Travelling to London, need advice

[czycropper]

Hi UK forum friends - I have a question for you. My DH is going to London on business and he's trying to decide which month to go in the first quarter of 2011 so that my DDs and I could go over at the end of his trip and stay for a few days.....so, please advice on which month would be better, Feb, March or early April....

I'm so excited and this will be a BIG surprise for my DDs. We're actually just going to say that Daddy is going somewhere else then we'll go to the airport and surprise them - so I'll be doing all the packing in secret as well

So any ideas on places to go (other than the obvious) would be great appreciated. I'm sure that my DDs would love some kind of Harry Potter tour since we're all fanatics.

TIA!!!!

 

[MazdaUK]

Hi there! Couple of things to watch out for when picking dates - half-term in our area (i.e. kids off school for a week) is the last week of Feb. Other areas may have the week before, so London will be busy. February (and March) can be cold and wet - but hey, so can August! The first two weeks in April are also School holidays for Easter, and you may have heard we're got a special wedding at the end of April. All those dates will feature bigger crowds and higher hotel prices, so I'd suggest March - late March can be quite pleasant in terms of sun and temperature, but still bring plenty of layers and umbrellas.

Harry Potter - I can direct you to the "Ministry of Magic" but the phone box they use is not really there (although there is one nearby you could use for photos). Although there have been stories about the film studios opening as "Harry Potter World" I'm not sure if this will happen by the time you get here. Its outside Central London, and I think it is likely to be very expensive - say £60 ($90) a ticket. Most of the locations are in Scotland or the borders (Alnwick Castle stood in for Hogwarts), but the great hall was modelled on Kings College, Cambridge.

Best fun would probably be to do a combined London Eye/amphibious tour (Duck Tours) which takes you round the streets and along the Thames in Westminster (Big Ben, Abbey etc,.). The museums in South Kensington are free - Natural History, Science Museum - and have lots of hands-on fun for kids. Tower of London is quite expensive, but you can get a family ticket and a tour by the Yeoman Warders (Beefeaters) is free. Crown jewels included! Do your DD's have any special interests?

 

[Kath2003]

Hi UK forum friends - I have a question for you. My DH is going to London on business and he's trying to decide which month to go in the first quarter of 2011 so that my DDs and I could go over at the end of his trip and stay for a few days.....so, please advice on which month would be better, Feb, March or early April....

The LATER the better. If there's bad weather, the UK grinds to a halt - as it currently has. I would go early April. I would avoid February at all costs.

 

[Dimplenose]

Easter is quite late next year but schools will take a 2 week break any time during April depending which local authority they are in.

February is always bad weather. March can be nice, but usually isn't - wet and windy. April is usually OK but can be wet/showery. The old rhyme is often true "March winds and April showers bring forth the May flowers".

The clocks go forward on the last Sunday in March.

London gets noticably busier with tourists from April onwards but attractions start to stay open later after the clocks have changed.

All that said I'd go for April over February or March.

 

[Chilly]

If you Google Harry Potter tour lots of things come up but I can't say how good any of them our.

 

[czycropper]

Thanks everyone for your comments, I'm really excited! I wish we were going later in the year but, hey, it's a relatively free trip since my DHs company will be paying for the hotel as well as half the airfare!

When I know an exact date I will post it and then you can give me more advice!

Merry Christmas!!!!! and try to keep warm.

How is it over there today?

 

[MazdaUK]

Down here in London its cold but above freezing (except for windchill) so the snow's melting nicely - most of the roads are clear, only the smallest side roads (with no through traffic) have anything left on the tarmac. Check out "2for1" offers (TfL's website has a link) as you can get much cheaper admission to things like the Tower of London or the London Aquarium

I love planning a vacation