cold, wet, dark, crowded

Anonymous wrote:I went to the carol service at Kings College Cambridge one Christmas Eve. That's the famous one broadcast on the BBC every year.

These days there's a ballot for tickets a couple of months beforehand, so you could give it a try.
https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/a-festival-of-nine-lessons-and-carols

This is on my bucket list. I am very jealous!

London is nice for Xmas especially if you haven’t been there recently. It’s also easy- easy to get to, easy to move around the city, and no language barrier. Stay in Mayfair or near the sites like London Eye.

Anonymous wrote:London is incredibly exciting and festive in the lead up to Christmas, but absolutely shuts down on Christmas Day. Which is fine, but just be prepared that you would likely be wandering around that day (the tube is closed and buses don’t run) or hanging out in a hotel room. Some other cities on the continent, like Paris, have a bit more going on that day.

Oh. I do remember my sister saying the same. They rented a vrbo because of this rather than a hotel room and went shopping the day before so they could cook a Christmas dinner at the vrbo.

We did Madrid one Christmas break. They do a great job with Christmas lights. Every neighborhood is different and beautiful. We did a nighttime tuk tuk tour to hit all of the neighborhoods. We did a bunch of touristy things in Madrid and also did a day trip to Segovia and a day trip to Toledo. It was perfect. Highly recommend! (We did London once too - but we all liked Madrid more!).

London is incredibly exciting and festive in the lead up to Christmas, but absolutely shuts down on Christmas Day. Which is fine, but just be prepared that you would likely be wandering around that day (the tube is closed and buses don’t run) or hanging out in a hotel room. Some other cities on the continent, like Paris, have a bit more going on that day.

Anonymous wrote:I went to the carol service at Kings College Cambridge one Christmas Eve. That's the famous one broadcast on the BBC every year.

These days there's a ballot for tickets a couple of months beforehand, so you could give it a try.
https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/a-festival-of-nine-lessons-and-carols

We did something similar a few years ago. It was mid-December, so not the actual Christmas Day, but we went to a candlelit concert at the Church of St Martin in the Fields. It was very special and we don’t even celebrate Christmas.

Thank you, all, for the suggestions! Merry Christmas!

I liked it but it was extremely crowded, which isn’t my style. Just a warning in case you want something more quiet!

I went to the carol service at Kings College Cambridge one Christmas Eve. That's the famous one broadcast on the BBC every year.

These days there's a ballot for tickets a couple of months beforehand, so you could give it a try.
https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/a-festival-of-nine-lessons-and-carols

love the national gallery
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
british museum
https://www.britishmuseum.org/
had afternoon tea
ate @ borough market
bought gifts @ fortnum & mason
https://www.fortnumandmason.com/diamond-jubilee-tea-salon

buen viaje!

Sounds like a great idea. I love a big city at Christmas.

We are going to London next October. I haven't booked anything but flights yet, but plan on looking over the next few days at hotels, activities etc, and will try to remember to check back in.

My sister did this and really enjoyed it but I can’t think of any particular recommendations they had. Think they saw a show, found a church, ate out etc.

The rest is history podcast did, I think, a Christmas themed walking podcast of London. I’m sure there are walking tours as well. There’s a specific house that scroooge’s was modeled on, for instance.

London or anywhere in Switzerland or in Austria.

We are now empty nesters. Our DC is soon to be married and we are happy for them. They have very kindly discussed that we will now have to split holidays going forward. So, I am thinking ahead as we will be on our own next Christmas and for some reason I keep thinking London. We’ve been before but not for Christmas.

If anyone has done this, or there this year, what part of the city did you stay, anything you really enjoyed and would recommend. Thank you!

Ps. And if no London recs - other cities as well😀