London creates a winter wonderland

Oxford Street will celebrate an enchanted Christmas this year, with a dazzling overhead canopy of lights in celebration of Disney’s Christmas movie, ‘Enchanted’. The big switch-on will be on 7 November, when thousands will gather to see X-Factor winner Leona Lewis turn on the lights. The Regent Street lights will be switched on on 20 November closely followed by the Bond Street lights on 22 November.

Each year ice rinks appear in some of the capital’s most iconic locations. This year you can get your skates on at venues as diverse as Hampton Court Palace, the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, the Tower of London, Kew Gardens, Somerset House and the Natural History Museum. The O2 will host an Ice Disco from 10 November featuring music, 40 mirror balls, disco lights and a purpose-built bar.

Special events will be taking place all over London to celebrate the festive season. Hyde Park will be transformed into a Winter Wonderland from 1 December to 6 January. The 24,000m² Winter Wonderland site will host London’s largest outdoor ice rink, an authentic German Christmas market, a toboggan slide, an incredible 50m giant observation wheel and lots more.

The Bankside Frost Fair (14 to 16 December) dates back to a time hundreds of years ago, when the River Thames froze over and Londoners took to the ice. Today the fair is held along the riverwalk outside the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe. It will feature Husky dog sledding, a winter market, street theatre, ice sculptures and festive food and drink.

Chelsea Physic Garden‘s traditional Christmas Fair (2 December) will have stalls selling gifts, toys, handmade winter clothing and foodstuffs. Visitors can take winter-themed tours of the garden and enjoy delicious seasonal refreshments from the café. Chelsea Physic Garden is England’s second oldest botanical garden, with a unique collection of more than 5,000 plants.

The Spitalfields Winter Festival unfolds from 12 to 21 December with 10 days of celebrations in the vibrant heart of East London. The festival offers an eclectic mix of concerts, tours and events showcasing the area’s history and diversity, many of which are free.

London’s theatres are bursting with seasonal productions this winter. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol comes to the Greenwich Playhouse from 4 December to 6 January. Ross Kemp stars as the villainous Henchman in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at New Wimbledon Theatre from 7 December to 20 January. Stephen Fry has written a new version of the nation’s all time favourite pantomime, Cinderella, which is on at the Old Vic from 4 December to 20 January.

Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman returns to London’s Peacock Theatre from 5 December to 6 January. A glittering cast of snowmen and snowwomen are joined by colourful characters including dancing penguins, magical reindeer, Jack Frost and Father Christmas. The Barbican presents Jack and the Beanstalk from 1 December to 12 January. Find out what happens when Jack swaps his family’s last possession, Daisy the cow, for a handful of magic beans.

London’s hotels will be celebrating Christmas with a host of festive packages. Brown’s Hotel is offering guests a gift during the Christmas season – book 2 consecutive nights between 21 December and 7 January and stay a 3rd night for free. Brown’s English Tea Room will be serving Festive Afternoon Tea throughout December.

Red Carnation Hotels are offering a luxurious ‘Magical London’ package at their 3 four-star London hotels: The Chesterfield Mayfair, The Rubens at the Palace and The Montague on the Gardens. The package includes lots of festive treats like tea with Christmas cake, a Santa hat, a taxi to Oxford Street to see the lights and a gift wrapping service for all your presents.

The ‘Holiday Sparkles’ package at Claridge’s and The Berkeley includes a welcome bottle of Champagne and 2 tickets for ice-skating at the National History Museum, plus a hamper filled with stollen cake and hot chocolate to warm you up afterwards.

For more information visit www.visitlondon.com. (Our Christmas microsite will soon be live at www.visitlondon.com/christmas.)