flanneruk

London doesn't stop functioning on Christmas Day.

In the centre, there's a fair smattering of convenience stores and ethnic restaurants, as well as a few more conventional restaurants and hotels: in the suburbs a reasonable amount of pubs. Petrol stations do land office business in batteries, cream and other ways of keeping the brats shtum.

People working in them need to get there and back, and the rest of us need to get to Auntie Nellie's (or, more often, trek over to ferry Auntie Nellie because the mean old cow won't fork out for a taxi and we're not having her stay overnight after we saw what a glass of Wincarnis did to her last year).

So in fact, many streets are modestly busy, and we take east-west routes through the West End we'd avoid the other 364 days of the year. Not London busy: if you've ever had the misfortune to walk round central San Francisco around 7 am on a Saturday morning, you'll have experienced London on Christmas Day.

What IS deserted, though is The City. And that's such an amazing sight, it's worth cycling or walking there just to see.

And to repeat: practically all entertainment places are open on Boxing Day. So are most paid-for, profit-making, attractions (like The Eye) Usually, few big shops in central London are open Boxing Day (though suburban malls are chocker), and most public-sector attractions (like the main mueums) are closed.

All of which said, this isn't a tradition, at least not as we define tradition in Britain ('been going longer than the USA' is a good rule of thumb). Closure patterns fluctuate over the years (you'll recall the shops were all open Christmas Day in "A Christmas Carol&quot, and I think we're about to see more places open as businesses scrape for sales. The railway companies have said they'll shorten this year's break, though they've not said how precisely yet.

Cholmondley_Warner

Oh and another thing you might want to bear in mind: Christmas is the period when the railways get their big repairs done. so expect a lot of the main lines to be severely restricted between Christmas day and the day of the big return to work which is 5th January this year.

It really is best just to sit at home with a big bottle of VP sherry and wait for the whole horror to pass.

cherikm

Everything said hear has been really illuminating. As I started this post, I'll respond briefly to the comment that it's stupid to come over xmas. We're traveling with my adult children, who happen to be school teachers. This is the week they have off, and we wanted to go somewhere together other than a beach vacation. I find London a wonderful city, I love the theater (yeah Leicester Square booth) the cultural attractions, the walking around. All of us are big walkers, getting everywhere on foot won't be a problem. We'll just have to deal with the closures and infrequent transportation. We love ethnic food, and I'm hoping Chinatown will be open xmas day. Don't know where we're staying yet, there are really good deals around and I've several options. London Walks will definitely be on our schedule. I do want to stay somewhat central, Bloomsbury, Mayfair, we love theater and I'd like to be able to walk home after it lets out. Anything under a mile or two from the theaters should be no problem. So, at this point, I'll hire a car service and see what happens. Any other suggestions much appreciated. We're going and we're going to have a great time!

janisj

&quot;<i>I'll respond briefly to the comment that it's stupid to come over xmas. </i>&quot; Huh? Who said anything about it being stupid? You've received nothing but helpful hints how to make a Christmas visit work.

Unless you mean CW's &gt;&gt;I never understand why anyone would come here at Christmas. It's just awful before, during and after. CW - Scrooge.&lt;&lt; Which said nothing about visiting being stupid. He did sign off &quot;<u>Scrooge</u>&quot; after all.

It seems odd that w/ all the good/useful info offered, you decide to dwell on/respond to that single one.

Cholmondley_Warner

Christmas in London - a grumpy resident writes:

Pre Christmas Hell: Office parties full of blowsy secretaries and blokes in cheap suits trying to boff said secretaries in broom cupboards. Same groups of amateuer drinkers clogging up the pubs and throwing up purple vomit from drinking vodkas and cranberry juice.

Horrible christmas music everywhere.

Christmas day: Total lockdown with relatives. Tiddly aunties, the Queen at 3pm and James bond in the evening.

Post Christmas: London looks like the scenes from 28 days later. In fact you would think we'd been invaded by the japanese as they are the only people out and about.

Don't say you weren't warned.

KayF

Hi cherikm,
my husband and I had a week in an apartment in London over Christmas a few years ago and we had a great time. Don't be put off, we found lots of things to do.

We went to the theatre, if you visit the Half Price Tix booth you can get some good deals.

Booked tickets ahead of time (online) for a jazz concert in the crypt of St Martins in the Fields in Trafalgar Square. About 5 pounds each.

There are huge Boxing Day sales and we visited Oxford St but the crowds were a bit much. If you can brave the hordes, you might get some bargains. Tip - the crowds get much worse in the afternoon.

We went to the Ceremony of the Keys, at The Tower of London. You have to get tickets ahead of time, there are a few threads on this forum about what to do etc. I wrote a few months in advance and gave them every date we could go and we ended up with our first choice. They will mail your tickets. It was good to see though pretty damn cold at night and I would recommend a separate visit to The Tower a day or two before to better appreciate what the ceremony is all about. Tickets are free. There was also outdoor ice-skating in the Tower moat.

On Christmas Day, you should be able to find a Chinese or Indian type restaurant for lunch or dinner and Marks and Spencers have a good selection of food if you just want to curl up with a snack in your hotel room in the evening. You can check on M&amp;S website for opening hours and the nearest store to where you are staying.

The year we were in London there were great Christmas decorations in Regent Street.

I'm sure you'll have a great time.

Kay

Nonconformist

&quot;Marks and Spencers have a good selection of food if you just want to curl up with a snack in your hotel room in the evening. You can check on M&amp;S website for opening hours and the nearest store to where you are staying.&quot;

They definitely won't be open on Christmas Day, and I wouldn't count on it on Boxing Day.

seetheworld

Last year we arrived on Christmas Eve evening, so had the same issues.

The rental car counters will be closed. There are no trains. There are no busses to my knowledge.

The good news is that you can hire a car service. The bad news is that it will cost you, dearly. But you won't have to walk.

M&amp;S will be closed on Christmas Day. Your best bet will be dining at the hotel or find an Indian restaurant.

Other than Christmas and Boxing Day, you will have no problem keeping busy. Just be mindful that pubs do not serve food past 9pm and in some cases earlier than that.

Enjoy.

flanneruk

<b>HEALTH WARNING TO OUR TRANSATLANTIC COUSINS</b>

CW is a &quot;character&quot;. He indulges in the great English vice of bantering: a code the English, the Irish and the Australians understand, but that's incomprehensible to people from less fortunate societies.

As a general rule of thumb, unless there's clear evidence to the contrary: <b> don't take anything he says seriously </b>

When he says Christmas in Engand is crap, he means HIS Christmas is crap. No conclusions at all can be drawn from this about how it is for the other 50 million of us - or you, if you want to come here then.

Just understand, though: it's Christmas, but not as Charles Dickens would have known it.

sashh

Well, not everyone gets a day off on Christmas. Hospital staff, emergency crew comes to mind. How do these people get to work on Christmas Day if they don't have a car?

Ok having been one of these people we discuss it within the department. As a person with no children and who doesn't celebrate Xmas I used to volunteer. You either have your own transport, get accommodation at the hospital or the hospital pays for a taxi in to work.

Re the comment over pay - if you work the Christmas bank holidays yu get double pay - but you get that for the bank holiday. If Christmas is on a weekend the people who work 25th and 26th get normal pay and those who work 27th and 28th get the double pay.

Cholmondley_Warner

When he says Christmas in Engand is crap, he means HIS Christmas is crap&gt;&gt;&gt;

EVERYONE'S Christmas is crap. It's designed to be crap. It's at the wrong time of year and it brings the worst out in people.

If it was in the middle of summer it might just work.

CW - Not a fan of Christmas. We had our last years xmas party at Charlton Athletic. I have not the words....

Londonres

I'm not a Christian, but over Christmas I usually get dragged off to church by my relatives. I thoroughly enjoy a good sing-song of all the traditional carols. The four London cathedrals are well worth a visit over Christmas.

A walk in one of the London parks at this time is also enjoyable on a fine day. On Christmas Day, you can see the swimming race in the Serpentine at Hyde Park:
http://www.serpentineswimmingclub.com/

If the weather is rubbish, head for the glass houses at Kew Gardens - it's open on Boxing Day and has several Christmas events.

&quot;The Snowman&quot; will be on at the Peacock Theatre, except Christmas Day.

The Tower of London is doing a Medieval Christmas from 27 to 31 December.

Londonres

This article was for 2007, but it will give you some ideas of where to eat out on Christmas Day.

http://www.timeout.com/london/christ..._Day_2007.html

I have eaten at Little Bay and can recommend it as good value. If you stay in Bloomsbury, you could walk there.

cherikm

Thanks for the dining recommendation (Little Bay). It sounds great as I don't want to spend 75 euros or more per person. Can you tell me which branch is walking distance to Bloomsbury? Or are any walking distance to Mayfair area? Not sure where we're staying yet, but with no tube service we need something within walking distance (we're great walkers). If all else fails, I guess we'll walk to Chinatown and hope something is open.

kaski4

We took our whole family, four &quot;children&quot; aged 21-27 to London over Christmas and had a wonderful time. On Christmas need to eat at ethnic restaurants, we had Middle Eastern. Hotels have dinners that are really big and really expensive. The walk was great but we all got cold, cut out and went to a beautiful hotel for a drink of hot wine! Also check out the musical entertainment we went to a great sing a long at V and A.
Biggest problem was flying home after. The lines at the airport were ridiculous. My son went at 8am and could not even get into the door at Heathrow for three hours. He missed his flight but got one the next day and went even earlier.

Back2Sabi

I spent Dec. 26-Jan 1 in London a few years back (2006). Not until I read this post did I know that London was &quot;shut down&quot; or at least &quot;slow&quot; during this time. I found plenty to do and nearly everything open. Didn't have a single problem! The rest of my family, who were there over Christmas Day, did have a little more trouble getting around on the 25th. But they found a nice Indian restaurant open a few miles away and enjoyed the lovely, lonely walk!

Londonres

The Farringdon Road branch of Little Bay is the closest to Bloomsbury. It's a walkable distance. From Mayfair you might be able to get to the Battersea branch on foot, but walking back could be difficult.

Underhill

One Christmas in London we went to the midnight service at Westminster Abbey, which was wonderful. What was not wonderful was walking all the way back to Berkeley Square afterwards in the cold and damp: nary a taxi to be had. But after we were snuggled down in our beds we looked at the window and saw snow gently fluttering down, and it was magical.

About meals: once we had Christmas lunch in our hotel, Browns, and it was very festive--crackers and all. Another time we went out for Indian food, The only bad experience was Christmas evening, when all we could find was a Quality Inn. My husband began with tomato soup; I had orange juice. They tasted exactly the same.

Fra_Diavolo

When I lived in London I looked forward to Christmas. It was an opportunity to visit Paris or Rome.

tahl

I just returned from a week in London with a quick detour to Stratford (trip report to come). My companions and I remarked that *all over* both we saw flyers in pubs, hotels, and restaurants reading &quot;book now for Christmas&quot; -- so much so that we joked that the &quot;closing down&quot; of London at the holidays couldn't feel as widespread as we'd thought. While some of the pubs/restaurants were likely trying to attract office parties and etc. in the pre-Christmas period, I believe some of them were advertising meals on the 24th, 25th, and 26th.

The only flyer I recall in detail was at the Legacy Falcon hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon, which does a three-day package with extra meals, cocktail parties for guests, etc. If that sort of thing appeals, you could search hotel websites to see if you find something comparable in London.

In London, one pub where I specifically recall seeing a Christmas flyer is the Jugged Hare, on Vauxhall Bridge Road about a 5-min walk from Victoria Station. We found it listed in Rick Steves. As that guidebook says, it's a cozy place in an old bank building, with better-than-average pub food.

I *think* we also saw a Christmas flyer at Punjab, an Indian restaurant on Shaftesbury Ave. across the street from the Forbidden Planet scifi store.