England/Ireland in Winter - Are we Mad?
 

We have been to England before in the Autumn. We did a "grand tour" last time. This trip we plan to stay in a few places for a week or so.

We plan to go from mid December to Mid January.

I know it will be cold and gets dark early. Neither particularly concerns us.

What does, is what sort of things will be closed over winter?

We are mainly interested in the outdoors and walking then seeing some cathedrals and castles, and the museums of London. We will have about 6 weeks and will have a car.

Thanks.

Well - a lot of local sights will have much shorter opening hours in midwinter. Also - the weather isn't really conducive to a lot of outdoor activities. You may be lucky and get 40 and sunshine - or you cold get icy rain, snow, sleet and heavy wind - which will make hiking around the countryside not very pleasant.

For this type of trip I would definitely wait until April - when weather is better and things are open longer hours.

Thanks - I know it is not the best time to visit, but it is the only time we have. So, I am looking for ways to make the most of it.

Of your list ("outdoors, walking, cathedrals, castles, museums"), nothing closes over winter, and virtually none (from my limited experience, absolutely none, but I just live here, so what do I know?) even reduces opening hours.

A handful of distinctly second division sites - a few stately homes, some gardens and my microtown museum, which must get at least five visitors a week in midsummer - do close. Almost everything - not just things on your list, but just about everything including 99.9% of the entire London transport system - closes on Christmas Day and a large proportion of London museums and the like close on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day as well. But claims that there are no restaurants open on Christmas Day are simply insane: the place is awash with open eateries (ruin by Christian and non-Christian ethnicities alike), though many pubs and practically all shops close.

Closures of secondary attractions are least common before Christmas, and in the second half of Advent a huge amount of other local activities spring up in rural England (a period when temperatures are usually higher than in the few weeks after Christmas).

Obviously, London's at its absolute busiest then, and booking for theatres and restaurants becomes almost universally essential. Unless you really, really want to see Blenheim Palace (and your post implies you've sensibly got better things to do), it's plain nonsense to believe "things are open longer hours" in April. Though if you love constant pouring rain, April does have the best weather

During the few weeks after Christmas, this quietens down hugely, especially out of London (though I couldn't get into my local chain pizza joint last night because I hadn't prebooked, so it obviously doesn't quieten down that much)

Winter weather is much more like Victoria than the uninhabitable offshoot of the Arctic Circle the first poster hails from. During the past six weeks, I've been kept from my daily couple of hours across open countryside on just two days, when snow made access to the top of the hill impossible for the Flannerpooch (who gets snow bubbles on his legs in deep snow, which cause him pain as they congeal): by the standards of the past 100 years, this has so far been a peculiarly snowy winter.

However, for the past three years, there's been a week during Dec/Jan when travel, except by train, has been hit outside cities, and it does look as if climatic instability is giving us erratically more extreme, if brief, periods of disruptive weather in midwinter. Once here, normal life's fine as long as you don't need to drive, and the disruption hasn't only avoided London: relatively small towns like Oxford have been mostly unscathed by the problems. Weather forecasting is improving - but can't stop the extreme unpredictability of our weather, or our limited resources for clearing snow that falls on just a couple of days a year. Forecasts now err on the side of caution, so it's easy to feel forced to cancel plans involving driving cross country on a day heavy snow's forecast, then find it's just another day with a spot of heavy rain.

Though weather in Britain is scarcely ever bad enough to make country walking a problem ("no such thing as bad weather: just stupid clothing decisions"), if you've got a flight home to catch you should plan country visits on the assumption that our weather's unpredictable and there's now a higher chance than ever before you might be stranded for several days if you're in in a trainless village during midwinter.

In your shoes (and it's essential they're waterproof, even in London), I'd visit the country before Christmas and London after. Unless there's a temporary exhibition that catches your fancy. One thing that DOES get worse in this period is the quality of temporary museum and gallery exhibitions post Christmas.

Thanks flanner - I do like your style. I am a believer in the wrong clothes idea. We do have the right clothes.

I have done some more digging and there are places like Hadrian's Wall and Devon that offer baggage tranfers and B&B accommodation for longer walks.

Thanks for the info on London. I come from a country town and forget what cities are like pre Christmas. This Christmas Day just gone we were hiking in Cradle Mtn in Tasmania (complete with champagne and party hats of course). Three days later at the other end of the park we were walking in zero degrees up a very cold and misty mountain. Apparently it is only clear 165 days a year.

Our last trip was in Autumn and the rain/drizzle followed us for four weeks. It stopped us from doing some longer walks but not didn't affect us otherwise.

I had two sisters living in England, at the time, one in London and the other in Colchester. Both said that they had a lovely autumn with great weather.

I see you are in the Cotswolds. What are your favourite walks there?

Thanks again.

Quite the opposite, the weather here can be anywhere between awful and biabolical during any of the 12 months. The best weather last year was during the last weeks of March.

The daylights hours problem is an issue and it is compounded in the north. On heavy cloudy days, you will have good light between 9am and 3:30pm during December. During June I have read the paper on the beach in Scotland at 10:30pm. You are effectively reducing you daylight hours by half.

In winter, a limited number of summer tourist areas may have closed businesses but certainly not sites of historical interest.

If you have any interest in buying substantial items then British retailers are increasingly offering deeply discounted prices in Winter. I am currently planning a trip to Perth and so am well aware of the strength of the Aussie Dollar.

Sounds like you going to do what you want to do. My experience is slightly different than implied by flanner in terms of opening/closing.

A good many of the English Heritage Sites (castles) will only be open on the weekends in the winter. Most of the National Trust sites (estates/homes/gardens) will be closed full stop.

So, make sure you check the hours of things you want to see before setting out. But again, it doesn't sound like that will keep you from coming.

"Sounds like you going to do what you want to do."

Well yes - we visit England and see and do things we haven't seen before or we stay home and see and do things we have seen before. We are not adverwse to country drive or just sitting and reading somewhere cozy. We would much prefer cold English weather to hot summer weather.

Thanks for your help. What are your favourite things to do in winter? I assume people in England do not hibernate, so what do people do?

<<I assume people in England do not hibernate, so what do people do>>

everything and anything - I watched surfers in the North Sea today

We plan to rent a cottage with a fireplace within walking distance of a great pub and spend a week relaxing, sitting by the fire and reading, and walking with our two pugs!

There are lots of cozy pubs to visit, Christmas markets and festivals etc.

I would decide where you want to go then see what is open using the web. You won't grow bored!

Great so we have established that we are not made just slightly different.

Thanks for the suggestions. Working our way through the ciders and ales maybe throwing some darts - sounds like a plan.

Anything else?

<i>Thanks for your help. What are your favourite things to do in winter? I assume people in England do not hibernate, so what do people do?</i>

True, we don't hibernate but it is scaled back. We'll make it out to the odd castle if the weather cooperates. We live near the Peak District but haven't walked much that time of year due to wet, muddy trials more than cold temps.

Have a look at my blog for other ideas. You'll see that the winter months are a little sparser on activities but we do get out. It's not ideal but I'm sure you'll find something to do.

ukfrey.blogspot.com

<<For this type of trip I would definitely wait until April - when weather is better and things are open longer hours.>>

Last year, February and March were probably amongst the best months of the year, lots of sunshine and dry cold weather, wonderful for brisk walks and outdoor activities. As for opening hours, take somewhere like Hampton Court, in winter it closes at 4.30pm but in summer it will be open until 6pm. By mid Jan you really start to notice the days are getting slightly longer.

Flights are booked as well as a timeshare for a week at Ambleside in the Lakes District.

Here we come. Ready or not.