Christmas Eve and Christmas in London
 

I am going to be spending my honeymoon in London from December 21 to the 27. I would like something cool to do on Christmas Eve with a reasonable expense. Just searching for some good romantic ideas. Thank you.

I'll bet something to do with Dickens is available in London, as a tour or on your own. A pantomime show, a Christmas tradition in England, isn't romantic but is extremely authentic and wonderful. Visiting the lobbies and decorations at some of the great old hotels, like the Connaught, and then staying over at one even one night, might be romantic. But I'd stay in the countryside, maybe in the Cotswalds, at a small hotel or inn in one of the many pretty villages, and choose a place that offers roast goose dinners, Christmas pudding and all that. You could check with the English tourist board in NY. I'm sure many country inns offer this for nostalgic Londoners.

Dear Duane: <BR> <BR>Lola's suggestions sounds great. <BR>Just remember that London shuts down on Xmas. Other than hotels and Asian owned stores, it's closed! You will even have some difficulty finding a taxi on the street. The tubes and buses except to the airport usually don't run either. However, most of the theatres have Xmas Eve performances. <BR> <BR>What the heck. It's your honeymoon. How bad can it be.

I've spent two delightful Christmases in London. It is not true that "everything shuts down." Banks are closed, as are many money changers. It's the same as a holiday in any other metropolitan city. <BR>You'll alwys be able to find a convenience store open, too.. <BR>But even on Christmas Day we had no trouble finding taxis or places to eat. However, we did book our Christmas dinner in advance both trips. One dinner was at The Savoy and another at Claridge's. <BR>On Christmas Eve, we went to St. Paul's one year to midnight services, and to a choral performance at Trafalgar Square another time. <BR>Most pubs and restaurants are open Christmas Eve and theatres schedule performances also.

Would definitely second the midnight mass idea. We went to one at Westminster Abbey and it was a highlight of our trip. The traditions probably wouldn't be very thrilling if you're not Christian, but you certainly don't have to be a practicising one or an Anglican or anything to enjoy the fabulous architecture and the singing. And if you're lucky, as we were, the minister/priest will talk just like Peter Cook in The Princess Bride: "Cwissmas...a dweem wivvin a dweem." That's entertainment in and of itself.