Hopefully the U.K. members can help me out. I have been wanting to go to London for as long as I can remember. I made it to Scotland (Glasgow & Edinburgh) last year, but didn't make it further south. My question is, what time of year is best to visit and about how long a vacation should I take? The soonest I would be able to go would be springtime but I want to book as early as possible b/c I've found some good deals. The packages have anywhere from 3 to 9 days. How many days should I take to see London? Would it be a waste to rent a car? Anything I must to see? Is March or April going to be too cold? TIA.

I'm not a UK member, but I've visited London, and I can tell you that you definitely DON'T need to rent a car. The Underground, and busses, will get you anywhere on economical daily or weekly passes. Plenty of free transfers, too. Car rental costs are sky-high, gasoline cost is even higher, and there's nowhere to park.

London? Why go straight from Scotland to London and miss out what's inbetween, such as (ahem) Newcastle?

I've never been to London, but summer should be the best time to go. April won't be too cold, but English weather is hit-and-miss. Not too cold, not too hot, but it could rain a lot. Then again, you could have seven scorching days of sun. All of August this year was nothing but rain and floods, ALL OVER the country, so you really can't tell.

Mick

Have a great time!

Hi Krlea,

Time of year doesn't matter too much, the weather is so unpredictable. The best times I'd say would be summmer (July/August), or in the run-up to Christmas when everything is lit up with pretty lights and its very beautiful. You can also get some excellent xmas shopping done!!

I'd take a few days to see the sights. The trouble with London is that its very spread out and the longer you have the better. IMO the best things to see/do are a boat trip down the River Thames


The London Eye

and of course lots of shopping.

About 5 days would be enough I reckon. I mean, there are lots of things to do if you stay longer, but it really depends on your time and budget.

Don't rent a car. Like Turnbull says, the public transport is excellent (except when like me you have to take it into work every day!), and there's nowhere to park. You also have to pay to drive into the centre of London now.

Anyway, just let me know if you have any questions I'd be happy to help out.

I spent 8 days in England on business, primarily in London and then a return trip with a day of sight seeing in London.

One recommendation. The bus tours cover all of the major areas of London. If I remember there is a Red, Yellow, and Blue tour, but they overlap and you can transfer from one route to the other all on the same ticket. Hope for a nice day and ride on top in the open air. For an extra few pounds you can add a one hour boat tour on the Thames. From taking the bus tour I then went back to the Tower of London (the Crown Jewels). Get there when is opens and take the tour conducted by the Yeoman Warders - very entertaining.

If you like the theatre, London is much cheaper than NY, Broadway. Its the only thing that I found to be cheaper.

I was there in late Sept/Oct and then back in mid Nov. We had rain, drizzle, sun, warm-humid, cool-damp. Good luck and have fun planning. Some day I hope to return with my wife.

PS. Buy a guide book of London before you go.

All year is generally the same, we don't have any snowfall, maybe two days in January. It is never too cold or never too hot.

If you want to see only london it should take around 3 days.

Yes it would be a waste to rent a car because in city it cost a lot of money to park and it is sometimes hard to find a car park, also that the underground is very good, also we have private buses that you can get from most of the bus stops in central london, they are especillay designed for tourism, they cost around 15 pounds a day and they go around the city and the major sites.
like:
http://www.bigbus.co.uk/
http://www.theoriginaltour.com/

Don't book tickets online you can buy them on the same day. For underground one day travelcard is around 5 pounds.

April march will not be very cold still you would need a thin jacket.

One thing you should know, it is going to rain, don't matter when you come, it is going to rain.

Things you must see:

The Houses of Parliament - Big ben

Madame Tussauds http://www.madame-tussauds.com/

Buckingham Palace: Queens Residence

Tower Bridge: A famous bridge

Harrods - Queen does her her shopping here, just go and have a look, very overly priced.

Oxford Circus - it is not a circus, it the middle of london and very good for shopping.

Piccadilly Circus - just famous and nearby china town.

London Eye: A big wheel, shows all of london, good at nights.

http://www.londontown.com/ for more info.

They charge a pound to use the loo.

My English teacher is a huge William Shakespeare fan, and she showed us pictures of her trip to Stratford on Avon. What a thrill. :rolleyes:

Never mind heading South from Glasgow and Edinburgh, head North

Two complete extremes within about two hours drive. You can have the hustle of city life in either of those two places (much prefer Edinburgh personally) then head North over the Forth Road Bridge.

Stunning scenary, beautiful towns and villages dotted around. If you are coming from the USA, you might feel obliged to be look for Nessie of course.....

For a small country, it's got the lot!

If you are in London long enough, try a guided walk. I went on a 'Jack the Ripper Walk' which was both very informative and very entertaining!! Details of the walks are at http://www.london.walks.com

Have fun

TPM