doyledog1

We are visiting London for 6 days in December, any suggestions on an itinerary? Our group is made up of 7 adults.

janisj

1) do a search on here for other London threads -- very easy

2) click on <i>Destinations</i> at the top of this page and read about London.

3) Tell us something (<i>anything</i about what you enjoy/why you are going to London. We need something to work w/.

4) We can't really give you an itinerary --what we want to see/do may be completely different than what you want. But we CAN help you refine your own plan . . .

doyledog1

Visiting daughter and son-in-law who recently moved to London and will be living in Hampstead area, so need suggestions on finding an Apartment or B&B as there will be 5 adults family members in our group we are looking for reasonably priced housing (100-200dollars) per night. In addition to seeing adult childrens requested sights in London ( buckingham palace, westminster abbey, big ben, globe theatre, st. Paul's,millennium bridge, tower of london,trafalger square, cabinet war rooms) we would like to take day trips to Bath, Oxford, and Stratford-on-Avon. This is our first trip to London, however because our daughter and son-in-law will be there for 2 years my husband and I will be returning and hope to add Paris to our itinerary on that trip. On our family trip we will be traveling the week before Christmas through Christmas week. We will have six full days excluding the day we land, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We would appreciate any insight in planning this family trip.

janisj

Just one very quick comment right now . . .

Do you mean $100-$200 a night for all five of you? Or do you mean two or three rooms @ $100-$200 for each room?

That is only about £60-£120 and a VERY low budget if you mean for all 5 adults. £120 is youth hostel territory.

A nice-ish but basic flat sleeping 5 would probably run nearly $250/£150 at Christmas time.

doyledog1

Thinking 2 rooms, one for 3 and one for 2 at 100-200 dollars per room, per night or an apartment or house for 1500 to 2200 for the week that would house all 5 of us. Thanks.

janisj

Oh -- that is MUCH better. You won't have a problem then. Do you want a place in Hampstead or nearby, or just one convenient to the Northern line for traveling there and back?

And w/ no public transport on Christmas Day, will the daughter/S-i-L have a car and be able to pick you up/return you to the flat? If not, you'll probably want to be w/i walking distance of their place or whereever you plan on celebrating Xmas.

janisj

Oh - one other quick comment: Many flats (not all though) do require a 7 day rental. W/ that budget you could actually rent for a week and 'eat' the extra night if you found a place you liked

jamikins

With 6 days you will lose 1 day to xmas because there is no transit - given you 5 days in London. I would do a max of one day trip, so choose either Bath OR Stratford Upon Avon OR Oxford. We use www.walks.com for day trips when people visit us - affordable and great guides. Keep in mind that planned engineering works will likely impact rail travel so the route to these places might not be feasible so be sure to check that out as it gets closer www.nationalrail.co.uk.

PalenQ

Bath and Stratford are long long day trips if going by car (and even train) -days are so short then - nightfall really early - yes with only six days in London I would do day trips to nearby places like Oxford, Windsor and especially at Christmas Hampton Court Palace, as there is I believe special events occuring there during Christmas - in any case Hampton Court, home to Henry the 8th and still said to be haunted by the ghost of one of his beheaded wives - is such an awesome experience, from the Maze in the gardens to the most complete Tudor kitches anywhere (they say) and the world-class art in the Orangery and throughout the palace - part of the Queen's art collection - and a manageable day trip by car or by train - can use your Oyster Card I believe to get there - about an hoour or less from any place in London by tube/train.

doyledog1

The 6 days does not include Christmas day since we were planning to all be together at our daughter's place and enjoying a family Christmas, so we do have 6 full days to tour.

jamikins

Fair enough - I still wouldnt do more than 1 day trip. Keep in mind the days are short. For example the sun rises at 8:05 on xmas eve and sets at 15:55 giving you 7 hours and 50 mins of daylight. There is so much to see in and around London and with all the holiday time tables and people travelling the trains will be very busy.

Its certainly possible to do a couple of day trips, but certainly dont try to do all those places in 1 day - each of them will take a day on their own.

doyledog1

Thanks for your replies, we have narrowed down the places we would like to put on our itinerary and wonder if aLondon Pass with transportation is something we should consider purchasing for our family of 7, all adults. We are are putting together an itinerary that will include visiting the Globe theatre, millennium bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, and Hampton Court Palace, and the War Rooms. In addition maybe a day trip to Oxford. We will be staying in Hampstead. We think this is feasible given our time and the fact that we are talking about being there December 16-27, it also allows us to celebrate the Christmas holiday with our family who recently relocated to London and who are planning the 23 and 24 for everyone.

janisj

"<i>and wonder if aLondon Pass with transportation is something we should consider purchasing for our family of 7, </i>"

Even w/o reading the full post --the answer 99% of the time is NO.

After reading the whole thing - it is 95+% no for the London Pass, and 100% no for the transport option. The LP is ridiculously expensive and the transport option is a complete ripoff. And when you multiply the costs by 7 it will a HUGE expense

Much MUCH better would be the Days Out 2for1 vouchers. For this you'd need to buy paper travelcard instead of Oyster Cards. There are literally hundreds of thread explaining this so do a search and get more info than you can possibly absorb

For all the info -- http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/

the 7 of you will get in all the paid sites for the price of 4 (a MUCH cheaper deal than 7 London Passes).

And remember --many sites are free.

doyledog1

THANK YOU!