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The UK capital is a great place to spend the holiday season, with its traditionally cold climate and good chance of a white Christmas.

The festive season is a big deal in London, with the city authorities, businesses and individuals all getting in on the act to create a truly festive atmosphere across the area – offering a seasonal warm welcome for all visitors.

Celebrating Christmas in London

Christmas in the UK is a traditional affair with most people choosing to spend it with friends and family. If you are staying in a hotel then it is advisable to ask about Christmas meals at the time of booking to ensure you secure yourself a slot if you want to stay at you accommodation on the day itself. Alternatively there is a wonderful selection of restaurants across the city that will offer a Christmas day menu – booking will, however, be essential. Traditional Christmas dinner in the UK is a combination of roasted meats, served with seasonal vegetables and trimmings such as a selection of stuffings, chipolata sausages and bacon wrapped treats (most venues will offer a vegetarian option such as a nut roast or festive filo tart) followed by Christmas pudding served with brandy butter and cream.

In the days around Christmas, London offers the opportunity to take part in a range of seasonal festive traditions – from attending a traditionally British Pantomime (family Christmas shows with audience participation, usually staged in December and January) to seeing a production of a seasonal ballet such as the Nutcracker or Coppelia. Visitors can see the stunning Christmas light shows on London’s well-known thoroughfares including Oxford Street and Regent Street, and browse the seasonal selections in big name stores including Harrods, Fortnum and Masons and Selfridges.

Celebrating New Year in London?

If you want to see in the New Year in style, then London offers some great opportunities. Entertainment venues from nightclubs to comedy clubs offer special parties in honor of the occasion, while Londoners take to the streets in droves to mark the passing of midnight, with hot spots for gathering including the banks of the Thames and Trafalgar Square. New Year is marked in the UK by the sounding of the “Bongs” the deep chimes of the world famous Big Ben bell that literally ring in the new year. A fireworks display is put on above the Thames itself – with the spectacular display illuminating such English icons as the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s Cathedral. One great option to view this is to take a New Year’s river cruise along the Thames on one of the many pleasure boats offering dinner dance packages for the festive season.

If you have spent Christmas in London and fancy experiencing something more of the UK for the New Year, however, why not consider looking into hire cars and heading north to Scotland – the home of Hogmanay – where street parties take place in Edinburgh and Glasgow complete with traditional pipers, wee drams and first footing – a great way to round off an amazing British holiday experience.

As is tradition every year in London, the Lord Mayor’s fireworks display took place last week (the week after Bonfire Night), really making it the main event, and offering firework enthusiasts a second chance to see some really fantastic, well-organised pyrotechnics. If you’re thinking of travelling to London next year to see this fantastic event and are looking for travel insurance comparison then use MoneySupermarket for the best deal – you’ll need it if you’re going to one of the busiest cities in the world!

[Image courtesy of jtlondon via flickr creative commons]

Marking the end of the display and the commencement of a new mayoral year, London’s newly announced Lord Mayor set off a spectacular fireworks show on the banks of the city’s river Thames at exactly 5pm on Saturday 12 November.

A team of no less than eight pyro technicians worked around the clock for 48 hours to set the display up. Impressively, the display also included over half a tonne of industrial fireworks, many of which rocketed to heights of more than 600ft into the city’s skyline, before exploding in all their twinkling, glistening glory for onlookers to marvel at.

It’s one of London City’s most incredible spectacles, and no matter where you are in London, you were sure to catch a glimpse. However, for the very best vista in town, we headed down to Victoria Embankment, where we took our place and watched the celebration of Guy Fawkes night with hundreds of other excited onlookers.

It was such a big event that the London Borough council closed the road off this year, so there was plenty of space to mingle and watch the display with your family and friends without feeling the crush of the crowds.

And if you couldn’t make it down to Victoria Embankment, Blackfriars and Waterloo bridges also provided a spectacular viewing platform, although there was apparently a lot less space there and, for reasons of health and safety, the police had to continually move onlookers on to ensure that the road and pedestrian traffic kept a steady flow.

[Image courtesy of gluemoon via flickr creative commons]

The Lord Mayor’s office and the Metropolitan Police produced a detailed map of the area, which showed where you could see the display from and which areas had been cordoned off for onlookers especially for the event as well as where to head for and where to avoid as well as the usual streets and landmarks. And for those with iPhones, the Lord Mayor’s office also released an interactive map app for download in early November.

If you are planning a getaway to London why not give your savings a rest and try one of the following 5 great things to do in London, without spending a penny.

1. The South Bank

Situated only a stones throw from London Waterloo station, why not take a stroll down London’s famous Southbank, where you will be able to see the London Eye and also pass by the National Theatre – which sometimes hosts free performances, so check online before you leave and you might get lucky. Take a short walk from the National Theatre station you will find the Tate Modern gallery in which, completely free of charge, you can admire some the worlds best paintings and sculptures.

[Tate Modern Gallery]

2. Brick Lane Market

Although you wouldn’t normally think that a market is a great place to go and not spend money, the eclectic Brick Lane market is worth a visit even if you are too strapped to buy anything. A home to all things trendy, the market has until recently been one of London’s hidden gems. The Backyard market, the areas most famous is open Sunday from 11am till 6pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 5pm.

3. The Parks

One activity in the city that is better than any on a hot and sunny day is to spend a few leisurely hours in one of London’s magnificent parks. They are all free to visit and you have a great selection to choose from, from royal parks such as Hyde Park, to public parks such as Victoria Park. If you do decide to visit Hyde Park, why not visit on a Sunday and take in the famous ‘Speakers Corner’ which is situated in the North East corner of the park. Every Sunday you will get to hear a variety of different speakers, on a variety of different topics and you can be sure of some great entertainment.

4. Covent Garden

Home to a myriad of great independent shops, selling all manner of beautiful things, Covent Garden is one of the best places to window shop in the Capital. Although these lovely shops may be just too much and see you break your non-spending vow, you can get some brilliant free entertainment from the large variety of street performers that you will find around the Covent Garden area.

5. Entertainment

If you know how and where to look, London has a great range of shows, catering for all your entertainment needs absolutely free of charge (although you might have to buy a couple of drinks!) The best place to look for these is Time Out Online, where they have up to date listings of all free events in the capital.