‘Tis the season in London…for festive celebrations! Every December, life in London is jam-packed with fun events, Christmas parties, and seasonal pop-ups. For me, this week included all of the above. From a super cool yet festive Sipsmith gin rooftop pop-up lounge to Christmas parties and discovering a chic winter lodge called Neverland, this week was anything but dull.
Highlight #1: The Sipsmith Rooftop Gin Pop-Up at John Lewis
Throughout the year, the rooftop at the popular London department store, John Lewis, transforms. Most recently, Sipsmith has sponsored a rooftop gin lounge experience, complete with a bar, private cabins, and a mini ice skating rink.
I joined a few girlfriends recently and it was delightful! We sipped on lovely gin cocktails (who knew gin hot toddies were a thing!?) and feasted on pies from MYPIE – heavenly!
A few of the girls went skating as well and said it was fun. I highly recommend it for a fun night out.
The Sipsmith Skyline Skating & gin pop-up runs through January 6th. For more information, visit their website: https://www.johnlewis.com/our-services/roof-garden
Highlight #2: An Exceptionally Talented Christmas Party
I am in the UK on the Tech Nation visa, an exceptional talent visa. We have a wonderful community of individuals on this visa that get together regularly for networking. This year, we organized a Christmas party, complete with a white elephant swap. As I covered in my last-minute London gift guide, as none of us are from the UK (otherwise we wouldn’t need a UK visa!), I thought a cute London bus ornament for £13, combined with a funny card game about “How awkwardly British are you?” for £8.99 would be equal parts useful and fun. I picked these both up at John Lewis. Suffice to say, the game and ornament were both big hits!
I ended up picking up a LEGO set in the white elephant swap that will come in very handy for an adorable nephew in the future :).
Highlight #3: Finding Neverland – A Super Chic Winter Bar, Complete With Curling!
My third highlight of the week was going to a festive and fabulous winter lounge bar in London’s Fulham neighborhood. Called Neverland, the venue started as a beach bar in the summer and has transformed into a chic Aspen-inspired winter lounge for the winter.
Complete with mulled wine and a full bar, DJ, food stalls (pizza or burgers), I loved the atmosphere! I mistakenly thought it would be cold/outdoorsy, but it was anything but! All of the girls there were in boots and party dresses. The venue closes around 11 pm, so it seems that many people go to Neverland for the first part of the night and then go on to a club.
I recommend pre-booking a table or if you want to have a more private event, they have winter lodges or igloos. You can also book a beer pong table or a curling lane. We opted to book a curling lane and I had so much fun learning the sport. It’s actually a lot harder than it looks! I bounced it off a few times before finally getting the hang of it.
For more information on Neverland, visit their website here: https://www.neverlandlondon.com/
Final Thoughts
All in all, it was another fun week in London! London leading into Christmas is just wonderful – so many fun events and festive pop-ups to experience. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends to enjoy it with!
For more of my weekly adventures, click here.
For my London Guide, click here.