Every year I plan to go and see the Christmas lights in London and every year I fail! Except this year. We headed to the West End on December 23rd - and I am so happy we did, Carnaby Street's Christmas lights being the highlight for me.
Carnaby was the place to be if you were a creative in search of inspiration. Booming in popularity in the 1960s there was nowhere else like it in London. After seeing some pictures of this year's Christmas lights I knew I needed to go and see them for myself.
The installation this year is ocean themed with sustainabilty at its heart, every element uses recycled, repurposed or reusable materials including water-based, eco-friendly, vegan paint.
The collaboration is with ocean conservation charity, Project Zero. Each street represents an area of the ocean in need of conservation. There are jelly fish, kelp, sharks, a whale, sea horses....... We first walked down the streets during daylight and headed back around 3.45pm when it started to get dark.
We got the underground to Oxford Circus first, had a look around Hamley's (which was crazily busy) before walking towards Soho. London was bustling, not a good day to look around the shops but great for plodding around the West End.
Soho is great area to explore, we always head through China Town - my kids love a bubble tea.
We also went to the Christmas market in Leicester Square then headed along to Bond Street. The Royal Arcade was constructed in 1879 and connects Old Bond Street with Albemarle Street in the heart of Mayfair. It is the city’s oldest purpose-built shopping arcade - full of old jewellery and antique shops. The Stella McCartney shop was very impressive.
The Bond Street lights are also worth a look, pretty peacock feathers.
The Oxford and Regent Street lights are angels and angel wings, again very sparkly and pretty to look at.
We took a bus back to Victoria Station before heading home on the train - tired feet and sleepy heads but a lovely few hours out.