A Greek Christmas in Chelsea is suddenly a real plan. This week a free trail of more than 30 artist designed Christmas trees opened along Sloane Street, and over the next ten days the same corner of London fills up with Greek concerts, a Greek ball, an ancient Cyprus weekend and a Greek DJ on a Knightsbridge rooftop. Here is the walk, from Harrods to St James’s Square, with Greek List members on the way.
Most guides send you to Oxford Street and Covent Garden, and we covered those in our Christmas lights guide. For the second half of November the Greek calendar points south west: two Greek jazz acts at Cadogan Hall in one day, a Greek singer on the King’s Road, the Oinoussian Ball in Belgravia and an ancient Cyprus weekend at Cyprus House. Add the new tree trail that Secret London flagged on 12 November and a Greek Christmas in Chelsea costs nothing to start and gets livelier after dark.
Come out of Knightsbridge station and Harrods is already glowing. The Brompton Road facade is the classic photo and the food halls are where you warm up before the walk. Sloane Street runs south from here, so the whole trail is downhill to Sloane Square.
Two Greek reasons to linger. On Sunday 22 November, CLAP Rooftop on Basil Street hands the decks to DJ Avgoustinos from 19:00 to 23:00, with 180 degree views over Knightsbridge. With children, the Paradox Museum on Brompton Road lets kids in free on Sundays and Tuesdays all November.
Getting there: Knightsbridge station (Piccadilly line) or buses 9, 14 and 74 along Brompton Road. Check TfL first, parts of the Piccadilly line have weekend closures this autumn.
The Firefly Festive Forest is the new arrival: more than 30 Christmas tree sculptures along Sloane Street, from Knightsbridge down to Sloane Square, each designed by an artist, designer or fashion name, among them Richard Hudson, Charlotte Colbert, Roksanda Ilincic, Alison Jackson, Tom Faulkner, Charlotte Tilbury and Patrick Mavros.
It is free and stays up until 1 December. The Quintessentially Foundation organises it, and the trees are auctioned afterwards for its Firefly Project, which supports disadvantaged children across London. Free guided walks run on 21 and 28 November, booked through Eventbrite. Our tip: walk it once in daylight for the detail and once after dark when the shop windows do the rest.
Greek stop nearby: Want proper photos among the trees, or at the ball on the 21st? Greek List members Manos Photography and Aneliza Photography are Greek photographers in London who shoot families, couples and events, in your language.
Getting there: Sloane Square station (District and Circle lines) at the south end, Knightsbridge station at the north end. The walk is about 15 minutes without stops.
Turn off at Sloane Terrace for Cadogan Hall, the former church that is now one of London’s best concert rooms. On Friday 20 November it hosts two Greek musicians in the EFG London Jazz Festival. At lunchtime, tenor saxophonist Vasilis Xenopoulos plays Feels Like Home with pianist Paul Edis, music about the places that shaped them, from Greece and Cyprus to the north east of England. In the evening, pianist and composer Tania Giannouli joins Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer for a largely improvised set between jazz, contemporary classical and ambient.
If Greek music means bouzoukia to you, this is the day to change your mind. Both concerts are a short walk from the trees, so one Friday gives you a full Greek Christmas in Chelsea.
Getting there: Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, SW1X 9DQ. Two minutes from Sloane Square station.
The same Friday evening, a few minutes further down the King’s Road, Greek jazz singer Eleonora Kouneni launches her EP Independently Blue at PizzaExpress Live Chelsea, 152 King’s Road. Doors 18:30, show 20:00, tickets 20 pounds. It is a small room, so book ahead. The King’s Road is worth the stroll anyway, and Duke of York Square by Sloane Square has a Saturday food market for lunch.
Getting there: Sloane Square station, then a ten minute walk west along the King’s Road. Buses 11, 19, 22 and 319 run the length of the road.
Walk back up Sloane Street and through Belgravia and you reach Hyde Park Corner, where The Peninsula London hosts the Oinoussian Ball on Saturday 21 November from 18:30. The Oinoussai Benevolent Fund, the London charity for the small island next to Chios that produced so many Greek shipping families, has made it one of the traditional nights of the Greek community in London. DJ Avgoustinos is on the decks later.
Across the road, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland opens on Thursday 19 November and runs until 3 January, with advance entry from 1 pound off peak and rides charged on top. Our ice skating guide covers the rinks nearby.
Greek stop nearby: Chill House Coffee on Shepherd Street in Mayfair is five minutes from Hyde Park Corner, inside Shepherd Market: proper Greek coffee, a freddo if you still want one in November and Greek pastries, the pause between the trees and an evening event.
Getting there: Hyde Park Corner station (Piccadilly line). The Peninsula is at 1 Grosvenor Place, SW1X 7HJ. From Sloane Square it is a 20 minute walk through Belgravia.
Finish with a 20 minute walk east to Cyprus House, 13 St James’s Square. On 21 and 22 November the Cultural Section of the Cyprus High Commission runs Discovering Ancient Cyprus, two free days on the island’s ancient history and archaeology, with Saturday devoted to the finds behind a major Cyprus exhibition in Oxford. Until 29 November the same building shows Rivers, a free poetry and image installation by Costas Mannouris and Eugenios Gavriil, open Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 15:00.
A fitting end to a Greek Christmas in Chelsea: artist designed trees at one end, three thousand years of Cypriot history at the other, all of it free.
Getting there: Piccadilly Circus or Green Park stations, both five minutes from St James’s Square.
Fitzrovia detour: Cypriot artist Andreas Stylianou shows ceramics, metal and neon in Extinction Point at The Tagli, 67 Great Titchfield Street, 17 to 22 November. Hellenic Centre: a panel on femicide and the Greek media on Thursday 19 November (5 pounds) and a free tribute to Vasilis Panayi on Monday 23 November. Budget tip: the trail, Cyprus House and the Panayi tribute are free, so a Greek Christmas in Chelsea costs a travelcard and a coffee.
Everything above comes from the Greek List events page, the most complete list of Greek events in the UK. The next ten days:
Organising something Greek or Cypriot in the UK? 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, the newsletter and the Ellines sto Londino Facebook group, and Greek List listings rank first on Google. There is a plan for every budget.
Walked the trail or been to one of the concerts? Share your photos in the Facebook group Ellines sto Londino, we repost the best ones.
