Where London's best-known markets are this year, when they open and what each one is like London Christmas markets start popping up in early November, filling parks, riversides and squares with wooden chalets, mulled wine and the smell of roasting chestnuts. Some are huge days out with rides and ice rinks, and others are small enough to wander round in half an hour on the way somewhere else. Most are free to enter. Below you will find the best-known central London Christmas markets for 2026, when they open and what to expect at each one, so you can choose where to go.
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Hyde Park Winter Wonderland
Winter Wonderland is the biggest of them all, taking over a large part of Hyde Park between Thursday 19 November 2026 and Sunday 3 January 2027. It only closes on Christmas Day. Alongside rows of market stalls you will find fairground rides, an ice rink, a giant observation wheel, circus and ice shows, and plenty of places to warm up with a hot drink. Tickets and entry times vary through the season, so check the official website before you go, and aim for a weekday if you want shorter queues.
Southbank Centre Winter Market
Down by the river, the Southbank Centre Winter Market lines the Queen's Walk with alpine-style wooden chalets selling gifts, street food and warm drinks. It opens in early November and runs into the new year. It is free to visit and spread along the Thames, so it pairs well with a stroll along the South Bank to see the river lit up at night, and a morning there leaves time to cross the river for a Christmas lunch in Soho. With the London Eye turning beside it and the lights of the Embankment across the water, it is one of the prettiest markets in the city after dark.
Christmas in Leicester Square
Leicester Square hosts one of the most central markets in London, a ring of traditional wooden stalls selling crafts, sweet treats and warm drinks, with an ice rink running round the outside. It usually opens in November and stays until early January. Because it sits in the middle of the West End, a few minutes from Covent Garden, Chinatown and the theatres, it is easy to drop in for half an hour before a pre-theatre meal, after some shopping or on your way to dinner on Old Compton Street.
Which London Christmas market should you visit?
Winter Wonderland is the one for a full day out, especially with children who want rides, shows and skating. The Southbank market is better for an evening stroll by the river with street food and a mulled wine in hand. Leicester Square is the quickest and most central, ideal if you only have an hour between shopping and a theatre trip. Plenty of Londoners visit more than one over the season, starting with the smaller markets and saving Hyde Park for a weekend. A market trip also pairs well with a work Christmas dinner in London, with the stalls first and a table for the team afterwards.
Tips for visiting London's Christmas markets
Timing makes the biggest difference. December weekends are the busiest days at every big market, so a weekday visit or a trip in November gives you more space at the stalls and shorter queues for food. Bring a tote bag for gifts and a pair of gloves, since your hands will be full of hot drinks and shopping for a while. Opening hours often change over Christmas week and the days around New Year, so check each market's website on the morning you set off rather than relying on last year's times. Big groups are easier to keep together with a plan for afterwards, and private hire means everyone ends up round one table.
Somewhere warm to eat after the markets
When you have had your fill of mulled wine and want to sit down to a hot meal, 64 Old Compton Street sits a short stroll from Leicester Square on one of Soho's liveliest streets. In December the restaurant is decked out for the season, and our big windows look straight out onto the street. Bring your shopping bags and order a plate of carbonara or a hand-stretched pizza for the table, or bring a group in for the festive Christmas menu. After a day of crowds and cold air, a warm table and a plate of pasta round off the outing nicely.