Want to feel christmassy and have 1 day in London..

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Where to go? Adults not kids. Love shopping. Want somewhere lots of fairy lights and lovely things to see. Dinner too would be good, thats probably 2 places. London anywhere.

Can anyone recommend?

Marylebone High St is lovely at Christmas and a short stroll from Selfridges with great shops.

The Wallace Collection (small gallery, free) is nearby and does lovely coffee and cakes. Otherwise Soho is probably your best bet for food. Lots of independents and good priced restaurants.

Bar Kroketa in carnaby st is fab for food.

I love Marylebone High St. Feels like proper old London. Baker St tube, wander along there - nice cafes - and then through St Christopher’s Place and South M St. Claridges are usually happy to let you sit and have a cup of tea. It’s a few pounds, comes with biscuits, and is just lovely. Great tree, fab loos, fun people watching. Then you can walk down Bond St and past Fortnum’s.

Ice skating at Battersea park!

Definitely Fortnums, some Christmas markets (south bank has one as well as free entertainment and you can photo op next to London Eye and Houses of Parliament, go over the bridge to Embankment, stop for drink in one of the Christmassy pubs then walk up to the Strand which has great lights, Covent Garden is really close and then finish up in Oxford street which is a must. Of course at that point you might take a quick look at Regents street, Soho or go to visit Piccadilly and Leicester Square. Will it be busy? Yes, but there is room to walk and take in the beautiful architecture, statues, lights snd excitement. Usually a few Rickshaws drive past blasting music with loads of people partying and lights beaming. Honestly, for Christmassy atmosphere it can't be beaten.

Liberty’s. You really have to.

A tip from my newly graduated days, if you want glamour but not afternoon tea prices, go to the Wolseley and get one cream tea and one cup of tea between you (enough for a scone each). Otherwise, go into a lovely hotel - Claridge's is my favourite and get one overpriced glass of wine each (about £15) - you'll still get the lovely service and bar snacks and most of all get to soak up to gorgeous decor. Lunch - Balthazar has gorgeous decorations and if you order carefully doesn't need to be crazy.

Bad news Ginger, the days of strolling into places are long gone. I booked up an expensive ish tea at similar place- in October is was booked well past Christmas. I had a look at a few of the places mentioned on yoyr list and it is hard to get a prime time unless you book ahead.

I completely disagree - I went for champagne at Claridge's last week without a reservation - the Fumoir doesn't take reservations and I've never had to wait for more than 20 mins for a table and the Painter's Bar usually has walk in tables available too. The front room at the Wolseley on Piccadilly doesn't take reservations either, neither does the bar at the Delauney. You just need to know exactly where to try. There are loads of similar places. I agree that, for example, afternoon tea at the Ritz or Claridge's in December gets booked up about 6 months in advance but that's also super expensive and there are great options for just a drink or a tea and cake.

Has Marylebone High Street recovered from the many post-Covid shop closures yet? I was there about six months ago and there were a lot of empty shops and it was looking very sad. I would give it a swerve. Ditto the Christmas tree at St Pancras, unless you are coming into that station. It’s not worth a diversion.

I agree you will probably have to book if you want a posh cream tea anywhere. London is heaving from now on. Also, what is the point of going somewhere really nice and then having to share a scone? The whole point is the extravagance, surely?

I'm a defected Londoner, who moved up north 30 years ago. I was in London for a mtg yesterday and I had a lovely walk up from Victoria St, Parliament Sq, along Whitehall through Trafalgar Sq, Covent Garden and Bloomsbury back to King's Cross in the afternoon. Christmas decorations are going up and it warmed the cockles of my "bah humbug" heart. Covent Garden is always lovely at Christmas.

Hi this is great info. Actually nowhere as glamourous as those mentioned, it's somewhere very, very old.

If you’re passing through kings cross/st Pancras, Kings cross has a lovely Harry Potter themed tree near platform 9 3/4 and st Pancras has a stunning “book” tree, with listening point seating at the bottom

I would do regents street and carnaby street for the lights, liberty London is my favourite department store. Depending on your budget the Ned London is my favourite for christmassy feel, they always have a beautiful giant Christmas tree and often live music. Otherwise the Ritz always has a nice Xmas tree but make sure you’re wearing the dress code (no jeans)

You can get into Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park for free during the day. You book your entry slot online and can stay as long as you'd like.

Unlike the enormously expensive shops nearby, I managed to get two absolutely beautiful hand carved and painted Christmas tree ornaments for a fiver (or £3 each if you only want one) and bought my Mum an authentic Alpaca Wool Christmas Jumper for £40!

Wouldn't recommend eating there but if you take a bus down Oxford Street from the Marble Arch entrance (Gold Entrance) you see all the Christmas lights and can disembark at either Oxford Circus for Liberty or carry on into Soho where there's a beautiful cake shop just up from Tottenham Court Road Elizabeth Line Station. They do the most beautiful cakes, pieces of art really, I felt guilty ruining them by eating them.

I'm gutted to say my trip is off. An unexpected bill for something i can't avoid has came up today. It can't be helped. But thank you everyone who helped me. Maybe next year I'll be able to go.

Aww I’m going with my 8 year old soon! Just me & him, bonding day 🥰 we’re doing:

• The Snowman at the theatre
• Covent Garden
• Leicester Square Christmas market
• Walk round the Regents street area
• Harrods (we did Hamleys in the summer so not too bothered about going again this time)

Aww OP just saw your message! What a shame! Maybe treat yourself to a new year visit instead 😁

Thanks for this thread, gave me some lovely ideas for a day in London.

Does anyone know if the snow in Covent garden goes off on the hour? Thanks

The snow does go off on the hour. When we were there it was from a building just behind the Christmas tree but someone mentioned to me that it does appear from different places all near the tree. I should say that we nearly missed it because it was so busy and the spray of snow was disproportionate to the huge crowd of people!