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Things to do in London for December

By Lucy Brooks on 30/11/2017

We round up the best London things to do in December, featuring fine dining, world-class art exhibitions and hot ticket theatre

Londrino restaurant, Southwark

Portuguese food seen through a London lens: top pop-up chef Leandro Carreira goes permanent

WHEN

01 Dec 2017 – 02 Jan 2019, Exact opening hours tbc

WHERE

36 Snowsfields Yard
London Bridge, London, SE1 3QQ

Photograph: Torbjorn Calvero © Premium Rockshot

ABBA: Super Troupers exhibition, Southbank Centre

Return to the smokey dance halls of the seventies at Southbank’s immersive ABBA exhibition

WHEN

14 Dec 2017 – 29 Apr 2018, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

WHERE

Royal Festival Hall
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX

Matthew Bourne's Cinderella, photo Hugo Glendinning

Matthew Bourne's Cinderella, Sadler's Wells

Matthew Bourne’s take on the much-loved story of Cinderella takes over Sadler’s Wells for the Christmas season

WHEN

09 Dec 2017 – 27 Jan 2018, Times vary depending on dates. See Sadler's website for full details

WHERE

Sadler's Wells
Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN

Birmingham Royal Ballet, The Nutcracker Review [STAR:4]

Birmingham Royal Ballet, The Nutcracker, Royal Albert Hall

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a Nutcracker or three… This year, London sees a brand new production from Birmingham Royal Ballet at the Royal Albert Hall

WHEN

28 Dec 2017 – 31 Dec 2017, 19:00, Sun 17:00 mats Fri, Sat, 14:00, Sun 13:00 End time TBC

WHERE

Royal Albert Hall
Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AP

Harry's Dolci Restaurant, London

Harry's Dolci brings the glamour of 50s/60s Italy to Knightsbridge and a wickedly abundant dessert menu. It's the latest sibling in the Ivy, Caprice et al family

WHEN

06 Dec 2017 – 06 Dec 2018, Mon-Sat 8am-11pm Sun 9am-midnight

WHERE

Harry's Dolci
27-31 Basil Street , Knightsbridge, SW3 1BB

A Christmas Carol Immersive Event

Three ghosts have come to visit... A Christmas feast and a heart-warming story await you in this immersive Christmas Carol

WHEN

01 Dec 2017 – 31 Dec 2017, Tuesday – Sunday, 7.30pm 4.00pm matinees on Saturdays

WHERE

Scrooges Parlour
3 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6PG

Skate at Somerset House

Festive cheer with a touch of elegance: Skate at Somerset House

WHEN

15 Nov 2017 – 14 Jan 2018, Book your time slot in advance

WHERE

Somerset House
Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

The Mozart Festival Orchestra and singers perform Handel's Messiah in 18th-century manner

Handel's Messiah by Candlelight, Royal Festival Hall

Players and singers in 18th-century attire bring to life the London-based world of composer Handel

WHEN

On 15 Dec 2017, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

WHERE

Royal Festival Hall
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX

Detail: Modigliani, Portrait of a Girl, c.1917 © Tate Modern, Tate Modigliani Show 2017 Modigliani London

Modigliani: Tate Modern Exhibition

Why the long face? Book now for the autumn 2017 Tate Modigliani exhibition

WHEN

22 November - 2 April 2018, 10.00 - 18.00

WHERE

Tate Modern, Bankside, London, SE1 9TG

Southam Street restaurant, Notting Hill

Denney and Luca Longobardi (the money man) are expanding. The chef-owner duo are opening a three storey Victorian pub, also in Notting Hill. Downstairs, a Japanese robata grill, upstairs, a raw bar overseen by a Japanese sushi master - and the second floor will be a Champagne bar. Better and better

WHEN

26 October 2017 - 2 November 2018

WHERE

36 Golborne Road London, W10 5PR

Harry Potter exhibition: The History of Magic, British Library London 2017

Twenty years after Harry joined Hogwarts, JK Rowling's wizarding world takes over the British Library for a magical Harry Potter exhibition. Get ready to book

WHEN

20 October 2017 - 28 Feb 2018

WHERE

British Library
96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB

Paul Cézanne, Uncle Dominique in Smock and Blue Cap, 1866-7, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wolfe Fund, 1951 acquired from The Museum of Modern Art, Lillie P. Bliss Collection (53.140.1)

Cézanne Portraits exhibition review, National Portrait Gallery ★★★★★

The beauty of this monumental exhibition lies in its simplicity and its thematic focus on a lesser known facet of Cézanne's oeuvre

WHEN

26 October 2017 - 11 February 2018, 10:00 - 18:00, Friday 10:00 - 21:00

WHERE

National Portrait Gallery
St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Pablo Picasso), 1984, Private collection, Italy. © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

Basquiat, Barbican Centre

Back in the ‘80s, New York’s contemporary art scene was dominated by Minimalism. White walls, white people drinking white wine. Over in Brooklyn, though, there was a young artist who was about to blow it wide open.

Jean-Michel Basquiat gets his long overdue UK retrospective at the Barbican

WHEN

21 September 2017 - 28 January 2018, Sunday - Wednesday: 10:00 - 18:00, Thursday - Saturday: 10:00 – 22:00

WHERE

Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS

Things to do in London for December

We round up the best London things to do in December, featuring fine dining, world-class art exhibitions and hot ticket theatre

Londrino restaurant, Southwark

ABBA: Super Troupers exhibition, Southbank Centre

Matthew Bourne's Cinderella, Sadler's Wells

Birmingham Royal Ballet, The Nutcracker, Royal Albert Hall

Harry's Dolci Restaurant, London

A Christmas Carol Immersive Event

Skate at Somerset House

Handel's Messiah by Candlelight, Royal Festival Hall

Modigliani: Tate Modern Exhibition

Southam Street restaurant, Notting Hill

Harry Potter exhibition: The History of Magic, British Library London 2017

Cézanne Portraits exhibition review, National Portrait Gallery ★★★★★

Basquiat, Barbican Centre

London

Things to do

Going out

December