For Greeks in London, Oxford Street has always been the default answer to “where do we go for the Christmas presents?”. From Monday 26 October 2026 that walk feels different: the busiest kilometre of the street, from Selfridges to just past Oxford Circus, is closed to traffic around the clock. No buses, no taxis, no bikes, no scooters, just people. Here is what changed, how to get there now that the buses have moved, and where the Greek stops are.
The last buses and taxis rolled off the central stretch on Sunday 25 October, shortly before 8pm, and barriers went up straight after, as IanVisits reported the next morning. By Monday the tarmac between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street belonged to pedestrians, with temporary seating, planters and bollards in place.
Why does it matter to Greeks in London specifically? Because this is the stretch we actually use. Selfridges, the flagships around Bond Street and the shops either side of Oxford Circus are where most of us end up in December, usually with a list from parents in Greece or Cyprus. Crossing without dodging a number 94 is a small thing, but on a Saturday in December it will feel like a big one.
The change is permanent, described as phase one of a wider transformation run by the new Oxford Street Development Corporation, with a bigger makeover due next year after the Christmas rush.
The traffic free zone runs for roughly one kilometre, from Orchard Street by Selfridges in the west to Great Portland Street just east of Oxford Circus. Within it, cars, buses, taxis, private hire vehicles, bicycles, e-scooters and pedicabs are all banned, 24 hours a day. Emergency vehicles can still pass at any time and delivery lorries are allowed in between midnight and 7am, so the shops keep getting stocked.
Cars can still cross Oxford Street at the main junctions, including Duke Street, New Bond Street and Regent Street. The eastern section, from Oxford Circus towards Tottenham Court Road, is not part of this first phase and still carries buses. The official line is that this first winter is partly a live test of how the space works before the final design is agreed.
Getting there: Bond Street (Central, Jubilee, Elizabeth line) and Oxford Circus (Central, Bakerloo, Victoria) both open directly onto the car free stretch. Marble Arch is a five minute walk from the Selfridges end.
This is the part that catches people out. Routes 7, 94, 98, 139 and 390, together with the night buses N7, N98, N113, N137 and N207, no longer run along the central section of Oxford Street. Most have been moved to Wigmore Street and Henrietta Place, where new stops have gone in, and a few now terminate early. In practice the new stops are about as far from the shop doors as the old ones, just one street north, as Time Out’s first look at the pedestrianised street points out.
Cyclists have been sent round the back too, on Wigmore Street, Henrietta Place and Margaret Street. The Underground is unaffected, which for most Greeks in London is the easiest answer anyway: come out at Bond Street or Oxford Circus and you are already on the pedestrian stretch.
Getting there: If you rely on the 7, 94, 98, 139 or 390, check the TfL diversion map before you set off and look for your stop on Wigmore Street or Henrietta Place.
One for the Greeks in London who like to spot the Greek details in this city: next time you are outside Selfridges, look up. Above the columns the frieze runs in a continuous meander, the Greek key pattern that decorates everything from ancient vases to yiayia’s tablecloths. With no buses blocking the view, the facade is easier to photograph than it has been for a century. More Greek echoes in the capital are in our guide to Greek London, then and now.
The timing is no accident. Oxford Street’s Christmas lights usually switch on in the first days of November and this year’s date is still to be confirmed. Carnaby Street follows on 4 November, Regent Street on 5 November, Bond Street and Covent Garden on 12 November. For the first time, the walk under the lights from Selfridges to Oxford Circus happens without a single bus in the shot.
There are more than 300 shops along the street and the organisers say Black Friday and Christmas shopping should be easier this year. If you normally do the gifts for Greece in one December sweep, go on a weekday evening, see the lights and finish with a Greek dinner nearby.
The car free zone ends at Great Portland Street, and from there Fitzrovia and Bloomsbury are a short walk. That is where the Greek options are, and all three below are Greek List members.
Greek stop nearby: The Life Goddess on 29 Store Street, Bloomsbury, about eight minutes from Oxford Circus and three from Tottenham Court Road. Greek deli, coffee and proper plates, ideal for lunch halfway through the shopping or a bag of Greek products to take home.
Greek stop nearby: Nostimo at 9 Brunswick Centre, by Russell Square, a 12 minute walk from the eastern end of Oxford Street. A sit down Greek restaurant for the evening after the lights, open until late seven days a week.
Greek stop nearby: Lemian and T Solicitors at 167-169 Great Portland Street, right where the pedestrian zone ends. If you run a shop or business in the West End and the new rules on deliveries, leases or trading raise questions, a Greek speaking law firm a few doors from Oxford Circus is a good place to ask.
Around 50 new trees and more than 100 permanent seats are due by next spring, with proper paving once the final design is signed off next year. TfL and the development corporation are collecting feedback through the winter to shape the permanent version.
Not everyone is cheering. The taxi drivers’ association has warned that older and disabled visitors lose a door to door option, and some residents worry that traffic simply shifts onto the side roads. Still, about two thirds of the people who answered TfL’s consultation backed the scheme, and the mood on day one was mostly positive. The Greeks in London who read Greek List usually have an opinion, and the comments on the Facebook group are open.
Shopping done, what next? The Greek List events page is the most complete list of Greek events in the UK. Listing an event is free. The next ten days:
Rebetiko Lounge jam session in Hackney, Wednesday 28 October. Greek wine tasting at Franklin’s Wine, Notting Hill, Wednesday 28 October. Christos Dikeakos in conversation at the Hellenic Centre, Thursday 29 October. Hovig live in London, Friday 30 October. Ypogeia Revmata at GRis Festival, Friday 30 October. The Greek List Halloween Party at the Elysée rooftop, Saturday 31 October. Evangelia, The Parea Tour at XOYO, Thursday 5 November. Gidiki live at Brixton Jamm, Friday 6 November.
The businesses featured in this guide are Greek List members. More than 100,000 Greeks and Cypriots in the UK read Greek List every month through the site, the newsletter and the Ellines sto Londino Facebook group, and Greek List listings rank first on Google for the searches our community makes.
Been to the new car free Oxford Street already? Tell us what you thought in the Facebook group Ellines sto Londino.
