Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mon-Tue 10:00-15:00, Wed-Thu 10:00-17:00, Fri-10:00-18:00, Sat 8:00-17:00, closed
Sun; south of London Bridge, where Southwark Street meets Borough High Street; Tube:
London Bridge, tel. 020/7407-1002,
www.boroughmarket.org.uk
). While at the market, be
sure to sample traditional favorites such as mulled wine, mince pie, Christmas cake, and
Don't forget to pick up some
Christmas crackers
to give your holiday meals some
extra bang. Not to be confused with something you eat, these fun party favors contain a
paper crown, a teeny gift, and a corny joke. Buy them at grocery or department stores,
find a friend, and pull hard.
Another popular holiday food event is the German
Christmas Market,
on the South
Bank between the London Eye and the Royal Festival Hall (daily late Nov-Christmas Eve,
Tube: Waterloo,
www.xmas-markets.com
)
.
Spending December 25 in London? While almost everything is closed, and there is no pub-
lic transit (not even the Tube), you still have a few options for getting out.
Popular
church services
are held both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Westmin-
ster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, St. Paul's, and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, among other
places. Warning: These draw large crowds, so ask in advance about when to arrive. (For
example, you may need to reserve free tickets in advance—available in Nov—and wait in
line several hours for the Abbey's 16:00 service on Christmas Eve; 23:30 service is less
crowded; tel. 020/7222-5152.)
The Peter Pan Cup
swim race,
held in Hyde Park every Christmas morning since
1864, is named in honor of
Peter Pan
playwright J. M. Barrie, who presented the first
cup. Only members of the local swimming club may compete, but spectators are welcome
(9:00, south side of The Serpentine—a lake in the center of the park). Break the ice by
asking a local where to find the nearby Peter Pan statue.
London Walks offers two guided
walking tours
on December 25, with appropriate
themes such as “Christmas Morning 1660” and “Charles Dickens'
A Christmas Carol
”
(meet at Trafalgar Square Christmas tree, tel. 020/7624-3978 or recorded info tel. 020/
7624-9255,
www.walks.com
).
Watch the Queen's annual
Christmas message
on the BBC at 15:00. If you miss it,
you can watch it online on Her Majesty's Royal YouTube channel (
www.youtube.com/
If your visit extends through the
New Year,
here are two events to be aware of: New
Year's Eve
fireworks
from the London Eye attract at least 400,000 revelers to Trafal-
gar Square and the nearby riverbank, with good viewing spots staked out hours in ad-