I've spent every Christmas in London — here's why you should too
Share:
Ah, how I used to yearn for the joyful abandon of casting off London life for that Christmas week to install oneself with far-off rellies as my friends did in such remote provinces as ‘Dorset’, ‘Royal Leamington Spa’ or ‘THE NORTH’. In my 20s, I genuinely thought I was somehow worse off for having parents who lived near me in London. That my suburban Christmas in Zone 4 was in fact sub-rate for not having gone the distance.
Surely all of these people, with their bibbly bobbly hats, dragging their entire worldly belongings plus the full contents of John Lewis behind them onto a Great Western train were somehow due a toastier, sweeter festive time; ensconced in a chocolate box cottage full of Central Casting cousins and the ability to get really drunk on Christmas Day and just roll into their childhood bed?.
I pictured their Christmas Eve run-ins with school friends another year older, nostalgic and naughty as they reminisced over misspent youth and being back in the old haunts, while I was in my same living room endlessly wrapping for aunties who lived 10 minutes’ drive away.
![[Restaurants for Christmas shopping: the best places to eat in and around London's retail districts]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2023/11/28/10/03/Harrods%20Dining%20Hall.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
I felt I’d be permanently top to tail in tailbacks driving round the North Circular between my parents in north London and my husband’s mum in south-east London, and never really going anywhere at all. Maybe eating fewer Quality Street because of time in the car. Definitely missing out on the essence of repatriation that goes with the festive time of year.
![[Paul Smith's guide to London: Claridge’s, Sir John Soane's Museum and dates at the Tate]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2024/12/20/15/45/GettyImages-2185147024.jpeg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
But in recent times, I’ve realised, London at Christmas is like Paris in August. It’s a special secret for those in the know. Like Kevin’s eerily under-populated but over-lit cul-de-sac in Home Alone, there’s time to go riot in the everyday. Every journey that normally takes half an hour is only 10 minutes. And my kids get to spend time with all of their family within the same day, without having to miss out on another side because we’re taking it in turns.
![[Don't forget the dog! Last-minute Christmas gifts for London's discerning pooches & their owners]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2024/12/19/19/10/Screenshot-2024-12-19-at-17-38-41.png?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
