A Tour of London's Top Christmas Lights & Decorations

Ina

Dec 6, 2023

3 min read

Updated: Sep 28

This is a record of the London Christmas Lights as they were in December 2023. Eight displays, in order, from the big shopping streets in the West End to a single pub in Notting Hill. Nothing here has been updated. For the current year's displays, see Best Christmas Lights in London, Ranked.

What Did the London Christmas Lights on Oxford Street Look Like in 2023?

Oxford Street first. The lights go up along the whole length of the shopping street every year, and the design changes with the theme, some years traditional motifs and some years something more modern. Switch-on night draws a crowd. There is a video here of the 2023 display.

Oxford Street's Christmas lights display, with themed decorations spanning the length of the shopping street.

What Did the Regent Street Angels Look Like in 2023?

Regent Street is next door and has its own display: angel-shaped lights, strung as a canopy from one side of the street to the other and repeated down the whole length of the curve. Angels. That is what Regent Street is known for at Christmas, and in 2023 they were back again.

Regent Street's Christmas lights forming a majestic illuminated canopy over the street.

What Was Hanging in Covent Garden in December 2023?

Covent Garden goes for scale. Oversized baubles and bells were hung over the cobbled streets and the piazza around the old market building. Big objects, lit from within. That was the whole idea.

Oversized baubles and sparkling bells decorating Covent Garden's piazza for Christmas.

Who Designed the Carnaby Street Lights in 2023?

Carnaby Street does it differently. Instead of repeating a house design, the street commissions a different artist or designer each year, so the installation changes completely from one December to the next. Bright colours, odd shapes. There is a video here from 2023.

What Is Christmas at Kew Gardens?

Kew Gardens runs a winter light trail every year through the Royal Botanic Gardens. Light tunnels, trees lit from below, installations along a set route through the grounds. It is a walk rather than a street display. There is a video here from the 2023 trail.

The illuminated winter trail through Kew Gardens, with glittering light tunnels and trees.

What Were the Bond Street Windows Like in 2023?

Bond Street is the designer fashion houses and the high-end shops, and at Christmas each one dresses its own frontage, so the competition between neighbours is the point. Lights over the street. Then a separate display in every window.

Bond Street's luxury Christmas lights display outside its designer boutiques.

The windows are the part worth slowing down for. Each one told a story in 2023, some with traditional holiday motifs and some with modern designs and bespoke decorations built for that one shop and nowhere else. The Dior flagship is in the photo below. There are more pics here.

The Dior flagship store on Bond Street decorated with intricate festive window displays.

What Was the St Pancras Christmas Tree in 2023?

In 2023 the Christmas tree at St Pancras International was 12 metres tall and made in collaboration with Hatchards, the bookshop. It was built around books, an invitation to passers-by to read. The station said the display was a response to a reported 25% rise in teenagers' reading habits driven by social media trends. Info source: St Pancras.com.

The 12-metre book-themed Christmas tree at St Pancras International, created in collaboration with Hatchards.

Why Is the Churchill Arms Covered in Christmas Trees?

The Churchill Arms is at 119 Kensington Church Street, Notting Hill. Its reputation as the most Christmassy pub in London rests on the outside of the building, because every December the pub covers its whole exterior in Christmas trees, lights, greenery and ornaments. Trees everywhere. In 2023 it did the same again.