Christmas Cruises in London: Lunch, Dinner + Christmas Day

Christmas cruises in London at a glance

Every festive City Cruises sailing for 2026, with the starting price and the pier it leaves from. Prices are per person and rise later in the week, and the December weekend dates sell out first.

Every City Cruises boat has an open upper deck and a heated indoor saloon, so you can go out for photos and come back in for the warmth.

And the December weekend sailings, particularly the three Saturdays before Christmas, go early, so if your dates are fixed, book before you arrive in London.

Christmas party cruises on the Thames

These two run on selected dates from late November to shortly before Christmas, and they’re what most people mean by a Christmas cruise. Both offer traditional Christmas menus, a drink on arrival, and onboard entertainment; the difference is the time of day, length, and how much dancing is involved.

Christmas Dinner Party Cruise

From £86 per person. Tower Pier, boarding 6.15 pm, sailing 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm. Selected dates: 27 November to 20 December 2026.

Four hours on the river with a glass of sparkling wine in your hand as you board, a three-course traditional Christmas dinner with tea or coffee, half a bottle of wine each, and a DJ once the plates are cleared.

The boat turns at both ends of its run, so the lit bridges, the South Bank, Tower Bridge and the City towers come past your window more than once, and the upper deck is open if you want to see them properly.

Tables are fixed to the floor and pre-allocated, and small groups are seated with other small groups, so a table for two on this cruise means a table for two at the end of a longer one. That is the trade-off for the price.

If you are ten or more, book as a table and you get 10% off. Dress code is festive smart casual.

Book it if you want a full festive night out, like the idea of dancing, and are happy sharing a table. It is the one we would pick of the two.

Christmas Lunch Party Cruise

From £75 per person, £79 on Thursdays to Saturdays. Westminster Pier, boarding 12.45 pm, sailing 1 pm to 4 pm. Selected dates: 27 November to 20 December 2026.

The same idea in daylight: a welcome glass of fizz, a three-course festive lunch with unlimited tea and coffee afterwards, live music rather than a DJ, and three hours on the water.

It leaves from Westminster Pier, directly below Westminster station and the most convenient pier on the river, and sails the central stretch past the London Eye, the South Bank, and St Paul’s.

Sailing at one in the afternoon in December means you are back on dry land at four, just as the lights come on, making it easy to pair with an afternoon of Christmas shopping or a walk through the West End. Same fixed, pre-allocated tables as the dinner cruise, same 10% off for a table of ten.

Book it if you would rather not be out late, you are travelling with people who tire in the evenings, or you want the river in daylight and the lights afterwards

Cruises on Christmas Day in London

This section matters most if you are in London on 25 December. The Underground doesn’t run, the buses don’t run, almost everything is shut, and the river is one of the few things still moving.

City Cruises sail on Christmas Day, and they are worth knowing about whether you want a full Christmas lunch or just an hour out of the hotel.

For what else is open on the day, see what’s open in London on Christmas Day.

Christmas Day Lunch Cruise

From £175 per person. Westminster Pier, boarding 11.30 am, sailing 12 pm to 3.15 pm.

A glass of sparkling wine as you board, a three-course traditional Christmas lunch with all the trimmings, tea or coffee, festive music and carols, and three and a quarter hours going gently up and down a very quiet river.

Window tables seat two and cannot be pushed together, so book early if you want one. Dress code is semi-formal.

Worth knowing: there is no public transport on Christmas Day, so budget for a taxi or a private hire car both ways and book it well in advance, because they are scarce and expensive on the day. Westminster Pier is walkable from hotels around Westminster and St James’s if you would rather not rely on a cab.

Christmas Day Sightseeing Cruise

From £32 per person, under-fives free. Westminster Pier. Sailings at 9.45 am, 11 am, 12.15 pm, 1.30 pm and 2.45 pm, each one hour.

The Christmas Day bargain in London, and the one we recommend most often. An hour on a circular sightseeing cruise with crew commentary and a licensed bar, with five departures through the day and a heated saloon with an open deck above. If you have family in London for Christmas and need one thing to do between presents and the Christmas afternoon slump, this is it.

Under-fives go free, and the dress code is whatever you are already wearing. The 2.45 pm sailing gets you back to the pier at a quarter to four, which is just about dusk in late December.

Book it if you want something nice to do on Christmas Day without spending a fortune, or you have children who need to be somewhere other than a hotel room. Our guide to Christmas things to do in London covers what else stays open.

Cruises for the Christmas lights

The river lights are strung along four miles of both banks, so a boat is the best way to see them.

Evening Cruise with Canapés and Music

From £45 per person. Tower Pier, boarding 6.15 pm, sailing 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm.

Two hours, a glass of Prosecco on arrival, a selection of cold canapés and live music, sailing between Tower Bridge and Lambeth past the Illuminated River bridges. Illuminated River is the public artwork that lights nine Thames bridges after dark, and it is at its best on a clear December evening when the water is flat enough to hold the reflections. This is the cruise to book if the lights are the point and dinner is not.

It is pitched at adults: under-fives cannot board, children up to twelve pay the adult fare, and nothing about the evening is adjusted for them. And City Cruises say they can’t accommodate wheelchair users on this particular cruise, so if you need step-free access on board, look at the sightseeing cruises and the river pass instead.

24-hour hop-on hop-off river pass

From £26 per person for 24 hours.

Not a festive product, but the cheapest way onto the river in December and the most useful. The pass covers unlimited sailings for a day between Westminster, the London Eye, Tower and Greenwich, with commentary on board, so it doubles as transport between three parts of London you probably wanted to visit anyway. Time a late-afternoon leg to catch the lights coming on and you get much of the evening cruise view for £16 less, minus the Prosecco.

Greenwich is worth the trip in December in its own right, and arriving by boat past Canary Wharf beats the DLR.

Other Thames cruises running in December

The year-round cruises keep sailing through the festive season, and for some people they are the better answer. Not everyone wants a Christmas menu and a DJ, and these are cheaper, calmer and easier to get a table for at short notice.

If the afternoon tea cruise tempts you, read our afternoon tea cruise review first.

• Lunch cruise on the Thames, from £53. The cheapest way to eat on the river, and a good middle-of-the-day option in winter.
• Afternoon tea cruise, from £49. Sandwiches, scones and cake on the water.
• Dinner cruise on the Thames, from £79. The standard evening dinner cruise, with the lit bridges.
• Jazz dinner cruise, from £109. Live jazz with dinner.
• Murder mystery dinner cruise, from £139. Dinner with a plot!
• Elvis tribute cruise, from £125. Exactly what it says, and it has its devoted following.

Which cruise suits which trip

What to know before you book a Christmas cruise

The two piers, and getting to them

Westminster Pier sits on Victoria Embankment, SW1A 2JH, directly below Westminster station, which is on the District, Circle and Jubilee lines. It is the easier of the two to find: come out of the station, cross to the river, and the pier entrance is right there. The Christmas lunch party, Christmas Day lunch, and Christmas Day sightseeing cruises all leave from here.

Tower Pier, also known as Tower Millennium Pier, is on Lower Thames Street, EC3N 4DT, below the Tower of London and about five minutes downhill from Tower Hill station, on the District and Circle lines, with Tower Gateway DLR and Fenchurch Street close by.

The Christmas dinner party and the evening cruise leave from here. Allow more time than you think on a December evening, because the walk from the station goes past the Tower and the pavements are busy.

Both piers are floating pontoons reached by a gangway, and the gangway gradient changes with the tide, so it can be noticeably steeper at low water. If anyone in your party is unsteady on a slope, say so when you book, and the pier staff will help.

Accessibility on board

This varies by boat and by cruise rather than across the fleet, so it is worth a phone call rather than an assumption. City Cruises say plainly that they cannot accommodate wheelchair users on the Evening Cruise with Canapés and Music.

The sightseeing cruises and the river pass are more accessible options, and every boat has a heated indoor saloon on the main deck, with the open deck reached by stairs, so none of them is step-free.

All dining cruises have onboard toilets. Contact City Cruises with your date and your cruise before you book if step-free access matters, because the boat allocated to a sailing can change.

Tables, dress and dietary requirements

• Tables are fixed and pre-allocated on the dining cruises, and small groups may share with other small groups. If that matters to you, the Christmas Day lunch cruise has window tables for two, and the year-round dinner cruises are quieter.
• Add dietary requirements after you book, through the confirmation page or Manage Booking, not at the point of purchase. Do it the same day so you don’t forget.
• Festive smart casual is the dress code on the party cruises and semi-formal on Christmas Day. Nobody is turned away for a jumper, but flip-flops, leisurewear and ripped jeans are discouraged.
• Take a coat you can move in. The saloon is heated, and the upper deck is not, and the difference between the two in December on the water is considerable. Gloves, too, if you plan to take photographs.

New Year’s Eve cruises on the Thames

New Year’s Eve is a separate operation: six sailings, all from Tower Pier, timed so you are on the water in front of the London Eye when the fireworks go up at midnight. Prices start at £244 for the Stargazer and run to £629 for the Gala Dinner on the Diamond, and they are the only way to watch the display from the water.

We have written those up separately in our guide to New Year’s Eve cruises in London, with what each one includes and how to get to Tower Pier through the road closures. For the bigger picture, including fireworks tickets and where to stay, see our guide to New Year’s Eve in London.

For boats the rest of the year, see our guide to Thames river cruises.

Our pick

If you are in London on 25 December, book the Christmas Day sightseeing cruise.

In the weeks before Christmas, the dinner party cruise is a great festive night out, and the evening cruise is the one for the lights. If you want a December weekend, book it now, because the three Saturdays before Christmas go first.

Our Christmas in London planning guide covers the rest of the season, from the lights and markets to Christmas Day and New Year.

If you would like the whole festive season planned in one place, our Festive London Planning Guide has a timetable of what to book and when, plus our Festive London map.

Outside the festive season, see our guide to the year-round Thames dinner cruises.

Planning the rest of a festive trip? These guides cover the same few weeks:

• 20 Christmas things to do in London (and what runs on Christmas Day)
• The best Christmas lights in London
• 18 best Christmas tours in London
• Events in London in December
• New Year’s Eve in London: fireworks, cruises and where to stay
• Visiting London in winter
• 15 Christmassy Restaurants in London
• 21 Christmas Afternoon Tea Options in London