It’s one of the festive period’s great ironies that nothing is less likely to foster goodwill to all men than Christmas shopping.
Unless, of course, you swerve all the mayhem of the high streets, and instead visit one of London’s wonderfully festive Christmas markets, where – aside from perusing interesting stalls selling one-of-a-kind gifts that you actually want to give (and more importantly, someone actually wants to receive) – you can actually enjoy the festive build up with cheery live music; Christmassy snacks and some warming winter grog.
So as an early present to you, we’ve put together a list of London’s best Christmas markets this year (which we’ve taken the liberty of arranging chronologically). If you’re in the market for a little Christmas shopping, read on…
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Christmas Shopping Wednesdays at Spitalfields
There’ll be over 50 independent makers hawking their wares at Old Spitalfields Market every Wednesday between now and the big day, with mulled wine stands, mince pies, street food, craft workshops and twinkling canopies of lights adding to the festive air.
Details: Wednesdays from 13th November, 1-5pm | Old Spitalfields Market, 16 Horner Square, E1 6EW | Free entry
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Kingston Christmas Market
There’s been a market on Kingston’s ancient square since 1242, so it’s safe to say they know how to put a stall or two together. This year there’ll be street food and mulled wine, a live music stage, curling lanes, and a sprawling village of twinkly chalets selling handcrafted wares.
Details: 14th November – 24th December | Kingston Market Place, Kingston-Upon Thames, KT1 1JS | Free entry
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Eccleston Yards Christmas Market
In mid-November Belgravia’s secluded Eccleston Yards will play host to a dozen or so stalls loaded with unique handmade gifts – and since it all coincides quite neatly with the switch-on event for the neighbourhood’s Christmas lights, on the Sunday you’ll also get to enjoy free mulled wine, festive specials and discounts, live music and live reindeer.
Details: 16th & 17th November, 11am-4pm | Eccleston Yards, 21 Eccleston Place, London SW1W 9AZ
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Cockpit Open Studios
Jacob Monk
Over 175 amazingly talented craftspeople are in the driving seat at Cockpit – and over two weekends this winter you’ll be able to browse everything from millinery to Moroccan Zouaq art, while meeting the artists themselves.
Details: 21st-24th November, 12-6pm (Bloomsbury), 29th Nov – 1st December, 12-6pm (Deptford) | From £5 (book ahead)
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Chelsea Physic Garden’s Christmas Fair
You think of Christmas shopping; you think ‘ancient apothecaries’ garden’. And this ancient apothecaries’ garden is pulling out all the stops for its Christmas market this year, with over 100 independent businesses huddling together to hawk fine foods, clothing & accessories, homeware and more. Plus, beautiful hand-crafted wreaths and decorations so you can give your flat a little present, too.
Details: 21st – 24th November, 10am-5pm (Thurs-Sat) & 10am-4pm (Sun) | Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, SW3 4HS | £8
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Syon Park’s Christmas Market
The stunning conservatory at Syon Park is going to burst into life for a two day festive market curated by Dapper & Suave, with 40 stalls selling hand-made jewellery, wall prints, small-batch spirits and more. It’s basically an excuse to go and see a really beautiful building, and coincidentally crush your Christmas shopping.
Details: 22nd November (3-8pm), 23rd November (10am-4pm) | Syon Park (enter via Hillier Garden Centre) | Free entry
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Turning Earth Ceramics Christmas Market
London’s preeminent pottery studios always put on a smashing Christmas market. Some 200 independent ceramics makers will showcase their wares over two weekends in Turning Earth’s airy Highgate and Leyton workshops, and there’ll be all the usual live music, pottery throwing demos, mulled wine and street food to put you in the festive mood.
Details: 23rd-24th November, 11am-5pm (Leyton) | 7th-8th December, 11am-5pm (Highgate)
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Merry Maltby
Maltby Street Market is a pretty wondrous sight during the day… but at night the Ropewalks’ Victorian railway arches are beautifully festooned with lights, there are carollers providing a little ambient festiveness, and some barrels of mulled wine adding a little warmth. If you want to get some fancy food & drink for the special people in your life this Christmas, look no further.
Details: 29th November, 6th, 13th & 20th December, 6-9pm | Maltby Street Market, SE1 3PA | Free entry
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Canopy Market
Decking its Victorian steel and glass hall with dozens of star lanterns, Canopy Market will be running almost every day for in the month-long run-up to Christmas. You can expect live music; mulled cider & wine; and over 50 hand-picked independent businesses hawking food, drink and handmade goods.
Details: 29th November – 22nd December, Tues-Sun (plus Mon 16th Dec), 12-7pm (8pm Fri)/11-6pm weekends | West Handyside Canopy, N1C 4BH | Free entry
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Mexican Christmas Market
Christmas list lacking pizzazz? Head to Coal Drops Yard where Casa Pastor is hosting a Mexican market, featuring Mexican traders, piñatas, live mariachi bands, hot chocolate and churros.
Details: 29th Nov – 1st December, 11am-7pm | Casa Pastor, Coal Drops Yard, N1C 4DQ | Free entry
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Battersea Power Station Christmas Markets
As if Battersea Power Station didn’t have enough shops inside its colossal turbine halls, a whole host of pop-up stalls are going to appear in the run-up to Christmas, too. First up is Salad Days, with its pick of 30 different traders every day over two weekends. Then it’s the turn of Curated Makers Market, which’ll showcase a rotating selection of 20 traders every two weeks right up until the big day. Oh, and the massive, glittering ice rink in front of the power station is a nice little bonus, too.
Details: 30th November & 1st Dec, 7th & 8th Dec then 9th – 22nd Dec | Ground Floor, Turbine Hall B, Battersea Power Station | Free entry
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So Last Century Winter Vintage Market
So Last Century runs some of the city’s most popular vintage markets all year round, and come the festive season they’ll be hosting a couple of winter vintage (wintage?) markets in the palatial settings of Beckenham Place Mansion and Dulwich Picture Gallery, and the slightly less palatial but nonetheless excellent Gipsy Hill Brewery. There’ll be 40 hand-picked traders catering to every budget, from sideboards to bric-a-brac like antique maps and quirky ceramics.
Details: 30th Nov & 1st Dec (Dulwich), 7th & 8th Dec (Beckenham), 15th Dec (Gipsy Hill) | Free entry
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Crafty Fox Markets
As present-giving D-Day draws ever nearer, you’re going to need the DJs and bars at the Crafty Fox Markets to see you through. Popping up at the British Library and Granary Square in King’s Cross, Crafty Fox showcases a motley crew of independent designers, artists and makers selling everything from unique illustrations to pottery and textiles.
Details: 30th Nov & 1st Dec (British Library) | 8th, 14th & 15th Dec, 11am-5pm (The Crossing, Granary Square) | Free entry
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Beautiful & Useful Craft Fair
The Garden Museum’s Christmas fair takes its inspiration from William Morris, who famously said you should only own things you either know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. Which basically means you’re going to score a home run with whatever gifts you buy here, from hand-woven baskets to sustainably made knitwear.
Details: 1st December, 10am-4pm | The Garden Museum, Lambeth Palace Road, London, SE1 7LB | £5
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Hawk’s Nest Christmas Markets
With its heated terrace, steaming urns of mulled wine & cider and rum-drenched tiramisu, Hawk’s Nest is already a stellar little spot to get into the festive spirit. But on every Sunday in December they’ll also be hosting a Christmas makers’ market late into the evenings, with carol singing to wrap up their last one on the 15th. There’s wreath-making workshops taking place on Monday nights, too.
Details: 1st, 8th & 15th December, 1-6pm | Goldhawk Road, London W12 8DF | Free entry
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Hampton Court Palace Festive Fayre
You’d be hard pressed to find a more extravagant setting for a Christmas market than Hampton Court Palace – and this year they’re filling the courtyard with festive food and drink, dozens of stalls selling seasonal gifts, a bandstand with live music, and jousting. Tickets aren’t cheap, but you’ll get to explore inside the palace and its atmospheric gardens while you’re there – and you could always indulge in a little ice skating too.
Details: 6th-8th & 13th-15th December | Hampton Court Palace, Hampton Court Way, KT8 9AU | £27.20+
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TOAST Festive Market
Safia Shakarchi
TOAST only works with the upper crust of British makers & craftspeople. So you can bet that their curated Christmas market – popping up in Coal Drops Yard for a second year, three days a week – will feature some highly covetable wares, from textiles and candles to jewellery and accessories.
Details: 6th – 22nd December, Fri (12-7pm), Sat (11am-7pm) & Sun (11am-5pm) | Coal Drops Yard, N1C | Free entry
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The Illustrators’ Festive Fair
Picture this: over 120 talented illustrators and artists hawking their beautiful wares, from zines and T-shirts to wall prints and gift wrap, in the vast canalside playground that is Granary Square in King’s Cross. And once you physically can’t carry any more bags? Take a load off at Supermax or Dishoom.
Details: 7th December, 11am-5pm | Granary Square, N1C 4AB | Free entry
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DIY Art Market
If you’d like to get someone a gift that’s heartfelt, handmade and one of a kind, but lack the time or abilities to actually DIY, head to the DIY Art Market instead. They’ll be filling the vast warehouse in Peckham’s Copeland Park with over 150 stalls from up-and-coming and established arts working in print, jewellery and more, with a ceramics special on the Sunday. Oh, and it’s all eminently affordable.
Details: 7th & 8th December, 11am-5pm | Unit 8, Copeland Park, 133 Copeland Rd, London SE15 3SN | £2 entry
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The AntiXmas Fayre
Know someone who doesn’t like Christmas? Then here’s the perfect place to find them something for Christmas. This alternative market has dozens of left-field vendors slinging banned books, taxidermy, creepy curios, vintage jewellery, posters, prints, badges, patches and so much more… including some lovely vegan street food.
Details: 8th December, 12-6pm | Elektrowerkz, 7 Torrens Street, EC1V 1NQ | £4 entry
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Borough Market’s Evening of Cheese
Borough Market is getting spruced up (quite literally) with Christmas trees and garlands for the festive season, dozens of stalls selling fancy food & drink gifts, and pop-up mulled wine bars. And it’s also cutting straight to the chase with what everyone really wants from a Christmas market, by hosting a night dedicated entirely to cheese, with pairing tips, tastings, and mulled wine.
Details: 11th December, 6pm-9pm | Borough Market, 8 Southwark Street, SE1 1TL | Free entry
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Pexmas
Peckham’s blessed with a bounty of interesting small businesses, and you’ll conveniently find 150+ of them under one roof at Pexmas (alongside mulled wine, Christmas music and street food).
Details: 14th & 15th December | Copeland Gallery, London, SE15 3SN
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Hackney Flea Market
Give festive cheer from yesteryear with the eclectic array of vintage goods – from clothes and accessories to atomic age electronics and mid century furniture – on offer at the Hackney Flea Market (then reward yourself for being so generous with a slap-up brunch at Esters).
Details: 21st & 22nd December, 11am-5pm | Abney Public Hall, 73A Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0AS
Looking for even more festivity? Check out our guide to London’s cosiest winter rooftops & terraces