmas Tree pic.twitter.com/ZdJrvWBxVo
— ianVisits (@ianvisits) November 28, 2022
Everyone's favourite 'secret-not-secret' wine bar has made use of its many empties, to wish us all a Very Merry Sherry Christmas, with this glass-terpiece of a tree. We like to think whoever came up with this idea was a smidge squiffy at the time.
Somerset House
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A staple of the London Christmas tree scene is the Somerset House offering, which towers over the open-air ice rink in the majestic courtyard each year. Its decor is dictated by whichever company happens to be sponsoring the rink — and this year that's champers brand Moët & Chandon.
A trail of giant baubles wends its way up the tree, interspersed with smaller red and gold decorations. The Moët logo sits front and centre, in prime position for advertising via the inevitable Instagram snaps. Still jolly festive though.
Science Museum
There's something of the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter about the Science Museum's Christmas tree, which you'll find in the gift shop. That's not to say we don't like it — we're huge fans of the way it's traditional, yet makes you step back and ponder for a minute. Imagine it's probably even more interesting to look at after a couple of drinks.
Kew Gardens
Light festival Christmas at Kew is an absolute joy to behold, and that includes the trail's Christmas tree, an LED installation which can be found towards the end of the route, right before the grand finale. It changes colour, showcases different patterns, and offers a 'Merry Christmas' message in a sequence lasting a couple of minutes. See it in action on this Christmas at Kew 2022 video.
Television Centre
Jewellery brand Alighieri is responsible for that 'Hand of Protection' symbol crowning the 12m-tall tree outside Television Centre in White City this year. It was created in support of charity Refuge — a matching necklace is being sold, with 15% of money raised over the festive season going to Refuge.
Alongside the tree is a QR code, which visitors can scan to learn more about Refuge's work supporting victims of domestic abuse.
Trafalgar Square
Probably London's most famous Christmas tree, the Trafalgar Square spruce is a gift from Norway each year. The lights are arranged in vertical strings in a traditional Norwegian style. It's not to everyone's taste, but it wouldn't be Christmas in London without it. The lights are looking particularly golden this year, too.
Waterloo station
A childlike glee came over us when we stepped off a train to be greeted by this sweet Haribo Christmas tree on the concourse at Waterloo station. Kids and grownups will also love the identical tree at Victoria station too. The giant Haribo sweets are a whimsical celebration of Christmas, and a special button mounted at ground level on one side adds an interactive element, causing the Goldbear at the top to sparkle and music to play when it's pressed.
The V&A Museum
This ghost-like spectacle at the V&A Museum reimagines the traditional Christmas tree as a couture gown. It's an artwork by Korean fashion designer Miss Sohee, decorated with embroidery and Swarovski crystals, inspired by religious statuary found throughout the museum. Possibly the most out-there 'tree' of 2022.
St Katharine Docks
The picturesque Dickens Inn is the backdrop for the St Katharine Docks Christmas tree this year, a traditional effort bedecked with red and gold baubles. Another, more modern-looking tree can be found in the centre of the marina area, covered in white lights with a glowing star atop, and the Christmas lights extend the festivities further, including covering a giant anchor on display alongside the marina.
Liberty
Come Christmas, the atrium at everyone's favourite mock Tudor department store Liberty sprouts some kind of enchanting plant; in 2019, for instance, it was StudioXAG's candy floss-foliaged Tree of Liberty. This time round, the tree is question is a hand-stitched, padded material effort, festooned with the various creatures and trinkets from the 12 Days of Christmas. (A popular theme for 2022, so it seems.)
Granary Square, King's Cross
The Christmas tree in Granary Square gets more outlandish each year (case in point: 2021, 2020, 2019), so much so that they're not even calling it a Christmas tree this time round, but rather a 'winter installation'.
elsewhere: a place to think about the world is a 33ft-tall structure by Berlin-based, experimental art and architecture practice, raumlabo (who clearly have something against capital letters), and consists of kaleidoscopic patterns, flags, and a pulsating red sphere, with a continuous message reading 'Learning from experiments in collective management in resources' running along the top. It aims to help us understand our place in the world. And understand this: it's not one for traditionalists.
