From Anya Hindmarch's climbable treehouse at Claridge's to the final year of Bond Street's Crown Jewels lights, THE FLUXX's 12 Days of a London Christmas 2026 rounds up the city's most stylish festive moments, running from 11 November 2026 to early January 2027.
London has never been shy about Christmas, but the season has quietly become one of the most competitive stages in the design calendar. Fashion houses now dress hotel lobbies, artists commission street-corner trees, and department store windows are reviewed like gallery openings. So we have done the legwork, and the occasional mince pie, to bring you twelve days of the very best: what to see, where to drink and what is genuinely worth booking before the rest of the city does.
We’ll update this feature as experiences go live.
Who Wins the Great Hotel Christmas ‘Tree-Off’ This Year?
The First Day: Claridge's, Brook Street. The tree that launched a thousand imitators returns with its boldest idea yet. Dame Anya Hindmarch has reimagined the Claridge's Christmas tree as an actual treehouse, with a staircase winding up through the branches and lights. It is the sixteenth year a famous name has taken on the commission, a tradition that began in 2009 with John Galliano's frozen tropical fantasy for Dior and, last year, saw Burberry's Daniel Lee tie some 600 bows from surplus fabric. Hindmarch unveils her tree in the marble lobby on Wednesday 25 November. Go early, stay for tea, and resist the urge to climb it in heels.
The Second Day: The Savoy, Strand. Where Claridge's goes couture, The Savoy goes global. From Monday 16 November, the hotel is reimagined around Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, in partnership with Champagne Laurent-Perrier, while Liberty London takes over the famous Savoy Christmas tree. Look for the pop-up Champagne bar on the forecourt, styled with a showstopping hot-air balloon, then drift through to Gallery for a limited-edition festive afternoon tea for grown-ups and little ones alike. The Liberty pop-up at The Florist has been open since October, so do treat it as a gifting stop.
Photography, The Savoy Hotel 2025 Christmas Display.
The Third Day: Annabel's, Berkeley Square. Mayfair's most anticipated façade is still under wraps at the time of writing, and that is half the fun. The 2026 design will be revealed in mid-November, and if past form holds, expect theatre. Last year Creative Director of The Birley Clubs Tatiana Kharchylava gave us "The Wardrobe: A World of Wonder", a Narnia-inspired fantasy created with The Caring Family Foundation's Food From The Heart campaign. The club is strictly members only, but the façade is free to admire from the pavement.
Read our 2025 Annabel Christmas feature here
The Fourth Day: Bond Street. Consider this your last call. Bond Street's Crown Jewels Christmas lights, inspired by the Imperial State Crown, return for a final season before an entirely new scheme arrives in 2027. Around 90,000 LEDs trace tiaras, pearl necklaces and golden filigree above a street that is home to Cartier, De Beers, Boodles and Tiffany & Co. The lights go on Thursday 12 November at 7pm, with the street closed to traffic and a brass band leading the countdown. Then do what Bond Street was built for, and window-shop the brand façades.
Which London Christmas Windows Are Worth Crossing Town For?
Photography, Selfridges Christmas windows, 2026.
The Fifth Day: Fortnum & Mason, Piccadilly. Fortnum's has gone home for Christmas, quite literally. Seven windows each reveal a room in a house dressed for the season, brought to life by the store's fairy and its mischievous mice. Head of Visual Presentation Sallie Smith describes the theme as celebrating "the warmth and nostalgia of Christmas at home". Above it all, the façade becomes its traditional advent calendar. Pick up a hamper while you are there; nobody has ever regretted it.
The Sixth Day: Harrods, Knightsbridge. The Knightsbridge lights are already glowing, and Christmas World has been trading since the summer, home to this year's limited-edition Harrods Christmas Bear, Henry, a tradition dating back to 1986. The real event, however, is still to come. Harrods hands its windows to a different fashion house each year: Valentino in 2023, Loro Piana in 2024 and Brunello Cucinelli's cashmere wonderland in 2025, unveiled on 1 December. The 2026 name is yet to be announced, and we will update this guide the moment it is.
The Seventh Day: Selfridges, Oxford Street. Selfridges has packed its bags. "Christmas And The City" transforms the twelve Oxford Street windows into festive scenes from New York, Paris, Tokyo, Bangkok, Rio de Janeiro, Lagos and London, plus the fictional Vice City, complete with a New York subway carriage, tuk-tuks and a Christmas tree built from traffic cones. For the design-minded, artist Gary Card's "The Parakeets Have Landed" occupies the Art Block, while London designer Saskia Martindale has dressed the Orchard Street windows with colourful trees.
Selfridges Restaurants
Read our Brasserie of Light restaurant feature here
Ice, Light and a Little Mischief: How Should You Spend the Evenings?
Photography, Covent Garden, 2026.
The Eighth Day: Covent Garden. Covent Garden switches on its "Theatre of Christmas" on Thursday 12 November, with more than 300,000 lights, a 55ft British-grown tree in the West Piazza and the oversized gold bells, mirror balls and baubles now firmly part of London's festive skyline. It is busy, gloriously so. Go at dusk on a weekday, then duck into Seven Dials under its canopies of light.
The Ninth Day: Skate at Somerset House. The most elegant rink in the city is back in the neoclassical Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court from 11 November 2026 to 10 January 2027, with tickets from £11 to £28.50. This year brings Skate Lates with DJs and collectives including Daytimers and Netil Radio, Somerset House's first K-Pop Party with the Korean Cultural Centre UK, and an Aperol Spritz van parked by the ice. Entry to the courtyard is free if you would rather watch with a drink in hand.
The Tenth Day: Christmas at Kew. For its fourteenth year, Christmas at Kew has a freshly designed three-kilometre route through the Royal Botanic Gardens, running 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. The new star is ITHACA studio's animated willow, with light falling from its canopy like water, alongside the Fire Garden, the Pealight Tree and the finale on the Victorian Temperate House. Our tip: book one of the adult-only evenings on 3 and 9 December. Mulled wine, no buggies.
The Eleventh Day: The Nutcracker, Royal Ballet and Opera. Sir Peter Wright's The Nutcracker runs at Covent Garden from 3 December 2026 to 13 January 2027, and it is, predictably, sold out. Keep refreshing the returns page; it is the most civilised form of Christmas competition. Failing that, cinema screenings begin on 1 December.
The Twelfth Day: Mariah Carey's Holiday Bar, Mayfair. We end, as every December must, with Mariah. The Queen of Christmas brings her Holiday Bar to London for the first time from 19 November 2026, its first outing outside the US, timed to her O2 shows. The exact Mayfair address is still under wraps, but the menu leads with Black Irish cocktails, with weekend brunch and festive merchandise to follow. Register for pre-sale now; you know exactly what we want for Christmas.
And If You Have a Thirteenth Day?
Photography, The Fire Garden, Ham Yard Hotel.
The Connaught, Carlos Place. Mayfair's other great tree is an art commission rather than a fashion one, a tradition that has drawn Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley and Tracey Emin, and last year Urs Fischer. The 2026 artist is yet to be revealed, so watch this space, and Carlos Place.
The Fire Garden at Ham Yard Hotel, Soho. Firmdale opens its usually private roof terrace as a candlelit winter hideaway, with fire pits, lanterns and very generous heaters. Tickets are limited, so treat it as a date-night booking.
Bridgerton Festive Afternoon Tea at The Lanesborough, Knightsbridge. The Regency-themed festive tea returnsto Hyde Park Corner, where a butler is assigned to every guest room. It is dressy and frivolous, as Christmas tea should be.
Miracle on Russell Street, Covent Garden. The city's most gloriously over-decorated Christmas bar has moved to a larger home at 9 Russell Street, open 9 November to 30 December. It is kitsch, joyful and books out fast. Consider it the antidote to everything above.
THE FLUXX Christmas Essentials
Who designed the Claridge's Christmas tree in 2026? Dame Anya Hindmarch has designed the 2026 Claridge's tree as a climbable treehouse, unveiled in the hotel's Mayfair lobby on Wednesday 25 November 2026.
What is the theme of Christmas at The Savoy in 2026? From Monday 16 November, The Savoy celebrates Around the World in 80 Days with Champagne Laurent-Perrier, and Liberty London designs its Christmas tree.
When do the Bond Street and Covent Garden Christmas lights switch on? Both switch on on Thursday 12 November 2026. Bond Street lights up at 7pm, in the final year of its Crown Jewels design.
What are the Selfridges Christmas windows for 2026? The theme is "Christmas And The City": twelve Oxford Street windows inspired by New York, Paris, Tokyo, Bangkok, Rio de Janeiro, Lagos, London and the fictional Vice City.
When is Skate at Somerset House open? It runs from 11 November 2026 to 10 January 2027, with tickets from £11 to £28.50, and is closed on Christmas Day.
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