Regent Street’s Christmas lights, where London’s festive glow began

One street switched on the very first Christmas lights in London, and it has been stopping people in their tracks ever since. Every year I promise myself I’ll just walk on by. Every year, the angels win.

If you think of Christmas lights in London, I’m going to guess this is the street you picture: a sweep of glowing angels with outstretched wings, hung high above the red buses and the grand curve of John Nash’s Regent Street. Oxford Street and Regent Street are the biggies, two of the most-visited Christmas attractions in the city, but for me Regent Street is the one that feels most like Christmas. When the angels are up, spread out across the road and twinkling away in all their glory, you know the season has properly started.

I grew up in London, and Christmas shopping in the West End used to be a proper day out with my family: Oxford Street, Regent Street and Carnaby Street, a hot chocolate on the way and maybe some chestnuts from a seller on the corner. I walked Regent Street again this year as stop five on my London Christmas lights walk, nine sets of lights in one evening from Covent Garden to Marylebone, and it’s still the street I’d send anyone to first. Here’s what to know about the Regent Street Christmas lights, from the story behind them to the best time to see them and what’s around the corner.

Regent Street Christmas lights at a glance

• When: switched on on Thursday 5 November 2026, and up until early January (last year’s display came down on 4 January)
• Hours: lit from dusk, around 4pm in November and December, until late evening
• Where: the length of Regent Street between Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus, about a kilometre, with more angels down in St James’s
• Cost: free, and you can see them from the pavement
• Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus at the south end, Oxford Circus at the north
• Combine with: Hamleys, Carnaby Street and the rest of my Christmas lights walk

Map

Here are the Regent Street Christmas lights on a map, with Hamleys, Carnaby Street and the best photo spot. For the full route, from Covent Garden to Marylebone, use the map on my London Christmas lights walk.

The Regent Street angels in 2026

The angels are back for an eleventh Christmas. Regent Street calls them its Spirits of Christmas: more than 30 giant figures of white and gold light with wings that span the street, made from around 300,000 energy-efficient LEDs and strung from building to building above the traffic. They carry on beyond Regent Street itself, down into St James’s, and in St James’s Market an illuminated Wishing Tree lets you tap your card to donate to The Felix Project, the London food charity.

They were switched on this year on 5 November, which happened to be Bonfire Night, and for the first time since 2019 the street was closed to traffic for the evening while the crowds watched. That was a one-off: for the rest of the season Regent Street is open to buses, taxis and cars, so you’ll be watching from the pavements and crossing at the lights.

What I love about the angels is how they change with the light. At dusk, with the sky still dark blue behind them, they look delicate, almost like lace. By the time it’s properly dark they’re blazing, and from the southern end of the street you can see them repeating into the distance, one after another, all the way up the hill.

How London’s Christmas lights began on Regent Street

This is really where Christmas lights in London began. In 1954, the first Christmas without rationing, London still looked drab after the war, and Regent Street’s shopkeepers decided the city needed cheering up. They strung up the first Christmas street lights in the capital, Oxford Street followed in 1959, and before long half the West End was at it.

It hasn’t been unbroken. In the early 1970s, with money tight for both shops and councils, London went largely without Christmas lights for a few years, and it took the local traders until the late 1970s to bring them back. And not every year was a hit. In 1998, Regent Street’s lights were handed over to a well-known fizzy drink, which lit up the street in orange with the message “‘Tis the season to be Tango’d”. Let’s just say it did not go down well. Londoners were pretty displeased that one of the best-known spots for Christmas lights in London had been turned into nothing more than a tacky advert.

Today it couldn’t be further from that. The angels arrived in 2016, inspired by the street’s very first displays, and they’ve been a favourite ever since.

When to see the Regent Street lights (and where to stand)

The lights come on at dusk, so in late November and December you can see them from about 4pm. Go just after sunset for the blue sky behind the angels, and on a weekday if you can. The Saturdays before Christmas are the busiest days of the year here, and the pavements around Oxford Circus can feel like a scrum.

For the classic photo, stand on the pavement near the top of the Quadrant, the curved stretch just north of Piccadilly Circus, and wait for a red double-decker to pass underneath an angel. There’s always another bus along in a minute or two. Further up, the stretch around Hamleys and Liberty’s corner is good for looking straight down the street at the angels lined up one after another.

Hamleys

You can’t walk up Regent Street at Christmas without popping into Hamleys. If you’re a kid in London, Christmas means Hamleys. The shop itself dates back to 1760, when William Hamley opened a toy shop called Noah’s Ark on High Holborn, and it has had a branch on Regent Street since 1881. That makes it one of the oldest toy shops in the world, and today’s flagship at 188 to 196 Regent Street is set over seven floors.

It always puts on quite a show at Christmas, with new windows unveiled on the night the lights go on and a tree inside the door. It’s a lovely place to explore at this time of year, especially if you’ve got little ones in tow, and if you haven’t, you can always pretend you’re shopping for a family member. Your secret is safe with me.

Carnaby Street and Kingly Court

On Regent Street it’s too easy to head straight for Oxford Street, but just off it, a couple of minutes’ walk from Hamleys, is Carnaby. It always does something really different with its lights, which is why it’s such a joyful little detour. This year it has gone full 90s with Press Play on Christmas, a throwback to the days when Christmas shopping around here was an all-day event.

Kingly Court, the three-storey courtyard of restaurants and bars behind Carnaby Street, is the place to stop and warm up. I broke for dinner at Padella on Kingly Street, just behind it, and set off again rested and ready for the next set of lights. If you’d rather shop than eat, Liberty, the mock-Tudor department store famous for its floral prints, is also just off Regent Street, on Great Marlborough Street.

Where to go next

Regent Street is the heart of Christmas lights in London, but it’s only one stop. From Oxford Circus, carry straight on west along Oxford Street, where this year’s lights have gone Harry Potter on the newly pedestrianised stretch, then on to Bond Street and Marylebone. If you’re starting from scratch, the full route begins in Covent Garden and takes in the Strand, St Martin’s Lane and Leicester Square before you reach Regent Street. It’s all in my London Christmas lights walk, with a map.

Handy tips for the Regent Street Christmas lights

Beat the crowds

Weekday evenings in November and early December are the calmest. If you can only go at a weekend, go as soon as it gets dark and finish before the evening rush around Oxford Circus.

Wrap up

You’ll be standing still and looking up a lot, so bring gloves and a hat. My London packing list has the rest.

Getting home

Oxford Circus station can be exit-only or briefly closed when it’s very busy, so if the queues are long, walk to Bond Street or Tottenham Court Road instead. My London travel tips cover contactless fares and more.

Watch my Christmas lights walk

The Regent Street angels are about 11 minutes into my walking tour of London’s Christmas lights, with Hamleys and Carnaby Street straight after.

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• London’s best Christmas lights: a walking tour from Covent Garden to Marylebone
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