9 Best London Christmas Lights Tours (2024)

1. London Christmas Lights Private Tour by Traditional Black Cab

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 2.5 hours | 🎄 Check rates and availability

Wanna feel like a VIP, staying warm and toasty in a ritzy black cab while your driver takes you to London’s most iconic spots to see the Christmas lights? You’ve got to book the London Christmas Lights Private Tour!

This is a private tour, exclusively for you and your group. No awkwardness in talking to strangers here!

If you’re staying in Central London, your driver will pick you up and drop you off at your accommodation. This makes it so much easier for you and your group, especially because London is a massive city and can be difficult to navigate.

When you’re in the cab, your driver will stroll through London’s major streets adorned with fairy lights. But they won’t just keep driving; they will stop at different spots so you can do some sightseeing and take memorable photos; perfect for your annual Christmas card!

In addition to admiring the hanging lights and festive window displays, your driver will also pass by London’s most famous attractions including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Abbey.

2. London by Night Bus Tour with Christmas Lights and Live Guide

🌟 RATING: 4.5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 1.5 hours | 🎄 Check rates and availability

The London by Night Bus Tour is perfect for those who want to experience panoramic views of London’s attractions because it is an open bus tour. You can take photos from so many different angles of the landmarks twinkling in Christmas lights!

This tour comes with live commentary from a guide about the places you will pass by. This includes famous landmarks like London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, along with vibrant glittering streets such as Regent Street, Oxford, Street, and Picadilly Circus.

Since this tour is only 1.5 hours long, it’s perfect for travelers with limited time and a jam-packed schedule

Because this is an open bus tour taking place at night in the middle of November and December, you need to dress warm. Some people have taken this tour when it was windy and rainy; so make sure to wear a thick, waterproof jacket, a scarf, beanie, and merino wool socks to keep those toes warm!

3. Christmas Lights and Markets Guided Walking Tour with Mulled Wine

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 1.5 hours | 🎄 Check rates and availability

Experience the holidays in London at its fullest with the Christmas market and lights tour!

You’ll start your tour in Covent Garden, one of London’s biggest Christmas markets. Marvel at the gigantic gold bells, red baubles, and disco balls hanging under the Market Building, and stroll through the stalls filled with arts and crafts from local businesses.

This tour includes a glass of mulled wine, the most festive Christmas drink! It’ll also help keep your hands warm as you walk through London’s notoriously chilly weather.

Since this is a small group tour with 10 people maximum, you’ll get extra attention from your guide, and they will take you to hidden paths and alleys in Covent Garden. Your guide will also narrate old Christmas traditions, even ones that Queen Victoria started.

Don’t forget to snap photos of the window displays of the shops and eateries, decorated to the nines during the holiday season!

After your time in Covent Garden, you’ll walk through some of London’s major shopping streets a block away, where you can see the iconic LED lights hanging in the center.

The tour ends at Trafalgar Square, famously known for its 82-foot Christmas tree gifted from Norway yearly, as a thank-you gift for Britain supporting Norway during World War II.

4. London Christmas Lights Guided Tour With Christmas Music

🌟 RATING: 4.8/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 2 hours | 🎄 Check rates and availability

Elevate your holiday experience with this London Christmas Lights Tour with music!

This tour walks you through London’s most dazzling streets but with a musical twist! You will be provided with silent disco headphones, listening to classic carols and festive hits throughout the excursion.

Meanwhile, your guide will share facts and history about London and its Christmas culture.

The tour starts on Oxford Street, on the way to parts of Covent Garden like Seven Dials Market and Neal’s Yard. You’ll pass by a traditional German-style Christmas market in Leicester Square.

Other streets you’ll pass by include Mayfair, Regent Street, Carnaby Street, and Soho.

While it’s not included in the tour, you can upgrade to purchase some mulled wine. Be sure to have cash or your card ready!

5. London Christmas Lights Private Car Tour

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 4 hours | 🎄 Check rates and availability

If you want a completely personalized tour catered to your needs and wishes, the London Christmas Lights Private Car Tour is calling your name!

While this is a very expensive tour—I mean, you will be riding in a Mercedes, after all—you’ll get total VIP treatment from the moment your sweet ride picks you up.

Speaking of picking up, this tour includes free pickup if you’re staying anywhere in Zone 1, which is Central London. If you’re staying beyond Zone 1 or need to be picked up from the airport, they will do it, but at an extra cost.

Also, this is private tour for a group of 7, so if you have 7 or less people, you pay the set price rather than per person.

For this tour, your driver will take you to the best of London’s streets, all dressed up in lights for the holidays. This includes Regent, Oxford, Bond, and Carnaby Streets.

Since this is a 4-hour tour, your driver will stop at different spots so that you can have ample time to go shopping, sightseeing, and grabbing a bite to eat. And most importantly, you’ll be able to get those dreamy photo opps to show off and for memories decades down the line!

6. London Christmas Sparkle Private Walking Tour

🌟 RATING: 4.8/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 2-3 hours | 🎄 Check rates and availability

Immerse yourself in London’s most glittered streets during the Christmas season with this private walking tour!

You’ll start your tour at Regent Street, meeting in front of Caffe Nero, where you can order festive drinks like eggnog or tiramisu lattes to sip and help keep your hands warm during the walk.

Since this is a private tour, only you and your group will participate with the guide (or just you and the guide if you’re going solo). So you can have a personalized experience catered to your needs!

Your eyes will glimmer over the lights floating on London’s most famous streets! This includes Regent, Oxford, Mayfair, Carnaby, Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square, and Strand.

You’ll even get to pass by Covent Garden, which houses one of London’s bougiest Christmas markets!

7. London: Christmas Lights and Bites Tour

🌟 RATING: 4.6/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 1.5 hours | 🎄 Check rates and availability

For the Christmas Lights and Bites Tour, you’re sure to have a fantastic time admiring the lights in a toasty bus with yummy snacks and drinks!

You’ll be on a blue double-decker bus—specifically, a 1960s Routemaster—strolling through the best of London’s glittery streets. This includes the two biggest streets, Oxford and Regent!

And you can enjoy snacks such as mince pies, cupcakes, and mini sandwiches along with coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.

Basically, you could count this tour as dinnertime, especially because it costs less than the average sit-down meal in London.

While you’re on the bus, Christmas tunes from the Dutch violinist Andre Rieu will be playing, adding to the festivities.

8. A Christmas Carol and Charles Dickens Old London Walking Tour

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 2–3 hours | 🎄 Check rates and availability

For literary fanatics and those who adore the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, this walking tour is an ode to the author and the story!

Richard, the tour guide and owner/operator of Richard’s Tours, takes you away from London’s more touristic spots and into the spots Dickens lived, worked, and played.

Since this tour starts near the Temple Station, you’ll start in Inner Temple, where Dickens worked as a clerk. You’ll also visit some of his favorite pubs, like Ye Olde Chesire Cheese and George & Vulture.

Richard will also lead you to spots where Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol frequented like the Royal Exchange Building, Simpson’s Tavern, and Leadenhall Market, where the tour ends.

This tour operates at 9:30 am, 1 pm, and 4 pm. For the best chance to see the Christmas lights, book the 4 pm tour, because as you’re walking, the sun will set and the lights will start twinkling.

Guests loved Richard’s hospitality and storytelling, and how he took them to some of London’s most beautiful and historic spots.

This is also a private tour, so you can get undivided attention and an itinerary tailored to your interests!

9. London Christmas Lights Private Night Photography Tour

🌟 RATING: 5/5 | ⏳ TOUR LENGTH: 3 hours | 🎄 Check rates and availability

Whether you’re a professional photographer or a beginning hobbyist, you’ll learn to capture beautiful photos of London’s Christmas lights in this night photography tour!

As an amateur photographer who took some classes in college, I get how night photography can be intimidating. But in this tour, you will have an expert photographer, holding your hand every step of the way.

This is a private tour, so you’ll get 1 on 1, undivided attention from your tour guide and not have to share them with other “students” 😂

You’ll pass by Trafalgar Square (where you’ll see the iconic Christmas tree from Norway), Regent Street (where you’ll get to photograph the lit angels overhead!), Leicester Square for its German-inspired Christmas market, Carnaby Street, Oxford Street, Soho, and Picadilly Circus.

You don’t need an expensive DSLR for this tour; even a simple point-and-shoot will suffice. This is my trusty camera I’ve taken basically all over the world; it’s the perfect camera for beginners, but it’s great for experienced photographers because you can also control the settings manually.