The Best Holiday Spots in London 2025
The holiday season in London always feels special. Lights come on across the city, menus turn festive, and every neighbourhood finds its own way to celebrate. This year brings a warm mix of winter menus, creative workshops, cosy markets and magical hotel escapes. Here is our bright and friendly roundup of the best things to do, eat and experience across the capital.
Festive Menus and Holiday Dining
Mint Leaf London: Indian Fine Dining Christmas Menus, City of London
CMint Leaf brings a rich and modern twist to Christmas with four festive set menus ranging from vibrant vegetarian dishes to luxurious mains like duck kalimirch, lamb chops and mango prawn curry. Each menu blends classic Indian flavour with seasonal touches, from spiced turkey to indulgent gulab jamun. A warm and refined choice for a December celebration.
📍 City of London · 📅 Throughout December · 💸 Menus from £42.50 to £70
Mint Leaf Website
Shoryu Ramen: The Kurisumasu Menu, Multiple London Locations
Shoryu celebrates Japanese winter comfort with a playful Christmas menu built around festive ramen. Highlights include pigs in blankets ramen, Brussels sprout tempura, and a snowman shaped vanilla mochi. Every Kurisumasu Menu order comes with a lucky dip from the Shoryu Stocking, with surprises ranging from stickers to free meals. A cheerful, cosy way to enjoy the season.
📍 Soho, Carnaby, Regent St, Covent Garden, Shoreditch · 📅 18 Nov to 4 Jan · 💸 £35 per person
Mildreds : A Very Mildreds Christmas, Across London
Mildreds serves a full plant based Christmas feast that feels generous, colourful and joyful. Expect roasts with all the trimmings, golden pies, carrot loaf, cauliflower cheese, and a Christmas burger stacked high with festive flavours. Starters include teriyaki cauliflower and artichoke Caesar, and desserts range from sticky toffee pudding to a dark chocolate cherry yule log.
📍 Soho, Covent Garden, Camden, King’s Cross, Victoria · 📅 19 Nov to 24 Dec · 💸 Two courses £40, three courses £45
The Gantry : Winter Dining at Union Social, Stratford
The Gantry launches a new winter social menu by Executive Chef Suso Lopez, shaped by his global career from Spain to Asia and Australia. Expect refined sharing plates with a Spanish accent, including roasted octopus with truffle, Iberian pork with apple compote and a signature burnt Basque cheesecake. Warm, relaxed and ideal for a winter evening.
📍 Stratford · 📅 From 6 Nov onwards · 💸 Prices vary by dish
Festive Markets, Districts and Creative City Fun
Chinatown London — Festive Flavours, Cocktails and Lantern-Lit Streets
Chinatown London feels extra magical at Christmas, with glowing red lanterns, busy streets and the warmth of East and Southeast Asian cooking drifting through the air. It is the perfect stop for a festive meal with a twist, from Malaysian comfort dishes at Rasa Sayang to fragrant pho and crispy summer rolls at Viet Food. Dim sum lovers can settle into Tao Tao Ju for baskets of dumplings and custard tarts, or try Golden Phoenix’s elegant dim sum afternoon tea with sculpted pastries and delicate handmade bites.
After dinner, explore some of the area’s hidden bars. Experimental Cocktail Club offers live music and inventive serves, Opium brings vintage Shanghai style across two floors and the basement at Noodle & Beer glows red late into the night. For last-minute gifts, shops like Oseyo, Pop Mart and Miniso are full of treats, snacks and playful stocking fillers.
📍 Soho · 📅 Throughout December · 💸 Prices vary
High Street Kensington — Vintage Markets, Victorian Charm and Sustainable Christmas Magic
High Street Kensington offers a calmer but beautifully festive alternative to the city’s busier hotspots. Its Christmas season starts with the Big Kensington Vintage Flea Market – Christmas Edition, a stylish outdoor fair filled with mid-century furniture, retro homewares, art, fashion and unique stocking fillers. Expect snow-dusted stalls, hot chocolate, mulled wine and even live carols performed by opera singers as Santa wanders through the crowd.
The celebrations continue across the neighbourhood with a mix of Victorian nostalgia and modern festive dining. Sambourne House hosts atmospheric candlelit tours led by Mrs Reffle, guiding guests through rooms decorated as they would have been in the 1800s. Nearby, Kensington Palace transforms its halls to recreate Christmas as young Princess Victoria experienced it during a childhood holiday by the sea, complete with themed displays and one of London’s most charming gift shops.
Local hotels add plenty of sparkle. The Milestone Hotel brings classic London indulgence with festive afternoon teas served beside its grand Christmas tree, while Origin Kensington offers a contemporary twist with creative pastries, scones and seasonal treats.
This year also introduces Oru, the Listening Tree — a striking, origami-inspired aluminium Christmas tree at the Design Museum Plaza. Completely recyclable and fitted with responsive lighting, it glows in changing colours when visitors approach or speak their wishes, blending art, interaction and sustainability.
📍 High Street Kensington · 📅 Various dates through December · 💸 Prices vary
The Whisky Exchange — The Big Christmas Barrel-Top Tasting
For a cosy and relaxed start to the season, The Whisky Exchange is hosting its Big Christmas Barrel-Top Tasting, a walk-up event running at both the Covent Garden and London Bridge stores. Guests can wander from barrel to barrel sampling a curated line-up of festive flavours, from Christmas-fruitcake richness and winter spices to fireside-ready Cognacs and seasonal drams that capture the warmth of the holidays in a glass.
It is an easy way to try something new, meet the knowledgeable team behind the bottles and enjoy a little Christmas cheer right in the heart of London. Tickets are £10 per person and include a £5 discount on any in-store purchase over £15 on the night.
📍 Covent Garden & London Bridge · 📅 4 December · ⏰ 19:30–21:30 · 💸 £10
Pottery Studio LDN — Christmas Pottery Painting Nights
Pottery Studio LDN is running a series of cosy Christmas Pottery Painting Nights at its Lee and Greenwich studios, ideal for anyone looking for a creative December activity. Each session includes everything you need to paint your own festive piece, from Christmas baubles to a house-shaped tealight holder or a reindeer mug. A warm drink, a mince pie and a cheerful festive playlist set the mood while you create something personal to take home.
Guests can also choose extra items on the night for a small additional cost, making it a relaxed and easy way to enjoy a wintry evening with friends or solo.
📍 Lee & Greenwich · 📅 Fridays until 5 December · ⏰ 18:00–20:30 · 💸 Prices vary
Festive Stays and Christmas Getaways
De Vere Beaumont Estate — The Christmas Sleepover, Windsor
Windsor becomes a festive storybook each year, and De Vere Beaumont Estate makes a beautiful base for a family Christmas escape. Set across 44 acres of landscaped grounds, the hotel offers winter walks, manicured gardens and plenty of cosy corners to settle into after a day exploring. The Christmas Sleepover includes a stay for the whole family, dinner and breakfast, a pantry voucher for festive treats, a hot chocolate kit and a themed activity magazine to enjoy back in the room.
Guests can spend the day wandering the estate’s ponds and trails, cycle the grounds with complimentary bikes or warm up beside the crackling fire. Nearby, Lapland UK, Windsor Castle, LEGOLAND and Windsor Great Park each bring their own seasonal magic with theatre shows, toy workshops and festive rides.
📍 Windsor · 📅 Throughout December · 💸 From £180
The Academy, Bloomsbury — A Literary Christmas Escape
Tucked into the heart of Bloomsbury, The Academy offers a warm and cultured Christmas retreat inspired by the literary legacy of the Bloomsbury Set. The hotel’s Winter Garden Terrace transforms into a glowing lodge-style hideaway for mulled wine and quiet winter evenings. Guests are invited to take part in the Gift a Book initiative too, donating pre-loved books to local charities throughout the season. With its townhouse charm, cosy corners and intimate atmosphere, it is a lovely base for enjoying London’s festive museums, shops and theatres.
📍 Bloomsbury · 📅 Throughout December · 💸 From £160
Threadneedles, City of London — A Grand Victorian Christmas Stay
Threadneedles brings a touch of old-world glamour to Christmas in the City. Once a Victorian bank, the hotel now pairs its iconic domed lounge with a beautifully decorated festive tree, creating an elegant setting for winter stays, Christmas parties and seasonal getaways. Its central location makes it easy to enjoy London’s best December moments, from sparkling lights and luxury shopping to festive markets and riverside walks.
Whether you are visiting for a quiet weekend or planning a stylish holiday stay, Threadneedles offers a refined base right in the heart of London.
📍 City of London · 📅 Throughout December · 💸 From £299
Room2 Hometels — A Circular Christmas Made From Coffeey
room2 brings a creative and sustainable twist to the season with its Circular Christmas celebrations across its Chiswick, Southampton and Belfast hometels. Known as the UK’s first hometel brand, room2 is transforming everyday coffee waste into festive treats, gifts and experiences, all designed with a zero-waste mindset.
Guests can watch limited edition ornaments being 3D printed on-site using recycled coffee grounds, pick up handmade coffee-ground soaps and enjoy low-waste festive cocktails crafted by the bar team, with donations from each purchase going to local homelessness charities. It is a thoughtful way to celebrate Christmas while supporting the community.
Those planning a stay can also enjoy room2’s seasonal offer, which includes 20 percent off room rates, live music every Friday and discounted cocktails at Winnie’s Café and Bar with the code CircularDesign.
📍 Chiswick, Southampton, Belfast · 📅 1 Dec to 31 Jan · 💸 Ornaments from £5
And there you have it, the very best of London this festive season. From candlelit dining rooms and sustainable stays to creative workshops, vintage markets and late-night cocktails, this year feels richer, brighter and more joyful than ever. The city has gone all in, and the result is one of the strongest holiday lineups we’ve seen so far.
We hope you enjoy this round up, and if you visit any of the places we’ve featured, make sure to tag us on socials @spoton.ldn or share your moment through our website. We’d love to see how you celebrate.
Stay tuned and subscribed for more of London’s most exciting experiences. The season moves fast, and the city keeps offering new reasons to explore, enjoy and feel the magic.
