Christmas in London

This year, my girlfriend and I will be in London over Christmas. Ordinarily, we spend Christmas with her family (my family and I do not celebrate Christmas). I'm looking for something special to do with her, as it will be the first time in some years that she is not surrounded by family for the holiday, and I want her to have a good time.

My sense of how people observe Christmas derives basically from the movies, so I'm looking for a little help here. Do C of E adherents go to church on Christmas eve? Christmas day? Do the big churches (e.g. St. Paul's, Westminster) have special services, and would it be cool to go there? Do I have to book in advance? Is there a better alternative? Are there carols? Will restaurants be open?

Thanks in advance for your help with my clueless inquiry. I promise to help you out if you ever need advice on celebrating Passover in Toronto.

I spent two Christmases in London, one in the city and one in the country with friends. London can be beautiful at that time of year, but it can also be a little deserted. It's not quite like New York, which is overrun with tourists during the holidays.

There are many choral events and things like that around London. Royal Albert Hall should have a whole host of concerts. Some of the more charming churches, like St. Martin in the Fields, should have events as well. Days are short and can be cold, so it's nice to have things planned.

The year we were in the country we went to church late at night on Christmas Eve. And we stood for the Queen's Christmas address.

Christmas period sees huge crowds in London, well there are crowds all year round really - much bigger than in NYC. You'll understand when you see it.

All the big cathedrals (there are 5) do Xmas Eve/ Xmas Day services (faithful C of E do Xmas Day rather than Eve), and most of the churches (you got 4000 to choose from). The big ones are St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey ( check about booking), Brompton Oratory (gorgeous Italianate Catholic church near Harrods). The 120 churches in the Financial District (known as 'The City' or 'The Square Mile', are the oldest ones in London but will be closed, theyre the only churches that close on weekends as nowadays theyre only visited by office workers in lunch breaks).

On Xmas day is the one 24 hr stretch that the city is a ghost town, even the airports, the trains (tube still works though), taxis, hell its hard booking a room on that day too. Restaurants, tourist sites will be CLOSED. If I were you I'd definitely check what of the few 'events' will be on in London that day, try and book a very expensive slap up at the Ritz, or gatecrash a friends party.

Whatever you do don't miss the last bus on Xmas Eve, I once walked 10 miles that way.