[title]
If Christmas shopping is your idea of hell, ease the pain by picking an aesthetically pleasing place to do it in. These four iconic London sites are all hosting markets over the festive period and, as well as looking great, they’re also supplying shoppers with genuinely cool things to buy. It’s a Christmas miracle!
The Cheese Grater Christmas Market
From next week you’ll find seventeen German-style wooden chalets nestled at the base of the towering building, housing festive food and drink, handmade gifts and products from across the world. Choirs and carol singers will be soundtracking the market throughout the month and food traders will be fuelling shoppers by dishing up Punjabi street food, homemade burgers, German chocolate and champagne and oysters.
Head along on the opening day from 12.30pm (Monday November 27) for a cheeky glass of free prosecco. Daytime drinking is fine when it’s (nearly) Christmas, right?
The Cheesegrater Christmas Market. Leadenhall Building, 122 Leadenhall St, EC3V 4AB. Mon Nov 27-Dec 22. Free entry.
Greenwich Winter Time Festival
If you’re after a side serving of festive entertainment while you shop, this market is the one for you. From Friday December 1, The Old Royal Naval College will be playing host to the Winter Time Festival and alongside a market selling handmade gifts, stationery and other cute things that will make perfect gifts. A bumper offering of yuletide fun is also programmed.
A covered ice rink in the courtyard will be staging freestyle skate performances before visitors can take to the ice for a whizz around. Live music, DJs and silent discos are just a small slice of what’s on offer.
Greenwich Winter Time Festival. Old Royal Naval College, Park Row, SE10 9LS. Fri Dec 1-Dec 31. From £15 for a three-hour session.
Christmas Circus West Village Pop-Ups
© Gareth Gardner
Backdropped by the impressive Battersea Power Station, this festive stretch of pop-ups will see a selection of local brands and small businesses selling original products by the riverside. The purpose-built units under Grosvenor Arch will be taken over by Wax + Wick, who specialise in hand-poured candles, Secrets of Green, who’ve got plant-themed products by the bucketload, and Kethi Copeland, who create prints and and paper goods. A handful of other creative entrepreneurs will be setting up shop, and Heaps + Stacks will be running weekly workshops including bauble calligraphy and the chance to make a gingerbread power station.
Christmas Circus West Village Pop-Ups. Circus West Village. Grosvenor Arch, SW8 4NN. Open every Thu-Sat from Thu Nov 30. Free entry.
The Design Museum Market
As you’d expect from an institution specialising in design, the selection of makers at this festive museum market is of a very high calibre. Designers have curated the crop, and this year they’ve sourced stocking fillers and gifts from dozens of makers working across graphic, product and textile design. On Friday December 1, the museum will be staying open late, meaning you can catch the current exhibitions after you’ve filled your bags.
The Design Museum Market. Design Museum. 224-238 Kensington High St, W8 6AG. Fri Dec 1-Sun Dec 3. Free entry.
Want more? Here are all the Christmas markets and fairs in London you need to know about