Want to cram in as much festive stuff in central London as you physically can?
We've put together this self-guided walking route around the best of central London's Christmas 2025 lights, trees decorations and displays. It's not a comprehensive list (that'd be nigh-on impossible) but it packs a heck of a lot of festivities into a route of around two hours (depending on your walking speed, number of pitstops and how long you pause at each stop for photos).
You don't need to do it all — start and stop where you like, cover just one section, skip stops or split it into multiple sections to cover over multiple evenings. This map shows you where each stop is, to help you plan your time:
Don't forget to factor in food, drink and toilet breaks along the way. Oh, and we always find that Christmas lights are best enjoyed with a hot chocolate in hand. After dark is the optimum time to embark on the walk, as many of its components consist of lights and illuminations.
1. Trafalgar Square Christmas tree
Start your tour at the official centre of London, in Trafalgar Square. The Norwegian Spruce Christmas tree which graces the square every year is its most famous festive landmark (lights switched on from 4 December 2025), but the square also hosts a Christmas market, spilling over from Leicester Square (more on which later) with wooden cabins lining the top terrace outside the National Gallery, and an overwhelming whiff of mulled wine pervading the area at all hours.
From Trafalgar Square, walk four minutes east along to Pall Mall to the bottom of Waterloo Place, where you'll find the...
2. St James's Christmas tree
...on Waterloo Place. For our money, one of the prettiest and best-dressed trees. Standing in the open air, it's free for anyone to marvel at. Quite often Santa's there too, willing to star in your festive snaps. Just mind yourself getting there, as it's on something of an island in the middle of busy lanes of traffic. From here, look up and you'll see the...
3. Regent Street Christmas lights
The 'Spirit of Christmas' angels stretch all the way down Regent Street St James's — which is significantly less busy than Regent Street itself. If you've time, take a brief diversion down Carlton Street and look left at the end to get a glimpse of the St James's Wishing Tree:
Then return to Regent Street St James's and walk five minutes up to Piccadilly Circus if you want to catch the iconic view of the angels swooshing above the curve of Regent Street. From here it's another five-minute walk to Fortnum & Mason.
Alternatively, if you aren't bothered about seeing Regent Street proper, or you want a quieter route, turn left off Lower Regent Street by Tesco and wander four minutes along Jermyn Street, one street back from Piccadilly, where many of the businesses often have their own impressive festive displays. Turn right along Duke Street and where it meets Piccadilly, you'll find...
4. Fortnum & Mason at Christmas
Department store Fortnum & Mason turns its facade into a huge advent calendar, with numbers on each of the upstairs windows. Take the time to look at the street-level windows too: there's a "Fantastical Christmas" theme this year, which includes, among other things, a narwhal. But of course. Sadly there doesn't seem to be an installation within the central atrium inside the store this year. Bring back the dancing puds!
Cross Piccadilly outside Fortnum & Mason (the best views of the advent windows can be had from across the road outside the Royal Academy anyway). Wander a couple of minutes west along Piccadilly, remembering to peep into the Burlington and Piccadilly Arcades, before turning right onto Old Bond Street for the...
5. Bond Street Christmas lights and windows
Crowns and jewels adorn the skies over Bond Street for Christmas 2025. But as well as looking up, remember to look left and right, as several of the high-end stores in the area go all out with their Christmas displays. Ralph Lauren and Cartier are among the best dressed this year, and the wide pavement area outside Ralph Lauren, home to the store's own Christmas tree, has become something of a photographer/influencer hotspot. A little further along, the Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Dior decorations make the corner of New Bond Street and Clifford Street very popular too.
It gets VERY busy in this part of town in the evening, so watch out for traffic and keep hold of your possessions, and anything else you don't want to lose (your children, perhaps).
Stick with Old Bond Street and New Bond Street as far as Bruton Street, then turn left and walk five minutes to....
6. Annabel's in Berkeley Square
The private members' club ups the ante each year with its external festive facade. For 2025, it's The Wardrobe: A World of Wonder, which transforms the building's entrance into an ornate wardrobe, with doors opening to reveal a winter scene of snow-dusted trees and shimmering icicles, and a lion standing at the centre.
From here, it's an eight-minute meander up to Oxford Street. You can either go directly up Davies Street, emerging onto Oxford Street at Bond Street station, or wander along Mount Street - Carlos Place - Grosvenor Square - Duke Street to catch a glimpse of the Connaught's 2025 Christmas tree. If you choose this route, note that the Ever After Garden, which used to be in Grosvenor Square, has relocated to Chelsea for 2025.
7. Oxford Street Christmas lights
A festive staple in the capital, the Oxford Street Christmas lights once again take the form of thousands of stars curtaining the street from above, which can be seen the length of the thoroughfare. Fancy getting a closer look? See them from a double decker bus. Otherwise, move on to the...
8. Selfridges Disney Christmas windows
There's a Disney theme at Selfridges this Christmas, most evident in the whomping great fairytale "Castle in the Clouds" stuck on the corner of the building (Oxford Street/Duke Street corner). It's visible all day, but at night, Tinkerbell lights it up with pixie dust in a light display (every 15 minutes between 5pm-9pm, starting at 5, 20, 35 and 50 minutes past the hour).
Take time to view the windows too: each one has a charming Disney scene, featuring the likes of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, and Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast. Inside, head to the main escalator atrium to see a dazzlement of Mickey Mouse shaped disco balls, and a "confetti spectacular" at set times on 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 December.
Head east about 10 minutes along Oxford Street (could take longer, depending how crowded it is) to reach...
9. Oxford Circus for the Regent Street lights
Oxford Circus is a prime spot for clocking both the Regent Street and Oxford Street Christmas lights intersecting, though it's also often chaotic, so snap a photo quickly and head east along Oxford Street then immediately right down Argyll Street for a three-minute walk to...
10. Liberty London at Christmas
The beautiful building — made from the timber of two ships, don'tcha know — is ogle-worthy any time of year, but comes into its own during the festive season, when light-bedecked Christmas trees classily line its exterior.
Pop just behind the building for the...
11. Carnaby Christmas lights
'All is Bright' is the theme of the 2025 Carnaby Christmas lights, which uses colourful light blocks to create Christmas crackers above the pedestrianised shopping street. Cleverly, they've used the same physical materials as last year, but reconfigured them differently to create a fresh look. Expect to see several different arrangements of these blocky illuminations over the coming years.
Pop your head into Kingly Court to view the light cascades over the balconies.
From here, the longest section of the walk takes you to Leicester Square in about 12 minutes. Multiple routes are possible but we recommend going via Brewer Street and the surrounding area for the...
12. Soho Christmas lights (from 19 November)
A far cry from the world-class design teams responsible for some of the West End's other lights, the Soho Christmas lights have once again been designed by children from the local primary school... and they're all the better for it. They prove the rule that you can stick a Santa hat on anything to make it Christmassy, including pineapples and sea creatures.
13. Christmas in Leicester Square
New for 2025, Leicester Square has an ice rink. Centred around the statue of Shakespeare in the middle of the Square, it's open 10am-10pm most days. Surrounding it is a small Christmas market with wooden chalets selling food, drink and Christmas decorations. Note that there is often a queue to enter the market area on busy days (think weekend evenings) as it operates on a one-in, one-out basis when it reaches capacity.
From Leicester Square, head seven minutes across Charing Cross Road and along Cranbourn Street. When you reach the big junction, eyes to the right to see the St Martin's Lane Christmas lights, before you turn left and head up Monmouth Street to...
14. Seven Dials Christmas lights
This year, the pillar at the centre where seven roads meet is covered in a canopy of warm white lights.
From here, it's an eight-minute walk to Covent Garden Market. We recommend heading down Mercer Street, Shelton Street and Langley Street to get a look at the Guinness-themed Christmas tree outside the new Guinness Open Gate Brewery:
Then continue down Long Acre and James Street to...
15. Covent Garden Christmas tree and decorations
The oversized golden bells are back in Covent Garden Market Hall for Christmas 2025, along with giant red baubles. At the western end of the building, overlooking the Piazza, you'll find a mini forest of Christmas trees surrounding Santa and a reindeer made from Lego. Snap a festive photo, then turn around to see the towering Christmas tree in the Piazza.
Wander east out of the Piazza, down Russell Street then Wellington Street for the 10 minute walk to the...
16. Somerset House ice rink
The final stop on our route is Skate at Somerset House, an ice rink set alongside a towering Christmas tree in the Somerset House courtyard. Not a skater? No problem — the Clubhouse alongside the rink serves up refreshments, or you can book in for dinner at the alpine-inspired restaurant The Chalet.
From here, you can head along Strand — with the 'fairy' Christmas lights overhead — and back to the starting point of Trafalgar Square. Alternatively, if you've got any energy left, you can cross Waterloo Bridge to South Bank, where the Southbank Centre Winter Market is in full swing, its wooden cabins selling food, drink and gifts along the river side. The free Winter Light festival is also on, with illuminated sculptures dotted around the outside of the building.
Another option is to walk 15 minutes east of Somerset House and hunt out the free Snoopy sculpture trail, with a dozen sculptures spread about the Fleet Street area.
All photos by Londonist unless otherwise stated.
