The Gingerbread City is closing soon – your last chance for the perfect post-Christmas day out in London

If you’re staring down that weird stretch of time between Christmas and getting back to work, when days blur together, emails stay quiet, and you’re itching for an excuse to leave the house, consider this your nudge. The Gingerbread City is back in London, and it closes on the 4th of January, making this your final chance to catch one of the capital’s most charmingly daft festive exhibitions before reality kicks back in.

Now in its ninth year, the Museum of Architecture’s annual show transforms gingerbread into an entire miniature metropolis. We’re talking streets, towers and public spaces all painstakingly constructed from biscuits, icing and sweets by teams of architects, engineers and designers. It’s playful, impressive and, crucially, exactly the sort of low-stakes, high-reward outing that suits the post-Christmas lull perfectly.

This year’s theme, The Playful City, asks a surprisingly thoughtful question: how can we design cities that spark fun, curiosity and connection? The answers come coated in icing. Expect schools with slides between classrooms, train stations that double as skate parks, rooftop gardens, climbing walls and candy-coloured public spaces that feel part Willy Wonka, part urban-planning thesis. It’s light-hearted, sure, but there’s a genuinely smart idea underneath it all.

The exhibition has a new home for 2025, taking over Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross, and it’s a great fit. In previous years, visitors have spotted gingerbread versions of London landmarks like Battersea Power Station and Tate Modern, along with tiny trains weaving through the sugary streets.

Everything here is technically edible (though absolutely no nibbling allowed), making it oddly mesmerising in the way only extremely detailed food-based art can be.

If just looking isn’t enough, you can also book onto a gingerbread house workshop, where you’ll build your own Playful City-inspired community centre to take home. Gingerbread is freshly baked by EL&N, and while the workshops aren’t cheap, they do make for a pretty wholesome way to kill an afternoon with friends or family, and beat another aimless scroll on the sofa.

If you’re after something easy, cheerful and genuinely different to do between Christmas and going back to work, this is a strong shout, but don’t hang about. The Gingerbread City 2025 is at Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross, until the 4th of January 2026. Tickets cost £13.50 for adults and £8.50 for children, must be booked in advance, and workshops are available as an optional extra.

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