December in London is magical — but the nonstop Christmas cheer isn’t for everyone. If you’re tired of endless festivities, want to escape the “C-word” for a few hours (or longer), or simply aren’t feeling the holiday spirit this year, there are plenty of brilliant things to do in London that involve zero decorations, zero carols, and zero guilt.
Here’s your strictly Christmas-free December hit list:
1-All-Night Mystery Film Marathon at Prince Charles Cinema
Lock yourself in a dark room far from fairy lights and surrender to roughly 11 hours of mystery movies. The legendary Prince Charles Cinema’s Mystery Film Marathon takes place on Saturday 13 December. Five completely random, unrelated films are screened back-to-back — and you won’t know what they are until you’re already in your seat.
If that sounds too intense, the same venue is showing all five Twilight films in a row on Monday 29 December (the limbo week between Christmas and New Year). Once you’re inside the auditorium, the festive season can’t touch you.
2-Watch a Theatre Show That Has Nothing to Do with Christmas
It can feel impossible to escape panto, carol concerts and festive family shows in December, but plenty of completely Christmas-free stage productions are still running:
- The Mousetrap – London’s longest-running play
- Witness for the Prosecution – another Agatha Christie classic
- Cockfosters – surreal comedy set on the Piccadilly line
- Stranger Things: The First Shadow – the stage prequel set in 1959
- Othello – Shakespeare’s tragedy of power, rage and desire
- All My Sons – Arthur Miller on the dishonest promise of the American Dream
If you want something bigger and louder, the big musicals are perfect escapes: Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Back to the Future, Six, The Choir of Man, MJ The Musical, Hamilton, Oliver!, and Disney’s Hercules.
3-Catch One of London’s Best Exhibitions Before It Closes
December is usually quiet for new openings, but several world-class shows are still on (some ending shortly after New Year):
- Pirates – National Maritime Museum (until 3 Jan)
- Secret Maps – British Library (until 18 Jan)
- Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth? – Natural History Museum (until 22 Feb)
- Design and Disability – V&A (until 15 Feb)
- Marie Antoinette Style – V&A (until 22 Mar)
- Wildlife Photographer of the Year – Natural History Museum (until July 2026)
London in December doesn’t have to mean tinsel and turkey — there’s a whole city of culture waiting for you, completely Christmas-free.
