Christmas Day in London- what is there to do?
 

We will be in London Dec.21-27. Is there anything to do on Christmas day? Do the taxis run?

Have a festive lunch at a good hotel (reserve well in advance). Taxis will be hard to find; so choose something within walking distance.

I believe that there may be some guided walks on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Try googling.

Otherwise - not much on at all.

Yes - there are a couple of London Walks -- but you'll need to be staying w/i walking distance of the start/finnish points. There is no public transport in London on Christmas day. You can walk all around - but that is about it.

Some mini cabs do take bookings on Christmas day - but they tend to book up weeks ahead. We've already had reports here on Fodors that some of the usual car services/mini cab companies are fully booked.

Where are you staying?

As others have said, pretty much everything is closed Christmas Day in London. Dec. 26th (Boxing Day) is also a holiday.

Stay near Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral (Roman Catholic) or St. Paul's and go to church on Christmas Day (for the music if you are not religious). Afterwards make a reservation and have a nice lunch somewhere.

&quot;<i>Afterwards make a reservation and have a nice lunch somewhere.</i>&quot;

yes - make a reservation -- as far ahead as your plans are firmed up. Any nice or even just nice-ish restaurant, you can count on Christmas Lunch running about &pound;60 to &pound;150 and up per person. Less at some ethnic places.

And again - book someplace w/i a reasonable walk of where you are staying. Especially since the weather could be nasty.

I've never known bad weather on a Christmas Day in London. Even a few drops of rain are rare.

On Christmas Day, a glorious city - on the other 365 days of a leap year close to choked throughout daylight - is almost deserted. It's practically possible to walk in the middle of the road.

So don't waste time looking for someone to organise a walk for you. Go to any decent bookshop, get a set of good central London walks and see London for yourself the way its architects intended it to be seen. After attending a service in the world's capital of outstanding liturgical music.

You can gawp at the innards of musems or tourist ripoff joints any time.

I do believe London Walks does walks if you are into organized walks. Check out www.walks.com for their schedules.

The thing you do need to sort out is somewhere/thing to eat. Don't expect to find anywhere open within easy travelling (ie walking distance).