The most festive winter pop-ups London has to offer

Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City

Marvel at the detail, admire the steady carving and try not to salivate too much over each sugary figurine of the Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City. The exhibition runs for a month, with gingerbread house-making workshops on specific dates.

Kitchen at Holmes' Secret Rooftop Christmas Cinema

Inside Baker Street restaurant Kitchen at Homes, a secret rooftop terrace concealing a comfy cinema awaits. Evenings here start with a festive feast melding modern European and Mediterranean influences, including grilled octopus, smoked burrata, and cuttlefish croquettes. Once dinner’s done, head to the terrace – abundant with fur throws and Christmas trees – where a seasonal classic is projected above the rooftops of Marylebone. The Holiday, Love Actually and It’s A Wonderful Life are all on offer, as well as whisky cocktails specially curated by the bar manager.

Queen of the Slopes at Queen of Hoxton

The rooftop bar at Queen of Hoxton has a direct ski lift transporting visitors from Shoreditch to the slopes this festive season. While there's no skiing at the top, you can wrap yourself in a snuggly blanket and toast your own s'mores around a fire pit. Sip on seasonal cocktails like the Snowstorm (Jameson, Amarula, vanilla and oat cream) or warm your fingers clutching a steaming mug of hot buttered rum.

Holiday Spectacular at Common Decency

Common Decency, the new cocktail bar at Covent Garden's NoMad Hotel, is hosting a six-week festive pop-up to get Londoners thoroughly in the spirit of silly season. In a bar that looks like Christmas incarnate, sample tipples with a seasonal twist, conjured by the bar's renowned mixologists Leo Robitschek and Liana Oster. Highlights include Not The Buttons, a concoction of bourbon, cortado sherry, ginger, lemon and brown butter, served with a gingerbread man and a DIY icing garnish.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland 2022

There's plenty to keep little fingers and toes warm at the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland this year. Visitors can glide over the glittering ice rink, explore the magical ice kingdom, get the adrenaline flowing watching daring stunts from Cirque Berserk and Zippos Christmas Circus, or hold a warming hot chocolate in the Bavarian Village. Unleash your inner artist with an ice-sculpting workshop, or lose yourself in the all-new Edelweiss funhouse.

Miracle at the Henrietta Hotel

Adopted from NYC, Miracle is now a firm favourite among London's Christmas pop-ups. Hidden away on the mezzanine floor of the Henrietta Hotel in Covent Garden, Miracle is a 70s-themed homage to kitch festive décor (stockings hung, fairy lights strung), offering a nostalgia-fuelled space to hunker down and escape your troubles.

The bar serves an array of festive concoctions, each made interesting with a decadent and unusual twist – be it a rogue ingredient or novelty glassware. Highlights this year include the Santa's Little Helper: gin, spiced caraway syrup, eucalyptus, sage, lime and seltzer. Or for something a little frosty, why not try a Snowball Old Fashioned: rye, gingerbread, aromatic bitters, wormwood bitters and orange essence.

Pergola on the Piste

Raucous rooftop bar Pergola Paddington has the energy of a lively après-ski bar all year round, so it's almost surprising it hasn't run a ski-themed pop-up before. Anyway, don your chicest skiwear and head on over to indulge in some alpine hedonism. Look forward to festive foods and dizzying drinks set to steer you thoroughly off-piste.

Christmas at Backyard Cinema

Backyard Cinema is once again immersing cinephiles in a snowy, cosy kingdom of nostalgia this winter, offering rides on an Arctic Express train set for the North Pole before depositing visitors on plump bean bags to watch their film of choice. Grab some popcorn, mulled wine or the venue’s signature Gingerbreadtini cocktail, and nestle down for a family favourite. From rom-coms like Love Actually and The Holiday, to kids’ favourites The Grinch and The Polar Express, and golden oldies Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life, there are festive flicks for all tastes.

Winterland, Fulham Alpine Club

Neverland in Fulham has once again swapped its sandy beach and sunny palms for a snowy Alpine village. Guests can cosy up by fire pits, in fur-lined cabins or festive igloos, then play a round of shuffleboard, beer pong or arcade basketball. Chilly? Duck into the Bavarian Bar for a mulled wine, hot gin or boozy hot chocolate, and if you find you have a bit of fire in you yet, stick around for DJ sets. There’s plenty of delicious street food to tuck into, from fondues and baked Camembert to sourdough pizzas from a wood-fired oven.

Christmas at Kew Gardens

Now in its 10th year, Christmas at Kew is an annual fixture of the festive calendar, boasting a laser show and fire garden among its attractions. This winter, it's set to glow with over one million glittering lights, not to mention the presence of Father Christmas.

Jimmy's pop-up: Fire and Fromage, Southbank

London's Southbank once again plays home to its very own Alpine-themed ski lodge this winter, courtesy of pop-up entrepreneur Jimmy Garcia. Situated on the river along the Queen's Walk, the lodge plus its cluster of neighbouring snow globes return with a theme of Fire and Fromage, inviting diners to cuddle up around fire pits, chewing on hunks of bread layered with raclette and toasting their own s’mores. Your cockles will be warmed through in no time – and did we mention there’s mulled wine on arrival?

The Lost Estate presents The Great Christmas Feast

Immersive entertainment connoisseurs The Lost Estate have revamped their sell-out winter dining experience, The Great Christmas Feast, taking over a sprawling venue in west London to conjure Dickensian cocktails, theatre, live music and, of course, a multi-course feast.

Skylight winter season, Tobacco Dock

Wapping's highest party playground has been frozen over again this year, welcoming back its rooftop ice rink, cosy igloos winter games and more. Practise your spins and twirls, then hunker down with a steaming plate of seasonal street food: German bratwurst, Canadian poutine, winter root veg salad and truffle mac & cheese all make the menu. Festive tipples include mulled gin, mulled wine and the indulgent-sounding Chocolate Hunter (Jägermeister Manifest, hot chocolate, whipped cream and chocolate powder).