Making the Most of Christmas in London for $100

London at Christmas is pure magic, and it can also be wildly expensive if you let it. Here’s the good news: the best parts of a London Christmas, like the lights, the markets, the museums and the feeling of wandering through it all with something warm in your hands, cost very little or nothing at all. With about a hundred dollars, roughly £75 to £80 depending on the day, you can have a cozy, festive and completely wonderful day, and here’s exactly how we spent ours.

A small confession before we begin: Michael and I were actually in London for a conference. We got there, saw the Christmas markets and decided, with almost no debate at all, not to go to a single day of it and to enjoy the Christmas markets instead. I regret nothing, and I’m fairly sure the conference survived without us.

Morning: the British Museum (free)

Start somewhere warm. The British Museum is free, it opens at ten, and on a cold December morning there’s nothing better than walking into the Great Court with its glass roof and feeling the whole day open up in front of you. Pick a few rooms instead of trying to see everything. Say hello to the Rosetta Stone, wander through the ancient Egyptian galleries, and then let yourself get a little lost.

Cost: £0, though a small donation is always welcome.

Just around the corner: The Coral Room

A few minutes from the museum, The Bloomsbury hotel glows at dusk, and the windows of The Coral Room turn the whole street a warm coral red. It’s worth walking past just to see it. If you have a little room in your budget, one cocktail inside is a beautiful splurge, but admiring it from the sidewalk costs nothing and is lovely all on its own.

Cost: free to admire, or about £16 to £20 for a cocktail.

Lunch: street food in Chinatown

Take the Tube or walk toward Leicester Square and duck into Chinatown, where the streets smell like everything delicious at once. Skip the sit-down lunch and eat your way down the street instead. We grabbed a hot, crispy snack in a paper cone and ate it standing up, which is the best way to eat anything in winter.

Cost: about £5 to £10, depending on how many “just one more” stops you make.

Afternoon: the Leicester Square Christmas market

Chinatown sits right next to Leicester Square, so you can walk straight from lunch into the Christmas market. It’s small, sparkly and full of wooden stalls, twinkling lights and the smell of sugar. Look for Paddington Bear, who sits in the square in his bronze hat and coat, tucked among the Christmas trees like he’s waiting for someone to share a marmalade sandwich with.

Browse the stalls, then treat yourself to one sweet thing, like a slab of fudge or a candy cane, because a Christmas market without a little sugar is just a parking lot with lights.

Cost: browsing is free, and a sweet treat is about £5 to £8.

Evening: something hot under the lights

As it gets dark, the whole market lights up, and this is the moment to find something warm to drink and a spot under the lights. I would love to tell you exactly what I ordered, but I have to be honest with you, delighters: I am horrible at this blogging thing, because I don’t remember anything. (Moving forward I will take notes, I promise.) What I do remember is walking up to the stall, pointing at something on the menu, being told it was hot and saying, “Yep, that’ll work.” So I got a mystery hot drink, Michael got a cold beer, and we toasted to being exactly where we were, which was my favorite moment of the whole day. Mulled wine and hot cider are the classics, if you’re better at reading menus than I am.

Cost: about £6 to £8 a drink.

The best parts of Christmas in London aren’t the expensive ones. They’re the lights, the walk, and something warm in your hands.

Free extras: walk the lights

When you’re done at the market, keep walking, because the Christmas lights are the best free show in London. Regent Street, Carnaby Street and Covent Garden are all within walking distance of Leicester Square, and each one is decorated in its own way. Covent Garden usually has a giant Christmas tree, and the walk between all three takes less than an hour.

Total: around £60 to £80

That’s about a hundred dollars for one of the world’s greatest museums, a street-food lunch, a Christmas market, something sweet, a hot drink under the lights and an evening of London’s Christmas lights. Add The Coral Room cocktail if your budget has room, and skip the conference if your conscience allows.

Tips for Christmas in London on a budget

Use contactless payment on the Tube and buses, since daily fares are capped, and walk between nearby stops whenever you can, because central London is smaller than it looks and the lights are the whole point. The markets are busiest on weekend evenings, so go on a weekday if you can. The Leicester Square market usually runs from mid-November into early January, but dates and prices change every year, so check before you go.

Arriving by train from Scotland? Here’s why I love the Edinburgh to London train. And if you’re a bookshop traveler like me, read why little bookshops are worth the detour.

I always look for places that feel like home, whether that’s an Airbnb or a cozy little hotel, so here are homey places to stay in London near all the Christmas lights. (affiliate link)