Christmas lights in the West End and Mayfair: a walking route
The West End switches on over about four weeks, so the same walk is a different walk in the first week of November and the third. This route runs one way, from Oxford Circus down Regent Street and across Mayfair to Selfridges, so you never walk back through a crowd. Every walking time on it is one we have walked.
- Distance
- About 2.5 miles
- Time
- About an hour walking, two with stops
- Start
- Oxford Circus
- End
- Selfridges and St Christopher’s Place
- Cost
- Free
- Best for
- After dark, from mid-November, once Bond Street and the windows are lit
6 min readChecked
The route, stop by stop
Oxford Circus
Central, Bakerloo and Victoria lines · start here
Come out at the Regent Street corner and look south. The angels over Regent Street are the main event, and they are best from here, looking down the curve of the street.
3 to 5 minute walk
Regent Street
W1 · switch-on Thursday 5 November (confirmed) · shut to traffic 5pm to 9pm that evening
The street runs in a long curve, which is why the lights read as a ribbon from the top. Cross to the east side and walk down it rather than along the west pavement, which is where the crowd goes.
5 to 7 minute walk
Carnaby Street
W1 · switch-on Wednesday 4 November (confirmed)
Overhead installations that change every year, and the first of the switch-ons. It is a small street: walk it end to end and come out on Great Marlborough Street.
2 to 3 minute walk
Liberty
Great Marlborough Street W1 · the Tudor-style building at the top of Carnaby
A department store in a mock-Tudor building, with its own windows and one of the best-loved Christmas shops in London. Go in for ten minutes to get warm, or just look at the windows and the timber front lit up at night.
10 to 12 minute walk
New Bond Street
W1 · lights on from Thursday 12 November
The expensive end of the West End. The lights hang over a street of shopfronts that have been dressed for weeks, and the windows are the point. Walk down the east pavement.
5 to 7 minute walk
Burlington Arcade
Off Piccadilly W1 · a covered arcade with its own hours, so check them on the day
A Regency arcade of small shops under a glass roof, and the warmest five minutes on the route. It is a detour of a few steps and worth doing even if you buy nothing.
5 to 7 minute walk
Fortnum & Mason
181 Piccadilly W1 · windows up by mid-November
The windows are the reason to come. The shop puts real money into them and they are worth a slow look from the pavement, which costs nothing.
5 to 7 minute walk
Berkeley Square and Annabel’s
Mayfair W1 · a private members’ club, so from the outside only
Annabel’s dresses its facade for Christmas every year and people stop in the middle of the square to look at it. It is the last quiet stop before the crowds on Oxford Street.
13 to 17 minute walk
Oxford Street and Selfridges
Oxford Street W1 · the windows face the street
Selfridges’ windows are at the busy end of the route, so you arrive ready for the crowd. Bond Street station is a short walk from here, and so is the end of the route.
5 to 7 minute walk
St Christopher’s Place
W1U · end here · restaurants, and a pedestrianised street off the crowd
A small pedestrianised street with restaurants, and the place to finish. If you want one more market, Marylebone is ten minutes north and has its own lights from 11 November.
When each place switches on
Confirmed means the organiser has announced the date. Expected means last year’s pattern, and nobody should book a flight around it.
- Carnaby Street
- Wed 4 Nov
- Regent Street
- Thu 5 Nov
- Marylebone Village
- Wed 11 Nov
- Covent Garden
- Thu 12 Nov
- Bond Street
- Thu 12 Nov
- Oxford Street
- Early Nov
Confirmed
Confirmed. The street closes to traffic from 5pm to 9pm that evening
Confirmed. Switch-on at 6pm on Devonshire Street
Confirmed. Seven Dials switches on with it, expected
Confirmed. Switch-on event 4pm to 8pm, lights on at 7pm
Expected, not announced
The walk is a partial route until mid-November. The week of 13 November is the first when every place on this page should be lit.
Christmas markets near the route
These are the markets within a short walk or one tube stop of the route. The full list, with every date and its confirmed or expected label, is on the dates page.
- Marylebone
- From Wed 11 Nov
- Covent Garden
- From Thu 12 Nov
- Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park
- Thu 19 Nov to 3 Jan
- Mayfair Christmas Market
- Thu 26 to Sat 28 Nov
Ten minutes north of St Christopher’s Place. Confirmed
A short walk south-east of Carnaby. Confirmed
Fifteen minutes west of Selfridges. The wheel, the rides and the rink need booking separately. Confirmed
Expected, three days only
When to go, and what to avoid
- Go after dark. In mid-November the sun sets shortly after 4pm, so 5pm is the first hour the lights are properly on.
- Saturday evenings are the worst. On Saturday 19 December Oxford Street is the busiest it is all year, so go on a weekday.
- Wear shoes you can stand in. A third of this is standing still and looking up.
- Do not start at Selfridges. The route runs one way for a reason.
Questions people actually ask
When do the West End Christmas lights go on in 2026?
Carnaby Street switches on on Wednesday 4 November and Regent Street on Thursday 5 November. Bond Street follows on Thursday 12 November, with the lights on at 7pm. The week of 13 November is the first when everything on this route should be lit.
How long does the West End Christmas lights walk take?
About an hour of walking, and about two with stops. It is about 2.5 miles from Oxford Circus to St Christopher’s Place.
Can you go inside Annabel’s?
No. It is a private members’ club. The reason people go is the facade, which is dressed for Christmas every year and is best seen from the square.
Which Christmas markets are on this route?
None are on the route itself. The nearest are Marylebone, from 11 November, Covent Garden from 12 November and Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park from 19 November.