London Christmas Lights Tours
London Christmas Lights Tours › Where to StayUpdated 2026-09-29

Where to Stay in London for the Christmas Lights

Hours, prices and access verified by the London Christmas Lights Tours team — last checked 2026-09-29.

Stay where you can walk home under the lights. For most people that means Soho, Mayfair or Covent Garden. If you are booking a room around the lights of London at Christmas, match the area to the way you want to see them and to where your tour starts.

We name no hotels and quote no room prices. What follows is geography and the meeting points the tours publish.

The short answer by traveller

First visit, on foot: Soho or Covent Garden, between the main displays

Taking a bus tour: the South Bank for the London Eye stop, or Victoria for the vintage bus

Booking a black cab: anywhere central; the cab comes to your hotel

Families: Covent Garden or the South Bank, with wide pavements and short walks

On a budget: a little further out on a Tube line into the West End; the lights are free once you arrive

Covent Garden and the Strand

Covent Garden is the best all-round base. It is lit itself, it is a short walk to Seven Dials and Trafalgar Square, and most walks start here. The group walk meets outside Covent Garden station, the markets walk at James Street, and a private walk at the Royal Opera House.

The Strand runs down to Trafalgar Square, where the open-top Routemaster leaves from Northumberland Avenue. You can walk to Regent Street in about 15 minutes.

Mayfair and Marylebone

Mayfair sits west of Regent Street, with Bond Street's lights running through it. Marylebone is just north of Oxford Street and quieter at night. Both put you a few minutes from Oxford Street's traffic-free stretch, which you see on foot this season.

The private walk from Bond Street station starts here. It is the priciest area of the West End, so for less, look along Marylebone's side streets.

Soho and Fitzrovia

Soho is the heart of it: Carnaby Street is inside it and Regent Street is its western edge. You can see the main displays on foot in an hour and be back for dinner. Evenings are loud, so ask for a room at the back.

Fitzrovia, just north, is calmer. The silent-disco walk starts at 2 Rathbone Street, in Fitzrovia, and heads down Oxford Street on foot.

South Bank and Waterloo

The South Bank puts you by the river, the wheel and the riverside Christmas market. The open-top bus boards in front of the London Eye, at tourist bus stop 4 on Belvedere Road, two minutes from Waterloo. The bites bus leaves across the river from bus stop 40B on the Embankment.

From here the West End lights are a walk over the Golden Jubilee Bridges, about 30 minutes to Regent Street. The lights and bites walk makes the same crossing and ends back at the market.

Trees strung with star-shaped lights along an avenue at dusk, a black cab passing
Trees strung with star-shaped lights along an avenue at dusk, a black cab passing

Victoria and Westminster

Victoria suits a traveller on a train or coach. The vintage double-decker boards at Gate 0 inside Victoria Coach Station and asks you to check in 15 minutes before. Westminster is a short walk away, and many bus routes pass Parliament.

The West End lights are about 25 minutes on foot, so most people take the Tube. Chelsea's light trail at the Royal Hospital is close by.

Staying further out on a budget

The lights cost nothing, so a cheaper room further out is a fair trade. Choose one on a single Tube line into the West End, so you can reach Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus or Covent Garden without changing trains.

Then pick a tour that starts near a station on your line, or a walk that ends by one. A black cab is the exception: most pick up only in central London, and one sets a limit of 5 miles from Trafalgar Square, so check your address first. What each way of touring costs, per person and per cab, is set out in the tour prices guide.

Area vs departure point

Walking times are rounded, on the flat, at an easy pace. Crowds in December add a few minutes around Oxford Circus.

AreaWalk to Regent StreetTours that start close by
Soho and Fitzrovia5 to 10 minutesThe silent-disco walk (Rathbone Street)
Mayfair and Marylebone5 to 15 minutesThe private walk from Bond Street
Covent Garden and the StrandAbout 15 minutesGroup and private walks; the markets walk; the Routemaster
South Bank and WaterlooAbout 30 minutes, over the riverThe open-top bus; the bites bus and walk at Embankment
Victoria and WestminsterAbout 25 minutesThe vintage double-decker
KenningtonA Tube rideThe bike ride (Kennington Road)

The London Christmas lights bus tours board at fixed stops, the London Christmas lights walking tours meet by stations, and the black cabs among the private London Christmas lights tours start at your door. The simplest rule: stay near the start of the tour you book, or anywhere central if you book a black cab, which comes to your door.

Choose the tour, then the room

See where every lights tour starts and ends, then book a room a short walk away.

See the top lights toursCompare every lights tour

Questions about where to stay

Which area is closest to the Christmas lights?
Soho and Mayfair, either side of Regent Street. From there you can walk to Regent Street, Carnaby and Bond Street in minutes.
Where should I stay for a bus tour?
Near your stop. The open-top bus leaves from the London Eye, a short walk from Waterloo, and the vintage double-decker from Victoria Coach Station.
Do the black cabs pick up from any hotel?
Every private cab picks up from a central London hotel or address. One names a radius, within 5 miles of Trafalgar Square.
Is Victoria a good base?
It is handy for the vintage double-decker and for trains and coaches out of London. It is about a 25-minute walk from the West End lights, so most people take the Tube.

Where these facts come from

Every meeting point is the tour's own, from its listing, checked 29 September 2026. Golden Tours publishes its London Eye stop as tourist bus stop 4. Walking times are our own, rounded and approximate.

Tours that start close to your room

Next: see every start point on the lights map, read the visitors guide, or compare every tour on London Christmas Lights Tours.