Look to London for Christmas fun

December 20 (TravelAndy): If you look forward to celebrating the holidays with stunning theatre productions, festive ballets, and Christmas pantomimes with your entire family, London is just the place to be. In addition to the spectacular shows, the city is all set to blow your mind with beautifully adorned Christmas trees, winter adventure, and holiday markets.

Christmas ballet enthusiasts are in for a treat with the Royal Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ at the Royal Opera House, through January 15, English National Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ at the London Coliseum, through December 30, and ‘Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake’ featuring an all-male cast at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, through January 27.

Pantomime lovers can spend time this holiday season with ‘Snow White’ at the London Palladium, through January 13, or ‘Aladdin’ and his genie at Hackney Empire, through January 6. Fans can also embark on a journey to Neverland with ‘Peter Pan’ at the Richmond Theatre, through January 6. Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ at the Old Vic, through January 19, and the award-winning ‘War Horse’ at the National Theatre, through January 5 are the holiday plays to choose from.

Family Christmas productions include:

• Raymond Briggs’ Christmas saga ‘The Snowman’ at the Peacock Theatre, that will run through January 6, 2019.
• ‘Room on the Broom Live’ at the Lyric Threatre, through January 13.
• Stage adaptation of David Williams’ children book, ‘Awful Auntie’ at the Bloomsbury Theatre, through January 6.
• European premiere of ‘Circus 1903’ at the Royal Festival Hall, through January 5.
• ‘Disney on Ice presents Dream Big’ at the O2, through January 6.
• A new take of classic fairytale ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, through January 6.

Yuletide spirit transforms London into a veritable winter wonderland, what with Christmas markets and adventure popping up in various corners of the city. Of the numerous choices, a few such as ‘Christmas by the River at London Bridge City’, offering free entrance into the world of food and drink tastings, craft workshops and more, through January 2, and the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew, lit up with over a million lights, hosting ‘Christmas at Kew’, through January 5, stand out. Two Christmas markets, ice sculpting workshops, acrobatic performances, carousel and roller coaster rides, food, movies and other shows are the top drawers of Hyde Park’s ‘Winter Wonderland’ until January 6.

‘Christmas in Leicester Square’ does not only present a festive market, but also a velvet-draped 1920s spiegeltent doling out a range of holiday entertainment through January 6, while Southbank Centre’s annual ‘Winter Festival’ along the Thames enthralls visitors through January 6, with a holiday market, and festive shows for all. It will also host the New Year’s Spectacular. The 25-metre Christmas tree, decked up in traditional Norwegian manner, will grace Trafalgar Square until January 1.