Illuminations of London on Christmas Eve is an evening coach tour of the capital’s lights and landmarks on 24 December 2026: check-in at 6:15pm at Bus Stop 1, Bulleid Way, Victoria, SW1W 9SR, departure at 6:30pm and return to Victoria at about 8:30pm. A live guide on board, a luxury coach, and a route through Parliament Square, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and the City, past the London Eye, St Paul’s, the Tower of London and Big Ben. Adults £59, children aged 3 to 16 £54, seniors and students £56, family ticket £221. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
The one evening the city is quiet enough to look at
By 6:30pm on Christmas Eve the shops have shut, the office crowds have gone and the roads are as empty as central London gets. That is what this tour is built around: a sweep through the lit-up West End, Westminster and the City from a warm seat, with a guide telling the stories of the capital’s Christmas traditions as you go. It is short, about an hour and a half, and it drops you back at Victoria in time for whatever you have planned for the evening.
What you see
The route takes in Parliament Square and Big Ben, the London Eye across the river, Piccadilly Circus and the Regent Street lights, Trafalgar Square with its Norwegian tree, and the financial district of the City with St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London. You stay on the coach: this is a drive, not a walk.
Good to know before you book
Be at the departure point 15 minutes before 6:30pm. Children aged 0 to 2 travel free on a guardian’s lap; if you want your infant to have a seat, buy a child ticket. Food, drink, gratuities and hotel drop-off are not included. If you want the lights on another evening, the Christmas Lights Bus Tour runs nightly through the season; on 25 December the Christmas Day bus tour takes over.
