London Christmas Lights Tour by Vintage Bus Open Top
A restored open-top Routemaster for 75 minutes, a top-deck seat promised, leaving from Charing Cross in the late afternoon.
From $29 per person
Check AvailabilityLondon Christmas Lights Map
The displays sit in a tight knot of West End streets, with one outlier in the City. If you are finding your way round a festive lights tour of London, here is the closed stretch of Oxford Street, the displays in walking order, and exactly where each tour boards.
The closed stretch: Orchard Street to Great Portland Street
From Monday 26 October 2026, Oxford Street is closed to buses, taxis, private hire cars and cycles between Orchard Street, by Selfridges, and Great Portland Street, about 0.9 km. Traffic can still cross it from the side streets, and emergency vehicles keep access.
The two ends are not in the closure: Marble Arch to Orchard Street, and east of Great Portland Street to Tottenham Court Road. So you walk the lit central stretch, from Selfridges past Oxford Circus.
The displays in walking order
This order starts at the top of Oxford Street and ends at the river. It takes about two hours at an easy pace, with stops.
- Oxford Street: walk east from Selfridges to Oxford Circus.
- Regent Street: turn south and follow the curve.
- Carnaby Street: cut east into Soho, a few minutes from the curve.
- Seven Dials: cross Shaftesbury Avenue to the sundial pillar.
- Covent Garden: the piazza and its market building, five minutes on.
- Trafalgar Square: down to the Norwegian tree by the column.
Regent Street, Carnaby Street and Seven Dials sit within ten minutes of each other. Leadenhall Market is not on this walk: it is in the City, about 4 km east, and the Tube is quicker.
Where the bus tours board
The London Christmas lights bus tours leave from four different stops, and the stop matters more than the area. The open-top bus boards on Belvedere Road, in front of the London Eye. The vintage double-decker boards inside Victoria Coach Station, at Gate 0.
| Bus | Where it boards | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Open-top bus with a live guide | Belvedere Road, SE1 7NA | Tourist bus stop 4, in front of the London Eye |
| Vintage double-decker | 164 Buckingham Palace Road, SW1W 9TP | Gate 0, inside the coach station |
| Open-top Routemaster | 8 Northumberland Avenue, WC2N 5BY | Outside the Grand Hotel, by Trafalgar Square |
| Bites bus | Victoria Embankment | Bus stop 40B, opposite Embankment Pier |
Arrive 15 minutes before your departure at every stop. The London Eye stop is two minutes from Waterloo station.
Know where you will start?
Compare every lights tour by its boarding point, its length and its fare.
Where the walks meet
Most London Christmas lights walking tours meet outside a Tube station in the West End, and one meets at Temple for the City. The private walks each meet at their own set point.
| Walk | Where you meet |
|---|---|
| Silent-disco walk | 2 Rathbone Street, W1T 1NR |
| Group walk | Outside Covent Garden station, Long Acre |
| Markets walk with mulled wine | 15 James Street, outside Covent Garden station |
| Christmas Carol walk | Temple station, Temple Place |
| Lights and bites walk | Embankment station, Villiers Street side |
| Private walks | Royal Opera House, Charing Cross forecourt or Bond Street station |
| Bike ride | 74 Kennington Road, SE11 6NL |
Black cab pickups
Every black cab among the private London Christmas lights tours picks you up from your hotel or a central London address. One sets a radius of 5 miles from Trafalgar Square, and some also offer a set point at Embankment or on St Martin's Lane.
The exclusive cab drops you back at your hotel, and one lets you finish anywhere in central London. London taxis carry no booster seats.
Where each tour ends
Plan the end of your evening, not only the start. Most walks end by a station.
| Tour | Where it ends |
|---|---|
| Group walk from Covent Garden | Carnaby Street, 5 minutes from Oxford Circus |
| Private walk from the Royal Opera House | Piccadilly Circus station |
| Private walk from Bond Street | Covent Garden station |
| Markets walk with mulled wine | Trafalgar Square |
| Lights and bites walk | The South Bank Christmas market |
| Open-top bus from the London Eye | Back at the London Eye |
Getting between the displays on foot
The West End displays are close enough that walking beats any bus or cab in December traffic. These times are rounded, at an easy pace, and a crowded Saturday adds a few minutes.
| From | To | On foot |
|---|---|---|
| Oxford Circus | Carnaby Street | About 5 minutes |
| Carnaby Street | Seven Dials | About 10 minutes |
| Seven Dials | Covent Garden piazza | About 5 minutes |
| Covent Garden piazza | Trafalgar Square | About 10 minutes |
| Piccadilly Circus | Trafalgar Square | About 10 minutes |
| Trafalgar Square | The London Eye, over the river | About 15 minutes |
So you can walk from Oxford Circus to Trafalgar Square in well under an hour of walking, and the rest of your evening goes on looking up. If you only have an hour, start at Oxford Circus and end in Covent Garden: you see Regent Street, Carnaby Street and Seven Dials on the way. For the full route, leg by leg, follow the self-guided lights walk.
Map of the displays and starts
The West End lights
Oxford Circus at
the centre, with Regent Street, Soho, Covent Garden and the river around it
The map loads from Google only when you press the button. It opens on Oxford Circus; zoom out for the London Eye to the south-east and Victoria to the south-west.
Questions about getting there
Where exactly does the London Eye bus leave from?
From tourist bus stop 4 on Belvedere Road, SE1 7NA, in front of the London Eye. Arrive 15 minutes early; some travellers who went by the postcode alone could not find it.
Where is Gate 0 at Victoria Coach Station?
Inside the coach station at 164 Buckingham Palace Road, not on the street outside. The operator asks you to check in 15 minutes before.
How far apart are the displays?
Oxford Circus to Trafalgar Square is about 1.5 km through Regent Street and the West End. Leadenhall Market is the exception, about 4 km east of Oxford Circus in the City.
Can I walk the whole route myself?
Yes. The displays are free and on public streets, and the order below takes about two hours at an easy pace with stops.
Where these facts come from
Every start point, meeting instruction and end point comes from the tour's own listing, checked 29 September 2026. The stop number is Golden Tours' own. The closure is the Greater London Authority's, with the date confirmed by the Mayor.
- Departure point and visitor centre hours (Golden Tours)
- Next steps to make the West End's main shopping street traffic-free (GLA release, 4 March 2026)
- The traffic-free date confirmed by the Mayor (FashionUnited, 29 September 2026)
Tours from the easiest starts to find
London Christmas Lights Guided Walking Tour
Two hours on foot with a guide, from the Tube station by the market building through the arcades and round the curve, ending in Soho.
From $60 per person, bookings of two
Check Availability
London Christmas Lights Private Guided Taxi Tour
Three hours in a private cab for up to six, the driver free to route round the worst of the traffic, finishing anywhere central.
From $411 per group (up to 6)
Check AvailabilityNext: see each display, street by street, choose a base on where to stay, or compare every tour on London Christmas Lights Tours.