London does Christmas on screen better than anywhere. Love Actually opens with its streets and lights, Bridget Jones buys her tree at Borough Market, and Paddington lives a short walk from some of the best shops in the city. Many of these places are real, public and free to see, which makes them an easy thing to build a festive weekend around.

This guide sorts the locations into what you can actually visit, what was a studio set, and when the lights, rinks and markets are on in 2026. Opening times and prices change, and some of the 2026 details were still being announced when we checked, so look at each official website before you go.

The short version

  • Best for a free walk: the West End. South Molton Street, Selfridges, St Christopher's Place, Regent Street and Covent Garden are all in the same area.
  • Best for Love Actually fans: the South Bank, Somerset House and Trafalgar Square.
  • Best for families: the Paddington Bear Experience, plus the lights and a skate.
  • Be realistic about: 10 Downing Street. The famous dancing scene was filmed at Shepperton Studios, not there.
  • Book ahead: the Paddington Bear Experience and the Somerset House ice rink.

Love Actually

This is the big one, and a lot of it is still there. Here are the locations from the film that you can visit or see from the street:

  • Selfridges, Oxford Street: where Harry buys a necklace, and the gift-wrapping scene. It is a working department store. Harry and Karen meet at St Christopher's Place, the shopping piazza behind it.
  • South Molton Street, near Bond Street: the festive lights in the opening montage.
  • Somerset House: the central courtyard and the winter skating rink appear in the opening montage.
  • Trafalgar Square: also in the montage, with the giant Norwegian spruce that is given to London every year.
  • Gabriel's Wharf and City Hall, South Bank: Daniel and Sam's riverside conversation was filmed at Gabriel's Wharf, and City Hall is the exterior of Billy Mack's record company office. One guide says the benches have moved slightly since filming.
  • Albert Bridge, Chelsea: the Prime Minister's evening drive across the bridge.
  • St Luke's Mews, Notting Hill: where Mark holds up his cue cards on Juliet's doorstep. It is a public residential street, so be considerate of the people who live there.
  • Grosvenor Chapel, South Audley Street: the wedding scene. The chapel holds regular concerts, so you can go in at those times.
  • Heathrow Airport: the opening and closing scenes. The airport crowds were filmed documentary-style.

A few things people expect are not real. 10 Downing Street is not a filming location, and the Prime Minister's dancing scenes were shot at Shepperton Studios. Billy Mack's recording studio was filmed at Westway Studios in Notting Hill rather than at City Hall. And some of the film is set in France, which was shot in Vidauban and Marseille.

Bridget Jones

Bridget Jones's Diary is a Christmas film as much as a romance, and the best of it is near London Bridge.

  • Borough Market: where Bridget shops, including for the ingredients of her blue soup. It has more than 100 stalls under railway arches. One guide recommends Padella for pasta and Bread Ahead for doughnuts.
  • The Globe Tavern: the pub under the railway arches near London Bridge is the one used for Bridget's local, and its exterior appears in shots of her home.
  • Her flat: the flat is listed at 8 Bedale Street, Southwark, above the pub. Only the exterior was filmed on location, and the interiors were shot at Elstree Studio. A Thai restaurant, Khao Bird, now occupies that space and has some film-themed dishes on its menu.

Paddington

Paddington is warm and very London, and a lot of it is easy to do with children.

  • Portobello Road: Paddington's favourite place to look for antiques.
  • Primrose Hill: the real house used for filming is on Chalcot Crescent. The hill has views across north London.
  • Natural History Museum: the taxidermy scene was filmed here. Entry is free, although the bear himself is not on display.
  • Little Venice: a short walk from Paddington station, with canal walks and pubs.
  • Statues: there are 23 Paddington statues across Britain, including two in London and one at Paddington station.
  • The Paddington Bear Experience: an immersive attraction at County Hall on the South Bank that recreates the Brown family home and Paddington station. Visit London lists adult tickets from £34.00 and child tickets from £24.00. It takes about 70 minutes from your start time, tickets must be booked in advance, and it is open seven days a week, with the first entry at 10am (11am on Thursdays). You can book Paddington Bear Experience tickets on Viator.

Hatfield House and Knebworth House, both in Hertfordshire, also appear in Paddington 2, but they are outside London.

Other festive films worth adding

  • Last Christmas: Covent Garden, with its annual snow flurries, and Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street.
  • About a Boy: Islington, with independent coffee shops and antique shops on its side streets.
  • A Christmas Carol: Dickens' London is mostly the City, with its courts, alleys and churches. One map says Simpson's, the restaurant where Scrooge has his melancholy dinner, was closed when it was published, so check before you plan to go.
  • The Holiday: the Surrey village of Shere, with cottages, two pubs, a tearoom and a duck pond. It is outside London, so it works as a separate day out.

London at Christmas in 2026: dates

These are the dates we could find. Some of them come from articles that were written before the events were fully announced, so check each official site.

  • Regent Street lights: Thursday 5 November, with the street closed to traffic for the switch-on.
  • Covent Garden lights: Thursday 12 November, with 30,000 LED lights across the Piazza, Seven Dials and Neal's Yard.
  • Oxford Street lights: the date was still to be confirmed in the article we found. Oxford Street is due to go traffic-free from autumn 2026, and the lights will include Harry Potter-inspired designs. If you would rather see them from a seat, there is a London by Night Christmas Lights open-top bus tour on Viator, so check its route, duration and price before you book.
  • Skate at Somerset House: 11 November to 10 January. A September article gave adult tickets at £15 to £28.50 depending on peak or off-peak, and children's at £11. Book early, because the best slots sell out.
  • Hyde Park Winter Wonderland: 19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. The article we found did not have ticket prices or the full attractions list yet.

If you want a market as well, see our guide to the best Christmas markets in the UK. If you are travelling with Harry Potter fans, our Harry Potter filming locations guide covers the Warner Bros. Studio Tour.

How to group it into days

A West End evening. Start at South Molton Street, walk to Selfridges and St Christopher's Place, then Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus, and finish at Covent Garden. All of it is free to see, and it is at its best after dark.

A South Bank day. Gabriel's Wharf and City Hall for Love Actually, the Paddington Bear Experience at County Hall, and Somerset House if you want to skate. Borough Market and the Globe Tavern are not far along the river, so you can end the day there.

Notting Hill and Portobello. Portobello Road for Paddington, and St Luke's Mews for the cue cards. Go early on a weekday if you want it quiet.

A family day. The Paddington Bear Experience, the Natural History Museum, then lights in the evening.

What it costs

Most of this is free from the street. The prices we found:

  • Paddington Bear Experience: adults from £34.00, children from £24.00 (Visit London listing)
  • Skate at Somerset House: adults £15 to £28.50, children £11 (September 2026 article)
  • Natural History Museum: free entry
  • Lights, Trafalgar Square, Borough Market (to browse), Portobello Road: free to see

We could not find 2026 ticket prices for Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, so check the official site.

Before you go

  • Be kind to residents. St Luke's Mews and Chalcot Crescent are streets where people live, so keep the noise down.
  • Go early or on a weekday. The lights and the market streets are busiest on weekend evenings and in the final weeks before Christmas.
  • Wrap up. London in December is cold and damp, and most of this is outdoors.
  • Book the two things that sell out. The Paddington Bear Experience and the Somerset House rink are the ones to reserve first.

Planning more? See all our travel guides for UK travellers.

Where this comes from

Opening times, prices and what is still standing change, so this is a snapshot checked on 2 November 2026. These are the sources it draws on: