We'll be visiting London for the first time this Christmas from December 22nd-31st.

The challenge is, we want to do and see everything! However, most attractions will be closed for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day cutting out some of our sightseeing opportunities. Also, I'm afraid the cold weather might slow us down. Some reports I read say London weather is mild in December and others say it's rainy, freezing and miserable! What's the consensus?

We were thinking we'd like to poke around in London the first 4 days to see everything we can in the city and then do 1 or 2 day trips outside the city to see the "real" England. I see lots of advertisements for coach bus tours to Bath, Leeds, Canterbury, the Cotswolds, Stratford, Stonehenge, Kent, Windsor Castle, Warwick Castle, etc. But I've read some reviews that said some people felt rushed and didn't get to explore and take photos like they wanted to, so these bus tours could become pricey and I'm not sure if I like the idea of being confined to the driver's schedule. Does anyone recommend any tour companies? Would I be better off just taking the train to Windsor and the Cotswolds, etc? Or, will be too cold to do a lot of walking from the train station to the attractions? Are there any of these attractions that should be avoided in the winter?

Also, I see mixed reviews for the London Pass on this site. Would anyone suggest a hop-on/hop-off tour on the red bus instead with us only buying tickets to the attractions we really want to see (Tower of London, Kensington, Buckingham, Westminster Abbey, etc.) instead?

Lastly, does anyone have advice for a day trip to Paris on the Eurostar speed train? We were thinking of going the Saturday of Boxing Day as London will be mostly shut down. If we left early in the morning, would we be able to cram in a trip to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre?

Thanks everyone for your help!!!!

Our London experts will no doubt give more details but in the meantime here's my feedback. Whatever the weather, it will be dark quite early which will impact on your sightseeing and is something to jkeep in mind. How much you can fit in will depend on the detail and depth you want to "do" attractions. Some people spend ages at an attraction, reading every plaquee, taking lots of photos. Others are content to capture the highlights and general ambiance and move on.

The Hop on Hop off bus is a great way to get a general overview of London. Do a circuit and then get off at one of the attractions which appeal. Tickets are valid for 24 hours so if you time it right, you can get quite a bit of use from it.

I'd definitely do Windsor independently, by train. Bus tours are fine if you find one that doesn't try to do too much and only goes to places you really want to see but yes, do feel rushed. Since it gets dark so early, don't try to go too far. My first trip, same time of year, I did a tour that included Warwick Castle, Stratford and Oxford and it was more or less dark by the time we got to Oxford - my main interest. Very disappointing.

You <i>could</i> do a day trip to Paris, see the Eiffel Tower and spend a <i>very</i> short time at the Louvre. Only you can decide if it is worth the time, trouble and expense compared with leaving Paris for another time.

The 'joy' of the weather here in the the UK is that it's pretty unpredictable....and with Global Warmimg the more so. It might be really mild, it might be very cold....this site..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/c...ml?tt=TT003790

gives you the averages, and the record maxumums and minimums. And this site

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldcloc...&afl=-11&day=1

gives you sunrise and sunset for London in December.
Whether or not you think that the cold or wet is a problem, depends on what you are used to..... My opinion is that there's no such thing as the wrong weather, just the wrong clothes.
As far as things being closed...London (as many cities) is a great place to wander around and just take it all in

Thank you both, I really appreciate it! I don't mind weather (I live in NYC), but I'll be with my family who lives in Florida and can be lightweights.

Is Windsor castle far from the train stop? Does anyone know if the train to Windsor would be coverd by the Oyster card or the Travel Pass? Thanks again.

There are two stations in Windsor, one closer to the castle than the other, but both are within easy walking distance - less than half a mile through town streets or through a shopping precinct. The stations are on two separate routes, one starting from Paddington station and one from Waterloo, and the main decider is which London station it is easier for you to get to.

Windsor is a proper town, and fairly compact. Although dominated by the castle, it has lots of shops and restaurants and other things to see, and you could also walk in the Royal Park or visit Eton. Since this is your first visit to England, it would be a good place to just browse in the shops and get a feel for the way people live, although many if not most of the people you see will be other tourists.

topping so it show on my list - Like Arnie - I'll be back.

Short answer - don't fret.

"Some reports I read say London weather is mild in December and others say it's rainy, freezing and miserable! What's the consensus?"

That anyone who makes such absurd generalisations about British weather can only be a foreign tourist fatheaded enough to believe seriously the two days he spent in London in 1937 are representative of every day in every December.

By the way, calling weather "miserable" is technically known as the Pathetic Fallacy. Ill-informed grammarians claim that's because weather can't experience emotions: the real reason is that only totally pathetic people let their emotions be driven by something as trivial as the bloody weather.

"Would I be better off just taking the train to Windsor and the Cotswolds, etc? Or, will be too cold to do a lot of walking from the train station to the attractions?"

No of course it won't be "too cold" to walk a couple of hundred yards from a railway station. It's SE England you're asking about - not some rain-sodden Arctic outpost like New York. In the better Cotswold towns, more of us all walk to the railway station in midwinter because trains are there for commuters and - not being off somewhere foreign, patronising Johnny Foreigner - we're more likely to be going to work, visiting clients or whatever than in the warmer months.

But in the case of the Cotswolds, your idea's almost impractical. It IS possible to arrange a daytrip from London touring Cotswolds by public transport - and one day I'll publish the logistics on this forum. But virtually no rural buses run in the Cotswolds on Sundays, and in the very middle of the winter (which Dec 22 is), twilight starts around 4 and turns into dark by 4.30-ish. So, given that you're at the mercy of bus timetables, and are unlikely to start from Oxford or Moreton before 1000 -ish, you'd see very little.

One exception though. Go towww.clpg.co.uk/clpgfwtt.htm for two books which give a range of 7 or so mile walks between stations on the Cotswold line. Get a train from London, get off at one of them, follow the booklet's instructions through a few villages and across lots of fields and you'll see the Cotswolds the way God - and not some charabanc tour operator - meant them to be seen.

Will it be too cold for a proper Yuletide walk? Of course not: most days, the paths will be as close to busy (ie you pass one person an hour) as they ever get with other people walking off Christmas excess. Check the weather the day before setting out though: go to www.bbc.co.uk, scroll to the weather bit and enter your postcode as GL56 OLW (Moreton in Marsh town hall).

Hi, regarding the Eurostar to Paris question, yes you could do a day trip there, or you could stay overnight and come back the next day. The earlier you book the Eurostar, the cheaper it will be, so make up your mind and book your tickets quickly. You may even find that the early trains on Boxing Day have filled up already - www.eurostar.com You could come back on the last train for the day and squeeze in both the Louvre and Eiffel Tower, if you want to see them both for a short time. You will have to queue to get in to the Louvre and also if you want to go up the Eiffel Tower so factor in some time for this. It will get dark quite early, about 4pm, but the Eiffel Tower is lit up at night so could be good for photos. Check they are both open on Boxing Day and the hours.

Two ideas for sightseeing in London - London Walks are excellent, we've done quite a few of their walks www.walks.com You don't have to prebook, just turn up, so are perfect if you want to wait and see what the weather is like. Also St Martins in the Fields, a beautiful church on Trafalgar Square, has concerts in the church and also in the crypt. If you check online, you can prebook tickets. You can also get meals in the crypt.

You can easily get the train to Canterbury, Bath, Cambridge, Oxford etc and do what you want once you get there, instead of doing what a tour company wants you to do. If the weather is lousy, you can find a nice warm pub for lunch or do some shopping, churches, museums etc. All these places offer guided walks from the tourist office which are usually good value.

And about the weather. We live in London now but are from Australia. We find it very cold in December and would advise your family from Florida to wrap up warmly! Layers are best as buildings feel overheated, they'll need a warm hat, scarf, waterproof shoes, coat and gloves. There are charity shops here if they want to buy extra warm things here cheaply, then donate them back before they leave.

Kay

I'll be there around the same time. Remember to dress in layers so that no matter what the weather does, you're prepared. I'm planning on light weight long underwear, jeans, t shirt, sweater, jacket/ligher coat, scarf, gloves and ear muffs. I'll have an umbrella and I wear Merrell shoes with a gore tex lining, so they're waterproof. If you're not planning on moving hotel/apartments often, pack a bit more and have more layers than you think you'll really need. If you're going out for the day and the weather is crummy, pack an extra pair of socks in a day pack so that part way through the day you can switch to warm, dry socks. Wet feet are just miserable.

Every time I've seen the London Pass discussed it's been slammed as a money waster. It is generally. To get your money's worth you have to go from site to site and not spend the amount of time at each place that you otherwise might. I had one when I was in London in '08 and didn't notice any time or money saved with it.

Are you staying in a hotel or an apartment? If you're in an apartment you might want to get groceries ahead of time so that you can cook on the days everything is shut down. I've seen a lot of posts on here along the lines that any restaurant that is open will likely be full and very expensive on Christmas.

Good luck and have fun!

Well the weather can't be rainy and freezing - if it were freezing it would be snowing. London weather is mild compared to places with hard winters - like New England, New York or the northern US. If you come from a southern or tropical area I'm sure London will seem very cold.

You can expect it to be chilly 40's, but not freezing (20's) and rain is likely, gray skies likely and daylight hours are short. However, typically people don't go to London primarily for outdoor activities. The weather usually isn't cold enough to prevent you from touring around a city - although there will probably be days when you will prefer to do mostly indoor things - of which there are tons in London.

The only day which will be really limited is Christmas day - when even public transit doesn't run - and you will need to plan on an outdoor exploring day - or reading a good book by the fire.

Are you averse to driving? If you're willing to drive I would change your trip a bit. Instead of the first 4 days in London and then day trips why not pick up a car and head away from London. Do Windsor, Stonehenge, Cotswolds, Bath etc first and then head back into London after the Holidays.

I would look for a cozy B&B in the Cotswolds for the actual Christmas Holiday, maybe the 24th until the morning of the 26th. They might (for a price of course) provide your Christmas meals and you could spend your daylight hours walking.

On the 26th you can make your way back to London and have 4 full days there without having to worry about Holiday hours.

I imagine the above itinerary might work with public transportation if driving is out of the question. You don't say how many people are in your group but splitting the cost of a rental car may even be cheaper than buying separate train tickets.

Oh -- and the weather -- I agree with dressing in layers. preferably waterproof. But, my dad says that if your outside and cold -- walk faster!

Have fun!

hi Jeremy,

I definitely like BKP's christmas in the cotswolds idea. I'm sure that in these straightened timess you could get a nice country hotel to do a deal for you - and there will be people around and possibly activities with walks and the local church on Christmas Day.

then try priceline for your london hotel to re-coup some of the costs!

I think that idea sounds good too, as long as the accommodation can either provide meals on Christmas Day or can guarantee a pub in the village can do the same (get them to book the pub if that's the case, so you don't miss out).
A great place to start looking, if you like the idea, is:

http://www.sawdays.co.uk/accommodati...ryColl=Britain

Kay

I wouldn't count on cheap over Christmas. IME B&Bs in particular are mostly closed over Christmas, and anywhere that's open will expect to charge a premium. But good luck.