Holiday sparkle

The holiday season in London has become a festival of lights. The Christmas lights in Regent Street and Piccadilly are special tourist attractions, with their Spirit of Christmas theme.

Regent Street's Spirit of Christmas

wonder | wander | women take pleasure in joining the tourists and going up and down the twinkling streets taking pictures. When we're too busy to join the crowds, we can still catch the lights from the upper decks of a London bus.

Piccadilly Street

Christmas lights are traditionally lit on the first day of Advent and taken down by Epiphany. In the days before electricity, people decorated their homes and Christmas trees with candles, symbolizing the light of God illuminating the darkness of the world.

Christmas lights in Sloane Square

During the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the lights everywhere alleviate the long hours of darkness and celebrate the season. They also announce the season of Christmas shopping!

Harvey Nichols Christmas windows

Big department stores like Harvey Nichols and Selfridges celebrate the season with special displays, outdoing themselves with movie-set-like installations and annual themes to attract tourists and shoppers.

Marylebone High Street

Historic neighbourhoods like Marylebone also dress up for the season with lights all up and down the pathways and in every shop, turning London into a picture postcard for residents and visitors.

Christmas trees pop up all over the city, especially at landmarks like St. Paul's Cathedral. The Christmas tree at St. Paul's stands between the cathedral and the Millennium Bridge leading to the Tate Modern museum, a popular tourist crossroads.

The Christmas tree at St. Pancras train station this year is a collaboration with Universal Pictures for the film Wicked, creating a tourist attraction within a tourist attraction.

Wicked Christmas tree at St. Pancras

With all this festive cheer surrounding us, wonder | wander | women will be sad to see the lights go down in January. Maybe we'll start a new tradition and keep a new set of lights burning until the spring sunlight returns.

Christmas tree in Duke of York Square