Greek Christmas sweets in London are about to have their moment, because the city’s Christmas markets open this week. The Southbank Centre Winter Market opens today, Monday 2 November, Trafalgar Square follows on Friday, and by mid November almost every big square in central London has wooden chalets, mulled wine and a queue for bratwurst. This is the Greek List version of the season: which markets are worth the Tube fare, which Greek List member is a short walk from each one, and where to find melomakarona and kourabiedes instead of stollen.
The dates come from Time Out’s market calendar, published last week. Every business in the grey boxes is a Greek List member with a confirmed address.
The short version: Leicester Square opened on 31 October, the Southbank Centre on 2 November, Trafalgar Square on 6 November, London Bridge on 10 November, Covent Garden and Kingston on 12 November, Winter Wonderland on 19 November, King’s Cross and Camden on 26 November. Nearly all run until 3 January and all are free to walk around.
What they do not sell is anything Greek. So each stop comes with a Greek plan B: a restaurant for a proper meal after the crowds, or a bakery where the best Greek Christmas sweets in London are made by hand from late November.
The Southbank Centre Winter Market runs along Queen’s Walk, under Hungerford Bridge, from 2 November to 3 January. It is the market most Londoners mean when they say “the Christmas market”: chalets by the river, street food from a dozen countries and the Royal Festival Hall lit up behind you. Go on a weekday evening.
Getting there: Waterloo (Jubilee, Northern, Bakerloo and National Rail) or Embankment, then the footbridge across the Thames.
Greek stop nearby: there is no Greek restaurant on the South Bank itself, so cross back over the river. Nostimo at 9 Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury is the nearest Greek List member for a proper plate after the market, 20 minutes by Tube to Russell Square or a 35 minute walk through Covent Garden.
Trafalgar Square’s market sets up in front of the National Gallery from 6 November, and in early December the Norwegian tree arrives beside it, Oslo’s gift to London since 1947. Five minutes north, Christmas in Leicester Square has been open since 31 October, with stalls wrapped around the ice rink. Together they make the easiest market evening in London: tree, skate, mulled wine, then a short walk north for dinner.
Getting there: Charing Cross or Leicester Square station. Both squares are step free from the pavement.
Greek stop nearby: Elysée on Percy Street in Fitzrovia, the Greek restaurant with live music and a rooftop, is a 12 minute walk from Leicester Square, and The Life Goddess on Store Street in Bloomsbury is the deli for Greek cheese, honey and wine for your own Christmas table.
Winter by the River opens on 10 November around Hay’s Galleria and London Bridge City, with Tower Bridge as the backdrop. It is smaller and calmer than the South Bank, and the riverside walk to Tower Bridge is one of the best free views in the city on a cold clear night.
Getting there: London Bridge (Jubilee, Northern, National Rail), then follow the river east.
Greek stop nearby: Dental Love at 1 King William Street, the Greek speaking dental practice by Monument, is a seven minute walk across London Bridge. Not a restaurant, but if the kourabiedes get the better of a tooth, this is the nearest Greek dentist.
Covent Garden’s stalls go festive from 12 November, the day the lights go on in the Piazza, and the Apple Market is the place for handmade gifts rather than another bratwurst. Kingston’s market in the Ancient Market Place also opens on 12 November, Camden Market adds festive night markets on Thursdays from 26 November, and Old Spitalfields switches on its lights on 11 November.
Getting there: Covent Garden (Piccadilly), Kingston (South Western Railway from Waterloo), Camden Town (Northern).
The King’s Cross Winter Market on Granary Square is the last to open, from 26 November to 3 January, but worth the wait: the canal, the fountains and Coal Drops Yard make it the prettiest setting of the lot.
Getting there: King’s Cross St Pancras, then ten minutes up King’s Boulevard.
Greek stop nearby: Nostimo at the Brunswick Centre is a 15 minute walk south through Bloomsbury, the natural end to a King’s Cross evening: Greek plates, Greek wine and no queue for a bench.
Every market sells the same German biscuits. The Greek answer is melomakarona, the honey and walnut cookies, and kourabiedes, the almond shortbreads buried in icing sugar, out of London’s Greek bakeries from late November. Order early; the week before Christmas the trays empty by lunchtime.
In north London, Borneo Cafe Bakery at 29 Green Lanes in Palmers Green is the family bakery with tsoureki and spanakopita all year, and Source of Life Bakehouse at 258 East Barnet Road bakes bread the slow way; ask both what they are making for Christmas. South of the river, Kamari at 25 Westow Street in Crystal Palace and Grand Cafe 241 at 241 Selhurst Road in South Norwood do Greek coffee and pastries daily, so ask now about melomakarona orders for December. Heading to Ally Pally for the fireworks this weekend? Palmers Green is on the way home.
Greek stop nearby: for more Greek Christmas sweets in London, open the Greek bakeries in London guide. All four bakeries above are Greek List members.
Or bring the market home: The Greek Way, the Orpington based caterers behind the souvlaki pop ups that travel across the UK, will set up a grill at an office party, a school fair or a back garden, and a pita in the cold beats a bratwurst every time. Add a tray of Greek Christmas sweets in London from the bakeries above and the mulled wine is optional.
Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park opens on 19 November, more funfair than market but with a large German style market inside. Greenwich Market runs Christmas stalls daily and Borough Market turns festive in December. For a free alternative, the Carnaby Street lights are on from 4 November and Covent Garden from 12 November; the full switch on calendar is in our Christmas lights guide.
From the Greek List events page, the most complete list of Greek events in the UK, the next ten days:
Organising a Greek bazaar or a Christmas concert? Listing it on Greek List is free.
The businesses in this guide are Greek List members. More than 100,000 Greeks and Cypriots in the UK read Greek List every month, on the site, in the newsletter and in the Ellines sto Londino Facebook group, and Greek List listings rank first on Google.
Which market are you going to first, and where do you buy your Greek Christmas sweets in London? Tell us in the Facebook group Ellines sto Londino.
