UK winter days out
Golden Tours runs an evening open-top bus tour of London's Christmas lights with a live guide. It is a set route of about 75 to 90 minutes, not a hop-on hop-off ticket. Times, prices, and the exact route are published on the Golden Tours page and can change with traffic.
By Santa · Workshop correspondent, North Pole. Published by Santa's Voice Messages, founded by Stuart Verschoyle. Updated 28 September 2026. Questions: contact@santasvoicemessage.com.
The advertised route passes the Christmas lights on Oxford Street and Regent Street, the Selfridges windows, Piccadilly Circus, and the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, plus The Strand and Aldwych. A live guide talks you through the streets in English. Golden Tours says the 4:15pm departure from Victoria does not drive down Oxford Street.
Buses leave from three tourist stops: Belvedere Road by the London Eye, Golden Tours Stop 8 on Buckingham Palace Road at Victoria, and the tourist bus stop outside Green Park Underground station. You book a departure time and get an e-ticket. This tour starts and finishes at the stop you chose. You cannot hop off and back on.
It is an open-top bus after dark in winter, so coats, hats, and gloves matter, especially on the upper deck. There is no toilet on board, and food and drinks are limited to bottled water. Children aged 0 to 4 travel free if they sit on a lap and do not take a seat. Seats are first come, first served, and a lower-deck ticket cannot move upstairs. The lower deck has space for one fold-away pushchair and a wheelchair.
After the tour, add one thing your child noticed, the Regent Street lights, the Trafalgar Square tree, or the bus itself, in the 200-character box. Santa can refer back to the evening when you play the message on Christmas Eve.
Tell Santa about the Christmas lights or read the FAQs.
No. Golden Tours lists it with their hop-on hop-off buses, but this evening tour is one continuous ride. You stay on the bus from your departure stop until it returns there.
Golden Tours plans about 75 to 90 minutes. They also say heavy Christmas traffic can change the route slightly, and on a quiet evening it can finish in 60 to 75 minutes.
Golden Tours says you can cancel up to 24 hours before departure for a full refund. Check the tour page for the rule that applies to your ticket.