Free Cool Places In London Archives

January 22 2025

Canary Wharf Winter Lights 2025

Urban Adventurer Cool Activities, Experience on the go, Immersive Experience, Instagrammable Places, Pop Up, Things to Do, Unique Experience, Winter Canary Wharf, Canary Wharf Winter Lights, Canary Wharf Winter Lights 2025, Free Cool Places In London, Free Cool Things to do, Light Festival, Light Installation, London Life, Winter Lights 2025 0

Canary Wharf Winter Lights Festival has returned for its ninth year. This year the trail will take you for an unreal journey through time and space.

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[BLOG POST IN BIO ] Canary Wharf Winter Lights Festival has returned for its ninth year. This year the trail will take you for an unreal journey through time and space 💫@Canary Wharf #canarywharf #winterlights #lightfestival #londonlife🇬🇧 #londonblogger #CapCut

♬ night vibe – skyfall beats

Canary Wharf Winter Lights

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Gorgeous lit-up light installations have taken over Canary Wharf to be enjoyed by everyone for free.

The spectacular Canary Wharf Winter Lights have returned to fill the long and dull January nights with beautiful illuminations.

There are 12 temporary light installations scattered around Canary Wharf waiting to be discovered, showcasing some of the most innovative light artists across the globe.

The festival is free to visit from 5pm – 10pm daily and you can download the trail map from the official website of Canary Wharf or get one for free from one of the friendly stewards on the spot.

If you can’t find an installation, don’t worry, a steward is standing on literally every corner, happy to give you assistance.

Here are some of the highlights:

Wave by Squidsoup – UK

Photo: Urban Adventurer

This installation consists of 500 individually suspended orbs. The orbs are brought to life through light and sound, creating a spectacular audio-visual experience, a “cleansing wave of renewal”.

Evanescent Droplets by Atelier Sisu – Australia/Peru

Photo: Urban Adventurer

These huge colourful bubbles are floating in the fountain at Cabot Square. The aim of this installation is to capture the ephemerality in a tangible form.

The word ephemeral means fleeting and vanishing quickly or lasting for a very short time. The fragility of the bubbles and their constantly changing colour encourage visitors to view the world around them from a playful, childlike perspective while be aware of its fragility.

Bird Passing By by Luminariste – Benjamin Nesme & Marc Sicard – France

Photo: Urban Adventurer

This massive installation encourages us to look up at the sky and discover the birds as they’re delicately floating freely with the wind. The installation is a series of illuminated sections representing the different stages of a bird’s movement while flying.

PORTAL by Lucid Creates – UK

Photo: Urban Adventurer

‘PORTAL’ is an awe-inspiring 13-metre (42.6 ft) high archway towering above Canary Wharf. Inside of the monumental archway colour-changing LED lights move and transforms continuously to create an ethereal, otherworldly display, a gate to Heaven.

The colossal gate results a dreamlike vision and invites visitors to enter and experience a transcendental audio-visual show like no other.

Positive Spin by Liz Harry & Kazimier Productions – UK

Photo: Urban Adventurer

This installation is inside of Jubilee Place. It’s a 5.5-metre (18 ft) high machine resembling to a giant slot machine. The interactive machine invites visitors to push its buttons for a random fortune.

The machine is inspired by the love of Summers spent at beach.

Illusion Hole by UxU Studio – Taiwan

Photo: Urban Adventurer

This giant hypnotic installation appears in the water near Canary Wharf station.

‘Illusion Hole’ is a precise geometric arrangement constantly swirling on the surface of the water, challenging the human perception. What is real and what is not? How can we accept something as true if we cannot be sure that what we see is the reality? These deep questions might emerge within visitors while observing the mesmerising light installation as it swirling into a black hole.

Permanent Installations

Photo: Urban Adventurer

During their journey, visitors can explore seven permanent light installations too.

One of those is ‘The Clew’ by a Portuguese artist, Ottotto. ‘The Clew’ is made from 100 circles of red lights, framing the Cubitt Steps Bridge, creating a sunset effect as illuminating over the dark water.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Another permanent installation is called ‘Captivated by Colour’ by Camille Walala which wraps up the entire Adams Plaza Bridge.

Originally created for the first London Mural Festival in 2020, ‘Captivated by Colour’ is a colourful geometric installation running through the inside of the tunnel. The tunnel is illuminated at night adding to the unique geometric shapes creating a playful distorted, otherworldly effect.

Practical Info

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Address

Canary Wharf Winter Lights Festival | All around Canary Wharf

Digital maps are available online or physical maps on the spot.

Winter Light installation map

Where to eat? Food and drink map

Learn more about each installation. Full installation information

Opening Times

21 January – 1 February 2025

Open daily: 5pm – 10pm

Tickets

FREE | NO booking needed. Simply show up and enjoy.

TIP: The festival tends to be very busy at the weekends. Long queues may form. Therefore, it is recommended to visit during weekdays.

Ready for your next adventure? Louis Vuitton x Murakami pop-up store opened in the heart of Soho. The pop-up celebrates and reinvigorates their collaboration with Japanese artist: Takashi Murakami. The pop-up contains a café where they serve Murakami-themed coffee, cakes and pasty in special collaboration cups and takeaway boxes.

May 28 2020

Free Cool Things to Do After Quarantine – Part 1

Urban Adventurer COVID-19 Lockdown, Experience on the go Free Cool Places In London, Free Things to Do in London, Life After Quarantine, What to Do In London After Quarantine, where to go in London 0

So, quarantine is finally eased and here we are, let’s confess, with low budget but finally free from home prison. And desperately want to visit some cool places and finally feed our Instagram.

Where to go? What to do?

Here is a collection of cool and completely FREE things to do in London.

Scenes in the Square

Celebrating a century of cinema, bronze sculptures were unveiled in Leicester Square this February. You can find Bugs Bunny, Laurel & Hardy, Batman, Wonder Woman, Mr Bean, Paddington Bear and other iconic film characters from the past century to take cool selfies with. To make sure you don’t miss any of them, click here for a map.

Don’t forget to bring some matching accessories with you to make your photos even cooler, for example, a sandwich to eat with Paddington Bear or Mr Bean’s shabby Teddy Bear.

And if it’s not enough, just wait until dark because come of the sculptures come to life after dark.

Want more? Here’s a tip: if you click on each sculpture on the map, you can listen to related songs on Spotify.

Graffiti Tour

Put on a fancy dress, blow up some shaped balloons, make a crazy make-up and head to London’s coolest graffiti spots, and blow up your Instagram feed.

So, what are the best graffiti spots?

Camden Town

No need to search for street names. Just click here and find all street names with amazing street art, plus some useful tips.

Shoreditch

OK, but where exactly? Click here and let yourslef guided.

Waterloo Graffiti Tube

Waterloo graffiti tube is right next to Waterloo station and perfect scene for epic photo shoots.

Psst…for hidden graffiti gems all over in London, head to photos_from_london on Instagram.

Visit London’s Most Colourful Streets

London is a beautiful city full of colours. There are streets in the city worth to visit for their rainbow terraced houses. Here is a list of London’s most colourful streets:

Bywater Street, Chelsea

Chalcot Square, Primrose Hill

Kelly Street, Kentish Town

Bonny Street, Camden

Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden

Conduit Mews, Paddington

Notting Hill (From Farmer Street to Kensington Road, from Ledbury Street to Hillgate Street)

Godfrey Street, Chelsea

St Dunstan In The East Church Garden

The Church of Dunstan was originally built around 1100 AD. It has been severely damaged by The Great Fire of London as well as in the WWI and the WWII. After severely damaged by air raid during the WWII, St Dunstan was decided not to be rebuild. Instead, the remains of the church were reopened as public garden in 1970.

Today, the ruins of the medieval church and its walls and windows grown with plants looks nothing like London. It’s an unusual spot in the heart of the city and a charming scene for photographers.

Opening hours

Open all year round from 8am to 7pm or dusk, whichever is earlier.

St, Dunstan’s Hill, London EC3R 5DD

St Katharine Dock

St Katharine Dock’s history goes back to the 10^th century, when King Edgar rewards his 13 knights with lands that would later become St Katharine Dock.

In 1940 St Katharine Dock becomes famous by its valuable cargos such as wine, tea, perfume, indigo, spices, marble and more.

Today St Katharine Dock is a hidden gem and a heart-warming contrast of the nearby attractions.

Walking through the maze of the dock admiring the old and new ships and yachts and discover the nearby cozy restaurants and bars is really a great way the spend the day.

Don’t forget to visit (once it’s reopened) The Dickens Inn, a traditional English pub that was a warehouse long time ago, in the 18th century.

Abbey Road

As a positive result of quarantine, the iconic zebra crossing on Abbey Road has been repainted. The cover of The Beatles’ famous album, Abbey Road, was shot in 8 August 1969.

Now Abbey Road zebra crossing is refreshed and ready for you to take marvellous photos.

Ready fo your next adventure? How about a virtual graffiti tour in London?