The London Christmas Day Lunch Cruise and Guided Tour is a 6-hour-30-minute day out on 25 December 2026, combining a morning coach tour of London with a Thames lunch cruise. Check-in is 8:15am at Bus Stop 1, Bulleid Way, Victoria, London SW1W 9SH, departure 8:30am; the coach reaches Westminster Pier at about 11:30am, boarding is at 11:45am and the cruise sails at 12:00pm, returning around 3:15pm. A professional guide accompanies the coach and a Christmas lunch is served on board. Children under 5 are not admitted and a smart-casual festive dress code applies. From £228 per adult, cancellable free of charge until 20 December.
The only day London belongs to nobody
On 25 December the Underground does not run, the buses stay in their depots and the roads empty out. It is the one morning of the year when a coach can cross central London without stopping, and that is what this tour is built on: two and a half hours through a city with nothing in it, past buildings you would normally photograph over somebody's shoulder.
The coach reaches Westminster Pier at about half past eleven and the day changes register. You board, the boat leaves at midday, and lunch is served while the river carries you past the same skyline you have just driven through — seen from the water, which on Christmas Day is the emptiest place in London.
How the day is divided
8:30am — the coach
A guided drive through central London with a professional guide on board, on roads that carry a million people on an ordinary Friday and nobody at all on this one. The coach reaches Westminster Pier at approximately 11:30am.
12:00pm — the cruise
Boarding at 11:45am, departure at midday. Christmas lunch is served on board as the boat works its way along the Thames, returning to the pier at approximately 3:15pm.
Two conditions that decide it
Children under 5 cannot come on this tour. It is not a matter of price or seat type: they are not admitted. If you are travelling with a younger child, the Christmas Day Sightseeing Cruise takes all ages.
There is also a dress code, which is unusual for a day tour and worth reading before you pack: festive smart casual, and no jeans or trainers. The lunch menu is fixed; vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free alternatives can be arranged if requested at least 72 hours in advance. You must bring the e-ticket to board.
Three ways to spend Christmas Day on the Thames
This is the longest and most complete of the three, and the only one that includes the morning on land. If you want the meal without the coach, the Christmas Day Traditional Lunch Cruise is three hours on the water from £169 — but it cannot be cancelled once booked, while this one is free to cancel until 20 December. If you want an hour on the river and nothing else, the Christmas Day Sightseeing Cruise costs £30 and admits every age.
