London Christmas Lights Tour Options Compared

There are four ways to see London's Christmas lights with a guide: from a bus, from a black cab, on foot or by bike. Each costs something different, takes a different length of time and shows you different streets. This year the choice matters more than usual, because one of the great displays can only be reached on foot. This guide sets them side by side so you can pick in one read.

Which way of seeing the lights suits you?

Start with a handful of questions. How many of you are there? Can everyone walk for two hours in the cold? And which displays matter most to you? Those answers settle most evenings.

• Two of you, on a budget: a bus seat or a group walk.
• A family or a group of five or six: a black cab, which costs the same whoever fills it.
• You want to stand under the lights: a walk, group or private.
• Someone cannot walk far: a black cab, or a bus if they can climb the stairs.
• Confident cyclists aged 10 and up: the bike ride.

The buses are compared on London Christmas lights bus tours, the cabs and private guides on private London Christmas lights tours, and the walks on London Christmas lights walking tours.

What does each cost for your party?

A bus seat, a walk and a bike are priced per person. A black cab is priced per cab of up to six. So the cheapest choice changes with the size of your party. Here is what each costs in total, computed from each fare.

For one or two of you, the Routemaster is the cheapest guided way round. For six, the lowest cab costs $62.03 each, less than a silent-disco walk at $51.91, and it collects you from your hotel. The full list of fares is in the price guide.

How long does each take?

A bus is the quickest: 75 minutes on the Routemaster, 60 to 90 on the open-top bus from the wheel, and up to two hours on the vintage double-decker in traffic. Group walks run from an hour and a half to three hours. A black cab takes two and a half to four hours, and the bike ride three.

Add the time to reach the start. Buses board at fixed stops; arrive 15 minutes early. A cab comes to you, which saves the most time on a cold night.

Which gets you under the shopping street's lights this year?

Only a walk. From Monday 26 October 2026 the central stretch of Oxford Street, from Orchard Street to Great Portland Street, is closed to buses, taxis and cycles. A bus or cab can cross it at a junction but cannot drive along it, and neither can a bike.

The silent-disco walk goes along the street on foot, and so do the private walks from the opera house and from Bond Street. A black cab can drop you near one end, so you walk it and climb back in. What the closure changes for each kind of tour is in the traffic-free street explained.

Which is warmest?

A black cab, by a distance: it is heated and dry, and you step out only when you choose. Next comes the lower deck of a bus, which is covered. The top deck of an open bus is the coldest seat in London on a December night, and a walk sits between the two, because moving keeps you warm.

Which works with children?

Most of them, with limits. The markets walk with mulled wine is for adults 18 and over, and the open bike ride starts at 10. On the open-top bus, children under 5 ride free on a lap. The black cab from your hotel says London taxis carry no booster seats, while the taxi with short stops on foot lists infant seats.

For small children, the early dark helps. In mid-December the sun sets at 3:52pm and it is dark by about 4:32pm, so you can see the lights and be back for bed. The full answer is in the lights with children.

Which works with a wheelchair?

Every black cab lists wheelchair access, and so do the private walks, the silent-disco walk and the walk from Covent Garden. The open-top bus, the vintage double-decker and the bites bus say they are not accessible, and the Routemaster says nothing either way. Check with the operator before you book, and tell them what you need.

How do travellers rate each way round?

Well, across the board, with the smaller tours scoring highest. The open-top bus from the wheel holds 4.5 from 2,049 reviews, the most of any tour here, and the Routemaster 4.0 from 1,137. The black cab from your hotel scores 4.8 from 92. On foot, the silent-disco walk holds 4.9 from 118 and the markets walk 5.0 from 72.

Read the scores with the size of the tour in mind. A bus of 72 carries far more travellers in a season than a walk of ten, so its score spans a much wider crowd. What travellers say, tour by tour, is on the reviews page.

What does a bus miss?

The narrow streets and the closed one. A bus cannot turn into Carnaby Street or the lanes around Seven Dials, and this season it cannot use the central stretch of the shopping street. It also cannot stop, so a photo is a moving shot through the dark.

What it gives you is the most displays for the least money, a guide who talks all the way and the top deck, where the lights are close. For many visitors that is the right trade.

What does a cab give you?

Your own party, your own route and a warm seat. The cab collects you, and several listings say the route is shaped round you. The taxi with short stops on foot builds the walking into the evening. The cost is the fare: $372.16 to $620.27, which only makes sense split between four to six people.

When is a walk the better buy?

When the lights themselves are the point. On foot you stand under the displays on Regent Street, walk the closed shopping street and slip into the lanes. You also get things no vehicle carries: music on headphones, a glass of mulled wine, a light meal, or the City's Dickens stories.

A walk suits two to four people who are happy on their feet for two hours. You can also go without a guide; the self-guided route maps it leg by leg.

Where does the bike fit?

Between the bus and the walk. In three hours from Kennington the ride covers more ground than a walk, and a bike can stop where a bus cannot. It rides in London traffic, riders on the open tour must be 10 or older, and cycles are banned from the closed stretch this season, so that part is on foot or skipped. A bike, a helmet and a Santa hat are included. Where each ride and walk starts is on the meeting-point map.

Whichever you pick, book an evening after the displays are lit. Which weeks are darkest, and calmest, is on the best time to see the lights.

Frequently asked questions

One tour for each way round the lights

London by Night Bus Tour with Christmas Lights and Live Guide

An open-top double-decker with a live guide for 60 to 90 minutes, from the stop in front of the great wheel. No stops and no toilet, so board ready.

From $40 per person

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London Christmas Lights Private Tour by Traditional Black Cab

A traditional black cab with a guide-driver for up to six, from your hotel, for two and a half hours. One fare covers the cab.

From $538 per group (up to 6)

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London Christmas Lights Guided Tour With Christmas Music

Festive music on headphones and a guide, on foot along the shopping street that traffic has left to walkers, then through the lanes and back.

From $51 per person

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