Ice-Skating in London at Christmas time is a really big deal – for everyone, not just tourists!  Tons of artificial ice rinks go up for the festive season usually in the grounds or on the doorstep of some gorgeous old building, so you can flail around the ice (or, conversely, show off your skills) by the backdrop of beauty.  A couple of the best are:

Somerset House – Nice and Centrally located, along the Strand near to Covent Garden, you’re bound to be around this area at some point during your stay in London, and here is a great place to have a skate.  The rink is set up within the courtyard, and they also have a little cafe and bar there.  Like most places in London, you have to book in advance, and the tickets are £12-15.

Natural History Museum – From a visitor’s perspective, this is perfectly placed, on the east lawn of the Natural History Museum, which you’d be silly to miss if you were in London.  As this is museum –land in London, the equally excellent Science Museum is just up the road, too.  Adult tickets are at £13, kids at £8.50 and it is wise to pre-book.

Hampton Court – Now this is really special.  Hampton Court is an amazing place with wonderful grounds anyway; to be able to skate in front of the lit-up 16th Century building is something else entirely.  Hampton is a short distance out of London, reachable by train, and tickets are £11.50 for adults, £8 for children.

Christmas Carol Singing – You know, to get you in the mood.  There’s nothing more festive than singing with a bunch of strangers and feeling all warm inside.  If you fancy a bit of light, atmospheric singing, you can go to Trafalgar Square from the 7th until the 22nd of December in the evening and hum along with whichever choir has the stage, right by that giant Christmas tree from Norway.  Or if you take your singing a little more seriously you can book tickets for the Carol Concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral or Westminster Abbey.

Christmas Shopping – Absolute hell for some; but others know where to go, and London shops pull out all the stops for Christmas.  The big department stores are the best, with Selfridges becoming a blaze of light and glitter, Harrods shining like a jewel and Hamleys (for the kids) going so far as to pump fake snow out of the entrance around the doors, just to get you in that festive vibe.

Or the other big shopping possibility around this time is the Christmas fairs.  There’s the Spirit of Christmas fair, which is in Kensington Olympia and is rather high-end; the British Red Cross, which is ticketed and extremely funky, complete with an opening party; or the Greenwich market which is more about the Arts, Crafts and Antiques, set in the gorgeous Greenwich.  If you can’t beat the Christmas shoppers – and sometimes you want to, with a big stick – then you’d better join them!

The Ballet – Not a cheap option, but a time-honoured one in London.  The English National Ballet do their rendition of the Nutcracker Suite every Christmas season and have done for the last fifty years – if that’s not dedication I don’t know what is!