Christmas in Covent Garden: The Tree, the Market, Seven Dials and Cecil Court

At dusk in December the tree lights come on in Covent Garden Piazza, just as the street performers pack up for the evening.

Covent Garden goes bigger for Christmas than almost anywhere else in central London. There is a tree taller than the market roof, bells the size of armchairs, and a canopy of lights over Seven Dials. It is also easy to reach, with three Tube stations within a ten-minute walk.

I have walked these streets at Christmas in more than one year. This is my guide to Christmas in Covent Garden, from the Piazza to the quieter corners a few minutes away.

My route starts at Trafalgar Square and runs through Cecil Court to St Martin's Lane. From there I walk up to Seven Dials and Neal's Yard, then down to the Piazza and the Royal Opera House. Somerset House is the last stop, a few minutes south.

When Does Christmas Start in Covent Garden?

In the middle of November. In 2025 the lights were switched on on Wednesday 12 November, and the official site gives Thursday 12 November for 2026, with the theme The Theatre of Christmas.

The decorations stay up until the first week of January. Most of them are paid for by Shaftesbury Capital, which owns much of the Piazza and the streets around it. The busiest time is any Saturday in December, so go on a weekday if you can, ideally around 4pm.

At that hour you see everything twice. First in the last of the daylight, then again ten minutes later, lit up.

Christmas in Covent Garden Market

The Market Building was designed by Charles Fowler and finished in 1830, when this was London's fruit, vegetable and flower market. The traders moved out to Nine Elms in 1974, and the building became the shopping arcade it is today.

The Market Building is the heart of it. In 2025 more than 40 giant gold bells hung from its roof, along with a dozen huge baubles and spinning mirror balls.

Under them, the Apple Market stalls sell crafts, prints and jewellery, and it is a good place to find a small present. It is open every day, with antiques on Mondays. When I went on 26 November 2025, the crowd was already thick by late afternoon.

The decorations change every year. When I went on 19 November 2022, giant silver baubles and bunches of mistletoe hung from the roof, and the courtyard on the lower level was full of tables.

In 2025 there was also a LEGO Chalet of Play on the East Piazza, open until 30 November, and LEGO models of Santa and Rudolph stood under the bells.

At night the Market Building glows red and gold. On Christmas Eve 2024 a giant blue wreath with a red bow hung inside the entrance, above a row of lit trees.

Walk through the Central Avenue, too. Ladurée, the Paris tea room founded in 1862, has a shop under the glass roof, with its green front hidden behind garlands and fir trees.

How Tall Is the Covent Garden Christmas Tree?

In 2025 it was 55 feet tall, a British-grown tree lit with part of the Piazza's 300,000 lights. It stood on the West Piazza, in front of St Paul's Church, Inigo Jones's actors' church of 1633, and it was taller than the roofline of the market.

The tree has a giant red bow at its base, and at dusk it is the busiest spot on the Piazza. For a clear picture, go early in the morning, before the crowds. The West Piazza is also where the street performers work, and a crowd gathers around them even on cold December afternoons.

If you want to skate, Somerset House has had a winter ice rink in its courtyard every year since 2000. It is a ten-minute walk away, and it usually runs from mid-November to early January.

Smaller trees line the market's porticos too. Each stone arch gets its own tree and a wreath with a red bow above the door.

Can You See the Royal Opera House Christmas Tree for Free?

Yes. The Royal Opera House is open to everyone from 12 noon, without a ticket. Head for the Paul Hamlyn Hall, the glass and iron hall built in 1860 as the Floral Hall of the flower market.

Every year it has a Christmas tree. The 2025 tree was designed by Sir Paul Smith and unveiled on 6 November, and it filled the hall with coloured baubles. There are tables and a bar in the hall, so you can sit with a coffee under the tree.

Look closely at the branches. When I went on 13 December 2025, the ornaments included red ballet shoes, a nod to the ballet on the stage next door.

The Nutcracker is the Royal Ballet's Christmas tradition. In 2025 it ran from 22 November to 5 January, and tickets for December evenings go quickly. I have written more about visiting the Royal Opera House for free.

Before you leave, look up at Floral Street. The twisting Bridge of Aspiration links the Royal Opera House to the Royal Ballet School across the road, and it is lovely against a winter sky.

Then take the long escalator up to the terrace. From there you look down over the Piazza and the market, and it is a free view of Christmas in Covent Garden from above.

What Are the Seven Dials Christmas Lights?

Seven Dials is the junction where six streets meet, a few minutes north of the Piazza. At its centre stands the Sundial Pillar, and at Christmas a canopy of lights spreads out from its top. Stand right by the pillar after dark and look straight up.

Seven Dials, like Carnaby Street, is looked after by Shaftesbury Capital, which pays for the Christmas lights in both.

The lights are a design from 2024, by the studio Sculptivate, made to look like waves of light. They were built to be reused, and they were back in 2025.

The pillar has its own story. The original was put up in 1693–94 by the stonemason Edward Pierce, for Thomas Neale MP, who laid out the streets. It had six sundials, and the column itself was the seventh.

It was taken down in 1773, and what survives of it now stands on Weybridge Green in Surrey. The copy at Seven Dials was unveiled in June 1989 by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

Just off Seven Dials is Neal's Yard, a tiny courtyard of brightly painted buildings, cafés and window boxes. It is worth the detour at any time of year, and it is quieter than the streets around it.

Why Visit Cecil Court at Christmas?

Because it is the quietest, most old-fashioned street near Covent Garden. Cecil Court is a seventeenth-century passage between Charing Cross Road and St Martin's Lane, lined with Victorian shopfronts, most of them booksellers. In the early 1900s it was nicknamed Flicker Alley, because so many of the first film companies had offices here.

Watkins Books, at number 21, was founded in 1893 and has been in Cecil Court since 1901. At Christmas its blue front is framed with a garland and its windows glow.

Marchpane, at number 16, sells children's and illustrated books. It opened in August 1989, and its window is full of picture books and toys. Cecil Court is a good place for an unusual present: an old map, a print or a first edition.

From the end of Cecil Court it is two minutes to Trafalgar Square. Its Christmas tree has been a gift from the people of Oslo every year since 1947, and it is lit in early December.

I have written a longer guide to Cecil Court. For more lights across town, see the best Christmas lights in London, and my guide to things to do in London in winter.

Covent Garden is one of eight Christmas area walks on this site. The nearest are St James's, a walk west along the Strand, and the City of London to the east.

Visiting Covent Garden at Christmas: Practical Notes

📍 Where: Covent Garden Piazza, WC2. Seven Dials is five minutes north, and Cecil Court five minutes west.

📅 Open days: The lights are usually switched on in mid-November and stay until early January.

⏰ Opening: The Piazza is always open. The Royal Opera House is open from 12 noon, Monday to Saturday until 11pm, and on Sunday until 9pm or after the evening show.

🎫 Admission: Free, including the Royal Opera House tree.

🚇 Getting there: Covent Garden station (Piccadilly line) is closest, but it can be exit-only at busy times. Leicester Square and Charing Cross are both a short walk away.

☕ Food: Ladurée in the Market Building, and the cafés and restaurants around the Piazza.

⏳ How long: Two to three hours, including Seven Dials and Cecil Court.

📷 Best time: A weekday at around 4pm in December, to see the decorations before and after the lights come on.

🗺️ Nearby: The Royal Opera House, Seven Dials, Cecil Court, Trafalgar Square and Somerset House.

♿ Access: The Piazza is paved, with cobbles in places. The Royal Opera House has lifts to the Paul Hamlyn Hall.

Go at 4pm on a weekday and you see the Market Building twice. First in the last of the daylight, with the gold bells hanging still under the roof, and again ten minutes later, when the lights come on.

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