Christmas shut-down?

I've heard that most European countries, UK included, basically shut down around Christmas through the 1st of January.  Is this true?  We're moving over there on Friday the 18th and I was kind of hoping to get some house hunting done in those few days before and after Christmas.  Am I pretty much SOL?  Also, are there any good Chinese restaurants in London open on Christmas?

I think that rings pretty true from my time there.  In London there will still be certain things open - especially within the Indian/Pakistani communities, where Christmas is not usually celebrated.  However, it may be difficult to find someone who is working at showing houses - especially if people are still in thehome, because it does shut down for so long. 
Good Luck!

Christmas Eve is a normal day BUT it tends to be more party oriented.  Most shops close by 4pm.
Christmas Day and the 28th are Bank Holidays so everything (banks, post office, most businesses) will be shut. You won't find fast food places or grocery stores open Christmas Day or even Boxing Day.   Shops will be open - some from the 26th, most from the 27th -but they will be crazy with sale shoppers.
I wouldn't expect many estate agents to be operating the week between Christmas and New Years but I might be wrong.

I would get as much done as I could in the beginning of next week.

I just found out that the office building that DH and I have our office in shuts after the 18th. So every company in the building will be closed unless they have offices elsewhere or people, like me, who will work from home.

you should be fine up to and including Christmas Eve, but a lot of companies do close between Xmas and New Years.  Similar to sweetpeach, the company I worked for last Christmas had to close between Christmas and New Years because the building the office was in shut down for that whole period.  This year, though, I will be at work between Christmas and New Years (different company)- lucky me!

I suspect there will be some estate agents open, but it will really rely on the area. We live in the money driven south east, so there is usually at least one person in the estate agencies, but with Christmas falling on a Friday this year, it's probably not going to be until the following Tuesday.

If you want to PM the area, I can ring around a few agents and see who'll be open and when

What part of London will you be in? It's true that most things close on christmas day but depending on the neighbourhood you may find lots of independent shops and restaurants open -- I did when I lived in Whitechapel and Manor House, for example. In addition to South Asian look for Turkish and North African places, I had a lovely Christmas dinner at a Turkish place in west london one year. (And I'd say the Turkish food in London is likely to be much better than the Chinese food!)

The biggest problem is really not having any public transport whatsoever, but it is a lot of fun to walk around the city when it's so dead.

The only things open round here at that time are pubs, hotels, petrol garages, the two so-called supermarkets and the hospital/surgeries.

Pretty much everything else is entirely shut.

Hope it stays that way, too.

IMO it'd be a shame if it all went like teh US where everything's expected to stay open 24/7.

What part of London will you be in? It's true that most things close on christmas day but depending on the neighbourhood you may find lots of independent shops and restaurants open -- I did when I lived in Whitechapel and Manor House, for example. In addition to South Asian look for Turkish and North African places, I had a lovely Christmas dinner at a Turkish place in west london one year. (And I'd say the Turkish food in London is likely to be much better than the Chinese food!)

The biggest problem is really not having any public transport whatsoever, but it is a lot of fun to walk around the city when it's so dead.

And weird. I walked across town to get a lift home from a friend on the day of the July bombings and the only vehicles were occasional police cars screaming by. The really weird thing is that people were smiling at each other.

Do the (London) tube and bus and trains stop running at Christmas? Is this just Christmas day?

Hope it stays that way, too.

IMO it'd be a shame if it all went like teh US where everything's expected to stay open 24/7.

Definitely!  I eagerly look forward to the whole Christmas shutdown - just being with our (DH's) family, eating & drinking ourselves silly! 

Plus napping, reading, Scrabble playing & the Dr Who Christmas special!

Do the (London) tube and bus and trains stop running at Christmas? Is this just Christmas day?

Yep, all the transport is shut down. Some taxis and minicabs still run but they'll charge you an arm and a leg.

They start winding things down christmas eve night, everything is shut down xmas day, and they slowly ramp back up on boxing day, though some things may still not run. Every year TFL puts a guide to holiday transport schedules on its website, it's really helpful though it is about 20 pages long 

On the plus side, I think all the transport is free, all night, on new year's eve.

Definitely!  I eagerly look forward to the whole Christmas shutdown - just being with our (DH's) family, eating & drinking ourselves silly! 

Plus napping, reading, Scrabble playing & the Dr Who Christmas special!

I wish! DH opens his office every day! Well, not Christmas Day or Boxing Day, but all the other days between Christmas and New Year! He only goes in for a few hours a day, but it's still open. 

On the plus side, I think all the transport is free, all night, on new year's eve.

True, but a number of Tube lines and stations in Central London are shut down and it's a real nightmare.

IMO it'd be a shame if it all went like teh US where everything's expected to stay open 24/7.

Could not agree more!! Especially with a husband in retail - he works long enough hours already!!

I wish! DH opens his office every day! Well, not Christmas Day or Boxing Day, but all the other days between Christmas and New Year!

Sigh. I'm out of annual leave so that's what I'll be doing this year.