Halloween in London: What Time It Gets Dark and How to Get Home

Halloween in London has a practical problem that almost nobody writes about: it is dark astonishingly early, and the journey home is harder than the night out. The UK clocks always go back on the last Sunday of October, so by 31 October the sun sets at about 16:37, more than an hour earlier than it did a week before. And whether you can ride the Tube home at 2am depends entirely on which day of the week Halloween lands on. This guide covers the timing and the transport, the parts that stay true every year, and keeps the handful of facts that change each October in one marked box near the end, so you can see at a glance what applies to this year.

What time does it get dark on Halloween in London?

The sun sets at about 16:37 on 31 October in central London, and the sky is properly dark, past what astronomers call civil twilight, by about 17:10. Those two numbers barely move from one year to the next, because they depend on the calendar date, not the day of the week, and because Halloween is always on Greenwich Mean Time. The law puts the end of British Summer Time on the last Sunday of October, which can only fall between 25 and 31 October. So the clocks have always gone back by Halloween, sometimes six days earlier, sometimes that very morning.

Here is how the evening light changes across the clock change, computed for central London. The times drift by a minute or so between years, so treat them as reliable to within a couple of minutes, which is all you need for planning.

Read the table as a planning tool. Anything that needs daylight, a cemetery walk, a pumpkin patch outside the city, photographs of the river, has to be finished by about half past four. Anything that wants darkness, a ghost walk or a lantern trail, can start at half past five and will feel like the middle of the night.

Which Halloween night experiences can you book ahead?

If you want something organised for the evening, these three are bookable as exact tickets and each one finishes somewhere with a straightforward journey home. Each was chosen for where it starts, how long it lasts and its cancellation terms, because a non refundable ticket on a night of unpredictable transport is a real risk.

Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you book, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend.

For more choice, including river cruises and bus tours that run all year, see our guide to night tours in London.

Does the Night Tube run on Halloween?

It depends on the day of the week, and that is the single most important fact for planning the night. The Night Tube runs on Friday and Saturday nights only. When Halloween falls on a Friday or a Saturday, trains run through the night on the night lines, less often than in the daytime. When it falls on any other night, the Underground closes at about the usual time, which is shortly after midnight on most lines, and your options after that are night buses, taxis and minicabs.

Because the date is fixed and the weekday moves, you can work out the answer for any year in advance. The calendar below is permanent, so it will still be right long after this page was written.

The pattern behind the table matters for midweek years. When Halloween is a weeknight, most of the big organised events, the parties, club nights and adult only takeovers, move to the nearest Friday or Saturday, which is exactly when the Night Tube runs. So in a Tuesday year, the night that really needs a plan is often the Saturday before, not the 31st itself.

Which lines run all night, and where do the branches stop?

Six lines run through the night on Fridays and Saturdays: five Underground lines and one Overground line. The trap is that several of them do not run on every branch at night, so a station that is on the line in the daytime can be off the night map. This is the current night network as shown on TfL’s own Night Tube and London Overground map.

Two branch traps cause most stranded journeys. First, the Northern line: near London Bridge, Borough, Bank, Moorgate or Old Street, the line you rode by day does not run at night, so walk to the Charing Cross branch or take a night bus. Second, the Piccadilly line to Heathrow: it reaches Terminals 2, 3 and 5 at night, useful for a very early flight, but not Terminal 4, and night trains are less frequent, so allow time. Our guide to getting between London’s stations, airports and hotels has the daytime connections if you are planning an onward journey.

What stops running at night, even on Night Tube nights?

This is the list to read twice, because these are the services people assume will be there at 1am and are not. Even on a Friday or Saturday, the following stop at the end of the evening, typically between about half past eleven and half past midnight, and do not run again until the morning:

• The Elizabeth line, the whole line, including the central section from Paddington to Liverpool Street and Abbey Wood, and the Heathrow branch.
• The DLR, so Canary Wharf, Greenwich, the Royal Docks and London City Airport have no rail link after the last train. The Jubilee line runs through Canary Wharf and North Greenwich at night, which is the usual way round.
• The Bakerloo, Circle, District, Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan and Waterloo and City lines, all of them, on every branch.
• Every London Overground line except the Windrush section between Highbury and Islington and New Cross Gate. The Liberty, Lioness, Mildmay, Suffragette and Weaver lines all stop.
• Trams in south London, and National Rail trains out of the London terminals, which matters if you are staying outside the city, in Brighton, Reading, Cambridge or the commuter towns. Check your last train before you go out.

So if your hotel is served only by the Elizabeth line, the DLR or the District, decide before you go out whether you will be on the last train, a night bus or in a car.

How do night buses work, and what do they cost?

Night buses are the real backbone of London at night, and unlike the Night Tube they run every night of the week. Routes with an N in front of the number, such as the N29, run only at night, roughly from midnight to five in the morning. Some ordinary day routes also run around the clock, so the number you used in the afternoon may still be running at 3am. The timetable at each stop, and TfL’s journey planner and the TfL Go app, show which is which.

Central London is organised around a few hubs, and the biggest by far is Trafalgar Square. Counted from TfL’s own route data, roughly a third of all N routes start or finish at Trafalgar Square, Whitehall or Charing Cross, and a further group runs from Oxford Circus, Aldwych and New Oxford Street. If you remember one thing, remember that most night journeys in central London begin within a few minutes’ walk of Nelson’s Column.

Paying is the same as in the daytime, and it is cheaper than people expect:

• Buses do not take cash. Tap a contactless bank card, a phone or watch, or an Oyster card on the yellow reader as you board.
• The Hopper fare gives you unlimited bus and tram journeys started within one hour of your first tap, for a single bus fare. Change buses as often as you need to inside that hour and you pay once.
• The daily bus cap means that however many buses you take in a day, you never pay more than three bus fares. Night journeys made before 04:30 count towards the previous day’s cap.
• Use the same card or device every time. Caps and the Hopper only work when TfL can see that it is the same card. Switching between a phone and the physical card in the same wallet counts as two different payers.

The current fare amounts are in the dated box further down, because they change every year or two.

Can you wear a costume or a mask on the Tube and buses?

Yes. Nothing stops you travelling in costume, and on Halloween you will be in good company. Two rules are worth knowing, plus a few practical points.

The first is about faces. TfL’s Conditions of Carriage, the rules that apply to every Tube, bus, Overground, Elizabeth line, DLR and tram journey, say that if you wear a face covering you must remove it if asked to do so by police officers or staff for the purposes of identification. A full mask is fine on the platform. Push it up whenever you deal with staff or need help.

The second is about props, and it is the one that really matters. Under section 19 of the Firearms Act 1968 it is an offence to have an imitation firearm with you in a public place without lawful authority or a reasonable excuse, and the law treats as an imitation anything that has the appearance of being a firearm. Police in London have to treat a gun that looks real as real until they know otherwise. A plastic pistol in a costume belt on a crowded platform can bring an armed police response and a closed station. The same common sense applies to realistic knives, machetes and swords. We could not find specific Halloween wording on TfL’s or the Metropolitan Police’s own sites, so what follows is practical advice rather than an official rule:

• Leave replica guns at home. If the costume needs one, choose something that is obviously a toy from a distance, brightly coloured, or skip it.
• Keep blades soft and bagged. A foam or rubber prop carried in a bag until you arrive is fine. A rigid realistic blade on show is not worth the trouble.
• Be visible on the walk home. Dark costumes plus dark streets plus traffic is a real risk, especially with children. A small light, a reflective band or a glow stick costs nothing.

If you see something that worries you on the Underground or the Overground, the British Transport Police take reports by text on 61016, and in an emergency you call 999. Every bus and station also has staff and help points.

What closes early or goes ticket only on Halloween night?

The specific list changes every year, but the pattern does not, and knowing the pattern is more useful than any one year’s listings. Expect these things to happen on Halloween itself, and on the Friday or Saturday nearest to it when the 31st is a weeknight:

• Bars and clubs go ticket only. Many venues that are free to walk into on a normal Saturday run a themed night with advance tickets, a door charge, or a dress code that says costume required. Turning up at 23:00 without a ticket often means a queue for a venue that is already full.
• Family attractions close at their normal time, which is early. Museums, zoos and most day attractions close between 17:00 and 18:00 at this time of year, and late opening events, where they exist, are separately ticketed and sell out first.
• Many green spaces close at dusk. Plenty of smaller parks, gardens, churchyards and cemeteries lock their gates at or around sunset, which on Halloween means before five, and even the big Royal Parks each keep their own closing times. Check the closing time of anywhere you plan to walk.
• Taxis and minicabs get scarce and dear. Between about 23:00 and 02:00 the apps show surge pricing and long waits in the West End, Shoreditch and Camden. That is the hour to have a plan rather than a hope.

Do people trick or treat in London?

They do, though it is a smaller and gentler thing than in the United States or Canada. Children in costume going door to door with an adult is a normal sight on 31 October, but it happens in particular kinds of places and follows quiet rules visitors cannot be expected to know.

It happens on residential streets of houses with front doors on the street: the terraces and semi detached roads of the inner and outer boroughs, the suburbs, the streets around primary schools. It does not really happen in the West End, in the City, in mansion blocks or in modern blocks of flats, where there is no doorstep to knock on and a concierge between the street and the doors. If you are staying in a central hotel, you will see costumes on the Tube but not much trick or treating outside.

The convention is the pumpkin. A lit pumpkin, a decorated door or a bowl of sweets in the window means you are welcome to knock. No pumpkin and no decorations means the household would rather not, and you walk on. If a household has put up a notice asking callers not to knock, respect it. Say thank you, take one sweet rather than a handful, and do not knock at houses with their lights off.

What time should children trick or treat in London?

Earlier than you think. With sunset at about 16:37 and full darkness by about 17:10, the natural window for small children is roughly 16:30 to 18:30, starting in the last of the light and finishing before the evening gets cold, which in late October usually means single figures Celsius. Older children with an adult often carry on to about 19:30. After that, households start putting the sweets away and turning the porch lights off, and knocking becomes unwelcome.

Three things make it easier with young children in London. Wear something warm and waterproof under the costume, because rain on Halloween is more likely than not and a soaked costume ends the evening fast. Carry a light, both for safety at kerbs and because many London streets are lit mainly by the houses themselves. And plan the journey home before you set out, because buses are busy at the end of the school run and a pushchair, a tired child and a bag of sweets on a crowded bus at six is nobody’s idea of fun. If you are visiting with children, our guide to things to do in London with kids has daytime ideas for the rest of the trip.

How do you get home after 22:00 with children or a group?

This is where Halloween plans most often fall apart, and it is worth being honest about the options. After about 22:00 the Tube is still running, but trains and platforms are at their most crowded with people in costume, and on a weeknight the last trains leave around midnight. After midnight, on a Friday or Saturday, you have the Night Tube on six lines and night buses everywhere. On any other night, you have night buses, taxis and minicabs.

Near a Night Tube station, public transport is the easy answer for a couple or a few adults: cheap, staffed and running. It gets harder with small children asleep by nine, with a group of five or more who want to stay together, when your hotel is somewhere the night network does not reach, and when you are heading out of London, where the last train is the end of the road.

For those cases, decide before you go out:

• Black cabs take five or six passengers depending on the model, are all wheelchair accessible, and can be hailed when the orange light is on or found at ranks, including at many Night Tube stations. They are metered and dear late at night, but they are the only cars you can legally hail.
• Minicabs must be booked, through a licensed operator by app, phone or in person. TfL is blunt about this: unbooked minicabs are illegal and uninsured, and a car that approaches you is unbooked even if it has a licence sticker. Your booking confirmation should show the number plate, the driver’s first name, their licence number and a photo. If the car that arrives does not match, do not get in.
• Agree a meeting point and a leaving time with your group before the evening starts, and keep phones charged. At midnight in Leicester Square, with half the group in masks, finding each other is harder than it sounds.
• For a family or a group that wants one car, booked in advance at a fixed price, a pre booked private driver is the calm option. If that is your situation, our sister company Chauffeurz can book a car for the end of the evening, waiting outside the venue at the time you choose, so nobody stands on a cold pavement refreshing a taxi app at 23:30.

What changes every year, and what applies to this Halloween?

Visiting from abroad? What to know about Halloween in London

Where should you stay if you want to walk home on Halloween?

The single best piece of Halloween transport planning is choosing a hotel near a Night Tube station or a night bus hub. These three are all within a short walk of Trafalgar Square or Waterloo, where night buses and two Night Tube lines meet, so the journey home on a Friday or Saturday Halloween is a walk or a single train.

Before you fly: the essentials

Keep planning your trip

EnjoyBonfire Night in London: The Best Fireworks Displays and How to See ThemSee14 Fun Night Tours in LondonGoHow to Get Between London’s Train Stations, Airports and HotelsEnjoyLondon After Dark: Things to Do at NightSeeThings to Do in London with Kids

Five days later comes the other big dark evening of the autumn: our guide to Bonfire Night in London covers the fireworks and getting there and back.

Frequently Asked Questions

What time does it get dark on Halloween in London?

The sun sets at about 16:37 on 31 October and it is properly dark, past civil twilight, by about 17:10. Halloween always falls on Greenwich Mean Time, because the clocks go back on the last Sunday of October, so a week earlier the sun sets more than an hour later, at about 17:51 British Summer Time on 24 October.

Does the Night Tube run on Halloween?

Only when 31 October falls on a Friday or a Saturday, because the Night Tube runs on Friday and Saturday nights only. It covers the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines, plus the Windrush line of the London Overground between Highbury and Islington and New Cross Gate. On other nights, night buses take over after the last Tube.

Which London lines do not run all night?

The Elizabeth line, the DLR, the Bakerloo, Circle, District, Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan and Waterloo and City lines, the trams and most of the London Overground. The night lines also skip branches: the Northern line runs via Charing Cross only, with no Bank branch, and the Piccadilly line does not reach Uxbridge or Heathrow Terminal 4.

How much is a night bus in London?

A night bus costs the same as a day bus: one adult pay as you go Hopper fare covers unlimited bus and tram journeys started within an hour of your first tap, and a daily bus cap stops you paying more however many buses you take. Buses do not take cash, so pay with a contactless card, a phone or an Oyster card, and use the same one every time.

Can you wear a mask on the London Underground?

Yes, a costume mask or face paint is fine, but TfL’s Conditions of Carriage say that if you wear a face covering you must remove it if police officers or staff ask you to, for identification. Keep anything that looks like a weapon at home, because carrying an imitation firearm in a public place without a reasonable excuse is an offence under the Firearms Act 1968.

Is trick or treating popular in London?

It happens, but on a smaller and earlier scale than in North America. It is mostly children with an adult, on residential streets of houses rather than blocks of flats or the West End, and mostly between about 16:30 and 19:00. The convention is that a lit pumpkin or a decorated door means you are welcome to knock, and no pumpkin means please do not.

About the Author