Christmas in the capital

With just over two weeks left to go, the capital has been transformed into a beautifully illuminated, life-sized snow globe (minus the snow) in the countdown to Christmas day. So here’s your guide to enjoying the best of London’s Christmas highlights this year.

As far as traditional Christmas fairs go, Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland may seem an obvious first choice, and yes, there’s nothing to get you in the mood quite like mulled wine, German bratwurst and knitted woollies. However, for those of you who’d prefer to feast on your Bavarian bangers without feeling as though you’ve been packed into a tin of sardines, the Southbank Centre’s Winter Festival presents a good alternative to Hyde Park. Over sixty market chalets spaced out along the south bank of the Thames offer festive fare, both edible and otherwise, more or less identical to that of Winter Wonderland, but with the advantage of fewer tourists, toddlers and Evel Knievel wannabes armed with perambulators waiting to knock it all out of your hands.

you cannot go wrong with a Christmas spent in London

Naturally no festival would be complete without its own carousel, and while Winter Wonderland’s may be set against a background of the beautifully lit-up Observation Wheel, the Southbank’s slightly smaller merry-go-round is dwarfed by the London Eye, no less. Admittedly there are no other rides, let alone an ice rink, available at Southbank, but who needs that artificial rush when you’ve got the entirety of London’s skyline from the vantage point of Embankment pier instead? The view is better, the sausages are juicier and there’s even a book market to boot – the Southbank Centre’s Winter Festival is a must-do this year.

If however you feel that Christmas wouldn’t be the same without a session on ice, then why not skate against some of London’s most striking backdrops on the temporary ice rinks being constructed all over the city? The open-air rink at Westfield Stratford City provides views of the new Olympic park, and Canary Wharf’s rink offers an equally imposing setting of the city’s most dizzying towers. Those after more picturesque landscapes should head to the Tower of London, Somerset House, the National History Museum or Hyde Park where the rinks are all set in the midst of London’s famous landmarks.

More and more of us are resorting to online shopping each year in a bid to avoid the frenzied crowds of shoppers at Oxford Street. For those of you who haven’t given in yet, your best bet when hunting for those quirky one-of-a-kind Christmas gifts is to avoid more commercial shopping centres and districts, and instead trek it around some of London’s markets. Of course, there’s Portobello Road and Spitalfields markets on either side of London, each overflowing with vintage clothes, books and ornaments. But there’s more of the same at Columbia Road market (open late every Wednesday until Christmas day) in the East End and the twice weekly Camden Passage market in Islington.

Finally, if you just want to spend time walking around London, soaking in the city’s Yuletide spirit, there is no shortage of places to go. Covent Garden has been revamped on all sides: in addition to the bewitching Christmas lights, there has been a visual display installed on the North East piazza in the form of a digital painting that shifts between nativity scenes throughout the day. On Saturdays reindeer-petting is an activity on offer alongside all the market stalls. Meanwhile, a 32 foot tall topiary reindeer watches over the East piazza: an oddly frightening sight from afar after dusk, but impressive nonetheless.

And of course, because it’s that time of year again, minor celebrities have been resurfacing all over the country, with D-list stars and reality show remnants everywhere being recruited for the action. London’s Christmas lights have been switched on, and there are few surprises in the best of this year’s bunch. If you begin your evening at Trafalgar Square’s giant Norwegian Christmas tree, making your way down the very festive Regent Street and under the dazzling snowflakes of Oxford Street before ending your night at St. Christopher’s Place surrounded by floating baubles you would have covered those of the capital’s lights most worth seeing.

However, there are some equally exceptional lighting displays off the beaten path such as in the Angel, Islington and on South Molton Street, where you can walk through incandescent arches as you shop. Carnaby Street is an especially good spot for a romantic walk for two, beneath lit up sprigs of mistletoe and holly garlands of gargantuan proportions.

Whichever of the above you choose to indulge in, you cannot go wrong with a Christmas spent in London – this is one time when quantity and quality both compete with each other to provide one of the best cities in the world in which to live come wintertime.