Burlington Arcade Christmas: The Twelve Days Decorations and Shop Windows

Ina

2 days ago

6 min read

A man in a black cape and top hat stands beside a brass post, on a pink carpet printed with the arcade's name. That is where Burlington Arcade Christmas starts, before you have seen a single decoration.

Burlington Arcade is a covered Regency shopping street in Mayfair, running from Piccadilly to Burlington Gardens. It opened in 1819. Every November it puts up a Christmas scheme, and it has little to do with strings of white lights.

This page covers the 2025 scheme, the beadles at the gate and the shop windows I stopped at. For the streets around it, my guide to Christmas in Mayfair has the rest. The arcade is free to walk through, and half an hour is enough to see it.

The entrance canopy of Burlington Arcade topped with a row of lit Christmas trees, a burgundy banner hanging to the left and a black taxi in the foreground

Above the entrance canopy, a row of fir trees is strung with lights. Inside, more trees stand either side of a chandelier.

Who Are the Beadles at Burlington Arcade?

The man in the cape is a beadle. The Burlington Beadles are often described as the world's oldest and smallest private police force, set up in 1819 to keep order inside the arcade. Atlas Obscura puts the number of beadles at about ten.

Lord George Cavendish, who had the arcade built, is said to have recruited them from his old regiment, the 10th Hussars. They still wear top hats and frock coats. The one in my photo wears a long black cape with a red collar. Behind him, the black iron gates have gold-coloured ornaments on their posts.

The rules they enforce are old ones: no whistling, singing or humming, no running, no bicycles. In 2025 the decorations were built on a carol, and the beadles were part of the joke.

A beadle in a black cape and top hat standing beside a brass post and black iron gates, on a pink carpet printed Burlington Arcade, with lit fir trees above the shopfront

Burlington Arcade Christmas: The Twelve Days Decorations

In 2025 the arcade dressed itself as The Twelve Days of Christmas, Burlington style. The scheme went up on 8 November 2025. The arcade points out that the carol was already part of London's Christmas when it opened in 1819.

A partridge in a pear tree sits at the entrance. In my photo of the gate, painted pears and leaves hang over the red carpet, with a chandelier behind them and the street beyond.

Looking out through the arcade entrance along a red carpet to the street, with hanging painted pears and leaves and a chandelier overhead

Under the glass roof, painted birds hang above the shopfronts. One view shows red and green birds over a crowd, with a long chandelier in the middle of the vault.

Burlington Arcade under its glass roof, with painted red and green birds hanging from the ceiling above shoppers and a long chandelier in the distance

Further along, a flock of long-necked birds hangs under the skylights. The arcade's own list gives two turtle doves above the shop displays, six geese a-laying and seven swans a-swimming. The swans wear the arcade's coronet.

Painted long-necked birds hanging beneath the glazed roof of Burlington Arcade, with a crystal chandelier below them

The dancers and the leapers are the best part of the list. The nine ladies dance in Regency dress and Manolo Blahnik shoes, and the ten lords leaping are a nod to the beadles.

Small figures in red hang beneath one chandelier in my photo. That fits the dancers and the lords in the arcade's list, though I can't tell you which is which.

A large crystal chandelier under the glass roof of Burlington Arcade, with small figures in red hanging below it

The roof is a run of skylights set in arched bays, with white-framed windows on the upper floors on either side. Everything that hangs from the vault hangs from that framework, which is why the decorations line up so neatly down the middle.

Walk the whole length rather than stopping at one end. The birds, the chandeliers and the figures repeat down the vault, and the view changes at each bay. Look up more than you think you need to.

How the Christmas Scheme Has Changed Since 2023

The 2023 scheme looked nothing like the Twelve Days. The florist Jane Wadham designed a forest of fresh pine branches, cinnamon and dried citrus. She drew on the South Downs and on Cotswold houses, and she deliberately avoided shiny modern Christmas decoration. Andrew Lloyd Webber switched on the lights on 16 November 2023.

That year the arcade also opened its first Christmas grotto, from 1 December. Aga Skiba hand-painted the façade with a design that refers to nature, travel and childhood memories. Inside there were wreath-making workshops, icing masterclasses from Biscuiteers and a pianist, with a glass of champagne at the events.

The arcade's page about the grotto says nothing about later years, so I can't tell you whether it came back. The same artist's signature is on the watch shop door in the next section.

The point is that the scheme is rebuilt every year, with a different designer and a different idea. A photograph from one year will not match the next.

Which Shop Windows Are Worth Stopping For?

The arcade's shops dress their own windows for Christmas, separately from the decorations overhead. These are the four I photographed.

The Vintage Watch Company has a winter scene painted on its door glass. A figure tosses gold rings beside a horse-drawn carriage, with lit trees and snowy shopfronts behind. It is signed Aga Skiba. A muralist of that name painted the arcade's Christmas grotto façade in 2023, according to the arcade's own site.

A shop door with a painted winter scene of a figure throwing gold rings beside a horse-drawn carriage and lit Christmas trees, signed Aga Skiba, with a watch shop's counter behind the glass

Globe-Trotter, the British luggage maker, has two red toadstool lamps hanging over cream suitcases with pink leather trim. One case stands open, with its lining showing.

Two red toadstool lamps with white spots hanging over cream suitcases with pink leather trim in a luggage shop window

Strathberry's window is a doll's house. A white townhouse numbered 34 holds a red handbag upstairs and a decorated tree downstairs, with small white mice climbing a ladder and a box with a ribbon. A note on the lower floor reads "To Mouse, Love Dad".

A miniature white townhouse numbered 34 in a shop window, with a red handbag on the upper floor, a decorated tree downstairs and small white mice climbing a ladder

Ladurée's window is all gold. A cone of gold macaron discs stands beside a box of gold macarons. In 2025 the shop was redesigned for the brand's 20 years in the UK, and according to Glass magazine it added a cream tea with optional champagne.

A cone of gold macaron discs in a Ladurée window, with a box of gold macarons beside it

Next to it, rows of pink and cream macarons sit on a gold-trimmed display.

Rows of pink and cream macarons on a gold-trimmed shelf in a shop window

Beyond these four, the arcade's tenants include Lalique, the crystal maker, and Crockett & Jones, the shoemaker. Diamond Watches London sells pre-owned watches, and N.Peal sells knitwear, in the shop beside the gate in my first photographs.

A Short History of Burlington Arcade

Lord George Cavendish had the arcade built beside Burlington House, to a design by Samuel Ware. Historic England dates the building to 1818 and 1819 and lists it at Grade II, since 1958. The listing covers 51 Piccadilly and units 1 to 72 of the arcade.

Its list entry describes arches carrying a tent-like ceiling, with glazed roof-lights dividing the space into bays. Each bay holds two shops. The roof you look up at in these photographs is that Regency design.

It is not all Regency. The arch at the Piccadilly end is Edwardian Baroque, altered in 1931 by Beresford Pike, and the Burlington Gardens end was rebuilt in 1937. The arcade was badly damaged in 1940 and restored in 1954.

So the Christmas scheme sits inside a building that is part Regency, part Edwardian and part 1950s repair. If covered arcades are your thing, Leadenhall Market is the Victorian version in the City.

More Christmas Around Mayfair

The arcade is a short walk from the rest of the West End lights. Bond Street runs north from here, and the Fortnum & Mason windows for 2025 are along Piccadilly. My ranking of the best Christmas lights in London shows where the arcade fits among the larger displays.

A short route works well. Start at Fortnum & Mason, walk west along Piccadilly past the Royal Academy, and go through the arcade to Burlington Gardens. From there it is a few minutes to Old Bond Street and the Christmas windows around it.

Close by, the Royal Arcade dates from 1879 and links Old Bond Street to Albemarle Street. It is smaller and quieter than Burlington Arcade, and worth a detour if you are already in the area.

Visiting Burlington Arcade: Practical Notes

📍 Where: 51 Piccadilly, London W1J 0QJ. The arcade runs through to Burlington Gardens.

⏰ Opening: Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm; Saturday, 9am to 7pm; Sunday, 11am to 6pm. Check the arcade's website for Christmas hours.

📅 Open days: The 2025 Twelve Days scheme went up on 8 November 2025. Check the arcade's website for the decorations in later years.

🎫 Admission: Free to walk through.

🚇 Getting there: Green Park, on the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Victoria lines, and Piccadilly Circus, on the Bakerloo and Piccadilly lines, are both a short walk away. Bond Street is a little further.

☕ Food: Ladurée has a shop in the arcade, with a cream tea since its 2025 redesign.

⏳ How long: Half an hour is enough to walk it and look at the windows. Allow longer if you go into the shops.

📷 Best time: A weekday soon after opening is the likeliest time to have the arcade to yourself. Sundays open later, at 11am.

🗺️ Nearby: The Royal Arcade, linking Old Bond Street and Albemarle Street. The Royal Academy at Burlington House. Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly.

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All photos were taken by Ina/WithinLondon, unless stated otherwise.