Lumiere London: What You Need to Know

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What is Lumiere London?

It’s a light show you don’t want to miss. Lumiere London takes over the streets to brighten the dark winter nights with beautiful light displays. There are a wide variety of installations from neon backdrops to magical walkways. This year there’s a colourful projection on to Westminster Abbey, animal shaped lanterns, a very British aquarium and lots more. While this is only its 3^rd year, Londoners have quickly fallen in love with the light festival.  

When is Lumiere London?

Lumiere London started on 18^th January and will continue until the 21^st. The light shows typically start at 5:30pm and run until 10:30pm.  

Where is Lumiere London?

The event takes place on a number of streets in 6 major locations. King’s Cross, Fitzrovia, Mayfair, London’s West End, South Bank & Waterloo and Westminster & Victoria. Once you’re in one of these areas, it should be easy to spot where you need to go. Simply follow the crowds or look for the lights. Wandering without a plan is one way to experience the event but if you want to make sure you don’t miss anything, then you’ll need a map. There is an official Lumiere map that you can download in exchange for a donation of £1 or more. Lumiere London is a free event run by an arts charity, so it’s a great way to show your support and help make sure there will be more Lumiere events in the future!  

What’s the best way to get to Lumiere London?

The different areas of the event are close to Tube stations and if you want to see all of the installations, hopping on and off the Tube will be a convenient way to do that. These are the nearest Tube Stations for each area:   King’s Cross Monington Cresent King’s Cross St Pancras   Fitzrovia Warren Street Euston Square   Mayfair Marble Arch Bond Street Oxford Circus Green Park   London’s West End Piccadilly Circus Leicester Square Tottenham Court Road   South Bank & Waterloo Waterloo Southwark Lambeth North   Westminster & Victoria Embankment St James’s Park Victoria   If you need to plan a journey to any of the Tube stations listed above, it’s really easy with Tube Map. Simply tell the app where you want to go and let it find you the quickest routes. Download for free using the buttons below.  

Busy Tube Stations to Avoid

If you want to avoid the busiest Tube stations as you make your way around the lights, TfL has made this useful Tube Map showing which stations will be busier than normal. The darker orange stations, King’s Cross, Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus are expected to be exceptionally busy and may even become exit-only at peak times.   For the latest live information, check the Line Status in the Tube Map app or tap on a station for more information. The TfL alerts and messages will be a good indication of how busy everything is.       Image Credits: London & Partners via VisitLondon.com Lumiere Tube Map via TfL Back to blog