Christmas Day in London 2023

Christmas Day, December 25th, 2023 is on a Monday.

If you're spending Christmas Day in London, you need to do a little planning in advance as almost everything will be closed for the day, and there will be very little transportation - there will not be a London bus service, and the tube network or overland trains will both be 'offline'. Some private bus companies will operate special services.

So although it's actually quite pleasant wandering around an empty capital city, smiling at passers by (as opposed to the normal 'ignoring' them), you do need to think about the basics such as food.  See our section on 'What's Open on Christmas Day?' below!

What's Open on Christmas Day?

Christmas is the most widely celebrated event in the British calendar, and although London is a multi-cultural melting-pot, most places will be closed. The largest exceptions are Chinatown in the heart of London, just south of Soho, as well as Southall in West London and Brick Lane in the East.

The majority of the larger hotels will be serving food and drink (note that some of the smaller ones may not so it's always wise to check ahead of time), and you'll also find many of the pubs are open for business.

All the main parks should be open, so there are plenty of places to take a walk. Our favourite is Hyde Park.

Or you can read one of our contributor's blog posts on A Different Christmas Day in London!

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The Christmas Blog

On The Twelfth Day of Christmas
An instantly recognisable line from one of the world's most popular Christmas songs, and although it is highly repetitive very few people can remember all the words.
by Mr B

see all xmas blog posts

You May Not Know

Santa is a relatively new name for the fellow who brings presents - he was previously known as Old Father Christmas, Sir Christmas, and Lord Christmas. Originally he was pictured wearing a green costume but he was re-branded at the start of the 20th Century and is now generally seen in red.