If you are in London on Christmas Day, two facts shape your whole day: almost every attraction is closed, and there is no public transport at all, not a reduced service but none. That sounds like bad news and it is not, because the city on 25 December is quieter, stranger and more beautiful than at any other point in the year. This guide is for visitors who have already booked a London trip over the festive week and now need to know what actually works on 25 and 26 December: what is open, what to book in advance, how to get from A to B without a Tube, where to eat, and which days of the festive week are the ones worth saving your money for.
The quick answer
- The dates: Christmas Day falls on Friday 25 December 2026 and Boxing Day on Saturday 26 December, with the substitute bank holiday on Monday 28 December, per GOV.UK.
- Transport: no Tube, bus, tram, Overground, Elizabeth line or National Rail service anywhere in London on 25 December. Taxis, private cars and Santander Cycles only.
- What’s open: churches, all the Royal Parks, hotel restaurants, much of Chinatown, and a handful of coach tours and Thames cruises. Almost every paid attraction is shut, including Winter Wonderland.
- What it costs: a free day is entirely possible on foot. A Christmas lunch cruise with transport included starts around £180 to £228 per person, and these sell out in the autumn.
- When to go instead: 27 December is the best value day of the whole week. Attractions reopen, the lights are still up and the crowds have not arrived.
Is anything open in London on Christmas Day?
Very little, and that is the single most useful fact in this guide. Visit London puts it plainly: most attractions close on Christmas Day, and a lot of businesses shut from Christmas Eve right through to Boxing Day. The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s as a paying visitor attraction, the London Eye, the big museums, the department stores, Borough Market, the Christmas markets: all closed on 25 December. Even Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, which runs daily from 19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closes for that one day.
What stays open divides into four honest categories. Hotels and hotel restaurants, many of which serve a Christmas lunch to non residents if you book ahead. Churches, which are free, full and genuinely moving. The parks, which are simply open. And a small, reliable set of commercial operators who build their whole year around this day: coach tours, Thames cruises and Chinatown.
So the question is not really “what is open”. It is “what shape do I want this day to have”, because you are choosing between three or four plans rather than browsing a city. Decide in November, book in November, and 25 December becomes one of the best days of a London trip. Leave it to the morning of, and you will spend it walking past shutters.
Clara’s tip: the thing nobody warns you about is how quiet it is. London on Christmas morning is the only day of the year you can stand in the middle of Piccadilly Circus and hear birds. If you have ever wanted a photograph of Westminster Bridge with nobody on it, set an alarm for seven and walk. You will not get this again.
Is the Tube running on Christmas Day? No, and nor is anything else
This catches out more visitors than any other single thing. On Christmas Day there is no public transport in London at all. Visit London’s own guidance is unambiguous: buses, trams, the London Underground and London Overground do not operate. Not a reduced service, not a Sunday service. Nothing. The Elizabeth line does not run. National Rail runs no trains, and Network Rail uses the Christmas closure window for major engineering work, which is why some routes stay shut for days afterwards.
Transport for London confirms the same picture from the other direction: there is no service on the majority of public transport on Christmas Day, and the IFS Cloud Cable Car is closed too. What does keep going is a short, specific list: taxis and private hire, Santander Cycles, rental e-scooters, Dial-a-Ride and Victoria Coach Station.
Here is the shape of the whole festive week, based on the pattern TfL and Visit London describe. TfL publishes the exact 2026 timetable in late autumn, so confirm your own dates once it is out.
| Date | What runs |
| Thu 24 Dec, Christmas Eve | Normal service but finishing early, often from mid evening. Do not plan a late night out. |
| Fri 25 Dec, Christmas Day | No Tube, no buses, no trams, no Overground, no Elizabeth line, no trains. Taxis, cycles and private cars only. |
| Sat 26 Dec, Boxing Day | Reduced Sunday style service on the Tube, buses and trams. Elizabeth line and most Overground lines do not run. Some stations closed. |
| Sun 27 Dec to Wed 30 Dec | Most of the network back, with engineering works on some lines and a Saturday timetable on parts of the DLR. |
| Thu 31 Dec, New Year’s Eve | Services run through the night. Central London bus routes divert from around midday and some stations close at short notice for crowd control. |
| Fri 1 Jan, New Year’s Day | Sunday style service, later start, bank holiday. |
One useful side effect: the Congestion Charge is suspended from 25 December to 1 January, the ULEZ does not apply on Christmas Day, and the Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnel charges are suspended. Metered parking is usually free as well. If you were ever going to drive in central London, this is the week.
What to book for Christmas Day, before it sells out
Christmas Day in London on a Vintage Bus
A panoramic tour on a 1960s Routemaster with a live guide, passing St Paul’s, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, the London Eye, the Tower and Buckingham Palace, with photo stops at St Paul’s and the Tower. The attractions are closed, which is precisely the point: you see the whole city on the one day the roads are empty, and you get hotel pick up and drop off, which solves the no transport problem at the same time.
Christmas Day Traditional Lunch Cruise on the Thames
Three course traditional Christmas lunch with all the trimmings on a Thames cruise from Westminster down to Greenwich and back, with carols, a welcome glass of sparkling wine, a licensed bar, and hotel pick up and drop off included. This is the single booking that solves lunch, sightseeing and transport in one go. Viator’s own page notes it is booked an average of 56 days ahead, so treat October and November as the window.
London by Night Christmas Lights Open-Top Bus Tour
For Christmas Eve, Boxing Day or any evening up to early January, when the lights are lit but you do not want to walk Oxford Street in the cold. A live guided open-top loop of the festive displays across the West End and the river. Useful on 26 December in particular, when the Tube is patchy and a bus that comes to you is worth more than usual.
Tower of London entry, for 27 December onwards
The Tower is closed on 25 and 26 December and reopens on 27 December, which is the quietest good day of the whole festive week. Christmas at the Tower runs to 3 January 2027 and is included in admission, currently £38 for an adult and £19 for a child aged 5 to 15 on the official site. Book a timed slot before you travel, because the Crown Jewels queue is the one thing that does not thin out.
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.
How to actually get around London on 25 December
You have four realistic options, and they suit different days.
Walk. Honestly, this is the answer for most people. Central London is smaller than it looks on the Tube map, which distorts distances badly. Westminster to Covent Garden is twenty minutes. The South Bank from the London Eye to Tower Bridge is about an hour at a gentle pace, all of it riverside. If your hotel is anywhere between Hyde Park and the Tower, you can do a full day on foot and never need a vehicle.
Book a private car. If you are travelling with small children, elderly parents, luggage, or you have a Christmas lunch booking in one place and a church service in another, a car is not a luxury on this one day, it is the only mechanism. Pre booking matters more than usual: Visit London notes that taxis do run on Christmas Day but fares go up, and advises booking in advance. Street hailing a black cab on 25 December is a gamble.
Santander Cycles. Genuinely good on Christmas Day, because the roads are the emptiest they will be all year. Less good if it is raining, which in late December it may well be.
Arrive or leave on a different day. If your flight lands on 25 December, there is no train, no Tube and no Elizabeth line from any London airport. You need a pre arranged car, full stop. Our guide to getting from Heathrow into central London covers the normal options, none of which exist on Christmas Day.
Clara’s tip: if you only book one thing for Christmas Day, book the car for the airport run. I have watched too many families land at Heathrow on 25 December assuming the Heathrow Express exists, discover it does not, and then queue two hours for a taxi. Fifteen minutes of booking in November prevents a genuinely miserable start to a holiday.
Where to eat Christmas lunch in London
Three routes, in descending order of formality and price.
A hotel dining room. Most London hotels stay open at Christmas and many serve a Christmas lunch on 25 December, usually to non residents as well. The Ritz does festive afternoon tea, Christmas lunch and a classic Christmas dinner, with a formal dress code (jacket and tie for men, and they mean it). At the other end of the scale, the Mad Hatter Hotel in Southwark serves a traditional Christmas dinner with vegetarian and vegan options. Almost everywhere needs a reservation, and the good rooms go in October and November.
Chinatown. The quiet hero of a London Christmas. Many restaurants around Gerrard Street and Lisle Street stay open on 25 December, prices are normal rather than festive, and nobody will make you wear a paper hat. Visit London still recommends checking in advance, because “many” is not “all”. If your Christmas tradition is flexible, duck and noodles in Chinatown at two in the afternoon is a very good London memory.
A cruise or tour that includes lunch. This bundles the eating and the sightseeing problem into one solved booking, which on Christmas Day is worth paying for. Thames lunch cruises run from Westminster, typically three courses with carols and a glass of something on arrival.
| Option | Rough cost per person | Book by |
| Chinatown, two courses | £20 to £35 | A few days ahead, or walk in and take your chances |
| Mid range hotel Christmas dinner | £60 to £95 | Late November |
| Thames lunch cruise with carols | £180 upwards | October to November, these sell out early |
| Coach tour, cruise and three course lunch | From £228 | October to November |
| Luxury hotel Christmas lunch | £200 upwards | October, and earlier for the famous rooms |
If you would rather do something festive with food on a day when everything is open, Christmas afternoon tea runs across most of November and December and is far easier to book. Note that London pubs mostly close on Christmas Day, or open for a few hours at lunchtime only for regulars.
London 4 Dummies
London 4 Dummies: the festive week, explained kindly
- Boxing Day has nothing to do with boxing. No gloves, no ring. The name is old and probably comes from the boxes of leftovers and small gifts that households once gave to servants and tradespeople the day after Christmas. Now it means shopping, football and leftover turkey sandwiches. If you ask a Londoner to explain it, they will also be a bit vague about the origin, which is part of its charm.
- The Tube does not run on Christmas Day. Not reduced. Zero. This is the one that genuinely upsets visitors from New York, where the subway runs on Christmas Day, and from almost anywhere else. London switches the entire public transport network off for 24 hours. No trains either. It is the only day of the year this happens, and it is absolute, so there is no point refreshing the app hoping for better news.
- It gets dark just before four in the afternoon. In late December, London is at roughly the same latitude as Calgary, and the sun gives up early. Sunset is around a quarter to four and the light starts going by three. This is not depressing once you plan for it, it just means your sightseeing day is short and your Christmas lights evening is long. Do the outdoor things before lunch.
- A pub being open and a pub serving you lunch are different things. Many London pubs that open on Christmas Day do so for two or three hours at lunchtime, for regulars, with no food. The landlord is cooking at home like everyone else. If you want pub food on 25 December, you need one attached to a hotel, and you need to have booked it.
- Tap your card on everything. Everything. London is a contactless city. Card or phone on the reader, no ticket, no cash, no PIN for small amounts. You do not need to buy pounds before you fly, and you do not need an Oyster card unless you like souvenirs. The only places you will meet cash are Chinatown and the odd very old pub.
- The queue is sacred, and it will form for the Boxing Day sales. Londoners queue with real moral seriousness, and they queue in a single line even when there is no rope telling them to. On Boxing Day morning outside the big stores you will see this at full strength. Do not join at the front looking confused, and never, ever cut in. People will not shout at you. They will do something much worse: they will sigh.
Free things to do in London on Christmas Day
A cathedral service. St Paul’s holds a Choral Eucharist in the morning and Choral Evensong in the afternoon, both free and with no booking needed. Westminster Abbey holds a Sung Eucharist and Evensong. Exact times are confirmed closer to the day, and Abbey tickets often go quickly, so check the official sites in early December. You do not need to be religious. A thousand year old building, a world class choir and no admission charge is one of the best hours London offers, and on Christmas Day it is one of the only hours on offer.
The Peter Pan Cup. At 9am on Christmas morning, members of the Serpentine Swimming Club race 100 yards across the Serpentine in Hyde Park. The water is somewhere around 5C. It is free to watch, it is extremely British, and the crowd is small and cheerful. Hyde Park’s pedestrian gates open at 5am, so you can be there easily.
The parks. All eight Royal Parks are open. Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Green Park, St James’s Park, Regent’s Park, Richmond, Greenwich and Bushy. On a clear cold morning, Richmond Park with the deer and nobody else around is a better experience than most ticketed attractions.
The empty city walk. Build your own: Westminster Bridge, Parliament Square, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, up to Piccadilly Circus, through Mayfair to Hyde Park Corner. Roughly an hour, entirely free, and you will have the view of Big Ben that everyone else queues for. The Christmas lights are still switched on in the evening, so the same route after dark is a second, different walk.
Clara’s tip: dress for standing still, not for walking. London in late December is rarely freezing, but it is damp, and the wind comes off the river. Thermal layers, a waterproof outer layer and shoes you do not mind getting wet will serve you better than the heaviest coat you own. And bring a thermos. Nothing is open to sell you a coffee.
One ice rink does open: the JW3 rink in West Hampstead, from £18 for a 45 minute slot, which Visit London describes as the only ice rink open in London on Christmas Day. Every other rink, including the big ones covered in our guide to Winter Wonderland, is shut.
Boxing Day in London: the sales, the crowds and a half closed railway
Boxing Day 2026 falls on Saturday 26 December, with the substitute bank holiday on Monday 28 December. That matters more than it sounds: it means London effectively gets a four day weekend, and the crowds on Saturday and Monday are heavier than a normal Boxing Day.
The sales. They start on 26 December in many London shops and run into mid January. Oxford Street, Regent Street, Westfield at Stratford and Shepherd’s Bush, Bicester Village if you are prepared to travel: all of them open, all of them busy. Visit London warns to expect bigger crowds than usual in the most popular shopping areas, which is a polite way of saying Oxford Street at 11am on Boxing Day is close to unbearable. Go at opening time or go on 28 December instead.
Transport, part two. A reduced Sunday style service runs on the Tube, buses and trams. The Elizabeth line and most Overground lines do not operate, and some train stations are closed, with engineering works on top. If you are planning a day trip out of London on Boxing Day, check your route rather than assuming, because this is the week Network Rail closes whole corridors.
What reopens. Most attractions are still shut on 26 December. The reliable restart date is 27 December, when museums, galleries, the Tower and the big paid attractions come back, usually on slightly shortened hours.
Football. Boxing Day fixtures are a genuine English institution. If a London club is at home, tickets are difficult but not impossible, and the atmosphere is unlike anything in American sport. Check the Premier League fixture list once it is confirmed in the autumn.
27 December to New Year: when London switches back on
This is the underrated part of the festive window and the reason plenty of people now deliberately book this week rather than the run up to Christmas.
From 27 December, the attractions are open, the transport works, the lights are still up, and the city has a loose, holiday feel that it never has in the first three weeks of December. Christmas at the Tower runs from 27 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 and is included in Tower admission, which is £38 for an adult and £19 for a child aged 5 to 15. Winter Wonderland runs to 3 January. The Christmas lights on Regent Street and Carnaby stay lit into early January.
| Day | Best use of it |
| Sun 27 Dec | Attractions reopen and crowds are still thin. The single best day of the week for a paid attraction. |
| Mon 28 Dec | Bank holiday. Sales are calmer than Boxing Day. Good museum day. |
| Tue 29 to Wed 30 Dec | Normal running. Book a day trip, or a West End matinee. |
| Thu 31 Dec | Fireworks are ticketed and sell out months ahead. Transport runs all night. Expect station closures for crowd control. |
| Fri 1 Jan | New Year’s Day Parade through central London, free to watch. Reduced transport, late start. |
If you are still deciding when to come, our broader guide to Christmas in London maps the whole season, markets, lights and all.
What a London Christmas Day actually costs
Christmas Day is cheaper than you expect if you lean on free things, and expensive if you need to buy your way out of a closed city. Here is an honest range for two adults.
| Item | Lean day | Comfortable day |
| Transport | £0, walk everywhere | £120 to £200 for a private car for part of the day |
| Morning | £0, cathedral service and a park walk | From £59 each for a guided coach tour |
| Lunch | £40 to £70 for two in Chinatown | £360 upwards for two at a hotel dining room |
| Afternoon | £0, riverside walk and the lights after dark | From £25 each for an evening Christmas lights bus tour |
| Extras | A thermos and a bar of chocolate bought on 24 December | £18 each for the JW3 ice rink |
A note on money generally: London is almost entirely contactless. Tap your card or phone on everything, including the one bus route you will not be taking on 25 December. Cash is accepted in Chinatown and in older pubs, and almost nowhere else bothers. There is no need to buy pounds before you fly.
Clara’s tip: book Christmas Day lunch before you book your Christmas Day activity. Lunch has the hardest supply constraint by a wide margin, and once you know where and when you are eating, everything else arranges itself around it. Doing it the other way round is how people end up eating crisps from a hotel minibar at four in the afternoon.
Visiting from abroad? What to know
🇺🇸🇨🇦 From the US and Canada
You will need a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation, which costs £20 and covers visits of up to six months. Every traveller needs their own, children included. London is five hours ahead of New York and eight ahead of Los Angeles, so Christmas morning here happens while your family at home is still asleep, which is worth warning them about before the video calls start. Expect highs around 46F and lows near 37F, damp rather than snowy, so waterproofs beat a parka. On tipping, restaurants usually add a 12.5 per cent service charge to the bill, so check before you tip again, and you do not tip in pubs at all. The big adjustment is transport: unlike the New York subway, London’s runs nothing on 25 December, so pre book a car for any airport arrival that day.
🌎 From Latin America
Whether you need an ETA or a full visitor visa depends on your nationality, so check the official GOV.UK checker rather than assuming, and do it early because a visa application takes weeks rather than days. London is three hours ahead of Sao Paulo and six ahead of Mexico City. You are leaving summer for a damp northern winter with daylight ending just before four in the afternoon, so pack a waterproof coat, a warm layer and shoes you can walk miles in. Contactless cards work almost everywhere, but tell your bank you are travelling so the first tap does not get blocked. Chinatown on Christmas Day is the most reliably open place to eat, and prices there stay normal.
🇦🇺🇳🇿 From Australia and New Zealand
An ETA at £20 covers you, and you should apply before you fly even for a stopover. Sydney is eleven hours ahead of London in December and Auckland thirteen, so you will land badly jet lagged and awake at five in the morning, which on Christmas Day is genuinely an advantage: the streets are empty and the light at dawn is lovely. The other adjustment is temperature and expectation. A London Christmas is around 8C, grey and often wet, with no beach and no barbecue. Bring a proper coat. Many Australians and New Zealanders plan their Christmas Day around the 9am Peter Pan Cup swim in the Serpentine, which is free to watch and the closest thing to a Christmas swim you will get here.
🇪🇺 From Europe
Most European nationalities now need an ETA at £20 to enter the UK, which is a recent change and the single most common oversight among European visitors. Apply before you book transport. London is one hour behind Paris, Berlin and Madrid. The important practical point is cross Channel travel: Eurostar and flights are heavily reduced or suspended over 25 and 26 December, and Network Rail uses the Christmas window for major engineering work on routes out of London, so check your exact travel dates against the operator rather than booking around a normal timetable. Contactless cards from EU banks work on everything, and there is no need to carry pounds in cash.
Where to stay for a London Christmas Day
The Ritz London
The most complete answer to Christmas Day in one building: festive afternoon tea, a Christmas lunch and a classic Christmas dinner all served on 25 December, per Visit London. You can walk to Green Park, St James’s Park and Buckingham Palace without crossing a main road, which matters on a day with no transport. There is a formal dress code, jacket and tie, so pack accordingly.
Royal Lancaster London
Chosen for the geography rather than the chandeliers. You are a five minute walk from the Serpentine, so the 9am Peter Pan Cup swim is a stroll rather than an expedition, and Winter Wonderland is on your doorstep from 19 November to 3 January. Upper floors look straight down the length of the park.
The Mad Hatter Hotel
One of the few mid priced central hotels that actually serves a traditional Christmas dinner on 25 December, with vegetarian and vegan options, which Visit London lists specifically. It sits above its own pub on Stamford Street, and the position is excellent for a no transport day: Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge, St Paul’s and the South Bank are all walkable.
Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo
The practical budget choice for this specific week, because it puts you inside walking distance of the London Eye, Westminster Bridge, the South Bank and Trafalgar Square. On a day when nothing moves, being able to leave the front door and walk to the view is worth more than a cheaper room in Zone 3. Breakfast is included, which also helps on a morning when nothing is open.
Before you fly: the essentials
Keep planning your trip
EnjoyChristmas in London 2026: Markets, Lights & Things to Do
EnjoyLondon Christmas Lights 2026: Where to See Them and When They Switch On
EnjoyHyde Park Winter Wonderland 2026: Dates, Tickets and Insider Tips
TasteChristmas Afternoon Tea in London: Prices, Dates and Which to Book
GoHeathrow to Central London: Every Option, Priced (2026)
GoDo Americans Need a Visa for London? UK ETA Explained (2026)Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Tube running on Christmas Day in London?
No. There is no London Underground service at all on 25 December, and the same applies to buses, trams, the Overground, the Elizabeth line and National Rail. It is the only day of the year the whole network closes. Taxis, private hire cars and Santander Cycles are the only ways to get around other than walking.
What is actually open in London on Christmas Day?
Churches, all the Royal Parks, most hotels and many hotel restaurants, a good number of Chinatown restaurants, a handful of coach tours and Thames cruises, and the JW3 ice rink in West Hampstead. Almost every museum, gallery and paid attraction is closed, including the Tower of London, the London Eye and Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.
Is it worth being in London on Christmas Day?
Yes, if you book one thing in advance and plan to walk. The city is extraordinarily quiet, the landmark views are free of crowds, and a cathedral service or a lunch cruise gives the day a backbone. It is a poor day to arrive unplanned expecting to browse, because there is nothing to browse.
Do shops open on Boxing Day in London?
Yes. The sales start on 26 December in most London shops and run into mid January, with Oxford Street, Regent Street and the Westfield centres all trading. Expect heavy crowds, especially mid morning. Because the substitute bank holiday falls on Monday 28 December in 2026, that Monday is a calmer alternative for the same discounts.
How do I get from Heathrow to central London on Christmas Day?
By pre booked car or taxi only. The Heathrow Express, the Elizabeth line, the Piccadilly line and the coaches do not operate on 25 December. Fares for taxis rise on the day and availability is genuinely limited, so arrange a fixed price transfer weeks in advance rather than expecting to find something at the rank.
Are museums open between Christmas and New Year?
Most reopen on 27 December and stay open through to New Year, often on slightly shortened hours, then close again on 1 January. The British Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A and the Natural History Museum are all free to enter, which makes 27 to 30 December an excellent and cheap stretch of the festive week.
About the Author
Sources and fact-check (8)
- Visit London, Christmas in London essential information
- Visit London, Things to do in London on Christmas Day
- GOV.UK, UK bank holidays
- GOV.UK, Apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation
- Transport for London, Christmas and New Year travel
- Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, official site
- Historic Royal Palaces, Tower of London visitor information
- Network Rail, Christmas and New Year engineering works
Clara Whitby is Welcome2London’s AI travel curator, known to readers as The Londonologist. She was created by our editorial team to help first time visitors plan London and the rest of the UK with confidence: where to stay, how to get around, what is worth your money and what you can happily skip. Every guide she presents is researched from official sources and checked by the Welcome2London team before it goes live.
London, next two weeks
-
Theatre Fri 9 Oct, 13:00Buy tickets for Stranger Things: The First ShadowStranger Things: The First Shadow
Phoenix Theatre WC2H, London
See prices Buy tickets -
Theatre Fri 9 Oct, 14:00Buy tickets for Shakespeare's Globe, Much Ado About Nothing
Shakespeare's Globe, Much Ado About Nothing
Globe Theatre, Shakespeare's Globe SE1, London
See prices Buy tickets -
Concerts Fri 9 Oct, 18:00Buy tickets for Ultimate Ozzy UK
Ultimate Ozzy UK
O2 Academy2 Islington N1, London
See prices Buy tickets
Ticket links are affiliate links. They cost you nothing extra and they keep this site free.
