London at Christmas for a wander about -nothing pre-booked

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I've got my Christmas events booked and if I'm organised with my shopping ( I will be ) and cleaning ( I have A Plan) then hope to have some weekends (Sat/Sun) where DD and I can just decide on the spur of the moment to go into London.

We used to have a Tradition that we went on the 23rd (Christmas Eve Eve) if I wasn't at work . Start at Marble Arch , into John Lewis or M&S for food then wander along toward Tootenham Court Road.
It was nice to browse and surprisingly quiet .

But now , I don't want to shop there but I do fancy a wander at my snails pace . Maybe a pub lunch but happy with a sandwhich and coffee .

South Bank and Covent Garden are so busy
I did think Canary Warf - is there much there ?
Borough Market -loads of nice food stalls
Camden (not been there for years )

Any ideas? I don't want to book a cinema ot play this is more a "Why don't we go to ...."
I'd be going on the Elizabeth Line from Essex way .

My DD is 21 btw.

Somerset House to ice skate (or just enjoy a mulled wine or hot chocolate and observe)
Christmas market in Leicester Square.

Do you definitely want to do London? How about trying a new city?

Harrods food hall is always a hit and the Christmas market down the southbank.

Really interested in responses to this as my daughter and I are going to the Nutcracker in the week before Christmas and are likely to have some time for a slow wander. We always go and see the lights on Oxford/Regent/Bond Streets with the wider family so looking for some new ideas.

Carnaby Street . I love the Christmas arch there, people in coffee shops, wandering around etc. The adjoining streets are nice too for a festive feel

I love 'wandering' around London .. so much to see, just people watching, stopping for a coffee, finding quiet streets, unusual monuments, less well known parks etc.
We live rurally and spending time in a city is just so exciting and 'different'. I never book anything too mean there's so much to do without spending much money.

We always do a good mooch around F&M and look at the windows there, into Zedel's for lunch, then up to Liberty for another mooch and more windows.

Broadway Market next to London Fields? Spitalfields maybe?

Would you consider going into the national gallery/ national portrait gallery for a look around as well as seeing the lights, like the tree in Trafalgar Square? There are usually nice decorations in those galleries, as well as some stunning art, and a Christmas market just outside it. You could go to Fortnum & Mason’s afterwards (their window displays are lovely) or down to Knightsbridge for a trip to Harrods. Outdoor ice skating might be nice too.

(Just to say, you can pop in to the galleries and it’s free but there’s sometimes a queue for security etc)

Christmas at Kenwood in Highgate is lovely

Spitalfields
Somerset House
Marylebone
Granary Square

Ooh , just reading through the replies :

Yres, definately London, we can get there easily enough by train.

We went to Leicester Sq market last year when we were at the theatre

We went To Carnaby St a few years back to find the ChoccywockyDooDah shop ! I think its gone now .

No ice-skating , I would be a liability (with a wet bum )

Spitalfields looks worth investigating and Kenwood at Highgate ?

I think F&M or Harrods would be too busy and bore DD rigid , she barely copes with John Lewis !

It's just a spur of the moment "lets do this" sort of day in mid Dec

Thank y'all

Following with interest. Thanks for the thread OP!

You could also consider the kings road or Marylebone high st if you want a potter, a look at some nice shops, and a bit of food

If you actually have some shopping to do then Canary Wharf might be ok, the shops are all in malls so not lots of atmosphere but there are nice places to have a drink on the water

Also a lot round King's Cross/ coal drops yard/ granary square these days and that would be a great place for a look. There will probably be some kind of Christmas market/ stall selling mulled wine I would guess as well. And a surprising number of shops in St Pancras!

Greenwich, very pretty Christmas market.

I wonder if Battersea Power Station might be nice to look around?

There was loads at Battersea fire station last year

Power station I mean!

Coal drops yard has lots of lovely shops and various markets including food and craft. Always stuff happening there.

This is a bit of a Dickens geek-out activity, but I work near Liverpool Street and my favourite thing to do on my lunch breaks in December is my own Christmas Carol tour. The Royal Exchange is stunning and you could go to the champagne bar inside. Then you can walk up Cornhall and figure out where Scrooge's counting house would have been. There are sites that suggest where his house would be, with the descriptions of the steps and door knocker. And Leadenhall Market nearby is beautiful (and where the boy is sent to get the big turkey). It has a Rockafella-style tree under the arches.

You could walk down Cheapside to St Paul's, or up Moorgate to Broadgate where there is sometimes an ice rink and tree maze, with bars around it.

*Cornhill

Ooh @Mistressofnone that sounds amazing. I am going to steal that!

DH and I went up to London yesterday , round by Liberty's the Sotherby's .
We sat in Berkeley Square and loked at that house ( number 50 , the most haunted house in London) Then along Regent Street

Many very high end shops that deserve to be peered at in December

I like the look of the CoalDrops Yard .
And maybe Covent Garden which is always lovely