England, November, weather
 

Hi,

I have a work trip on London Nov 6-8. After the 8th I wanted to take 5-7 days to explore England. Initially I had thought of a guided or self guided bike or hike route. Havent decided where in England.

Will it be miserable to do bike/hike in November?

If yes, I guess I can rent a car or take trains (not as adventurous).

Thoughts?

S

http://www.holiday-weather.com/londo...ages/november/

You judge - and averages are only averages.

I personally would not pre-plan a hiking trip in Nov (I assume you mean walking and not heavy duty hiking/mountaineering). The weather might be OK but the odds you'd have decent weather in the places you will be on the specific days you will be there are quite long.

I did a lot of walking when I lived in the UK -- but had the luxury of being able to cancel if I woke up Sat morning and the weather was dreadful.

Not only is the weather totally changeable - it will be different in every corner of the country.



(I'd never do a bike trip period -- assuming you mean bicycle and not motorcycle/motorbike).

Don't forget, the daylight hours are short (dark around 4pm), and depending on quite what sort of outdoor activity you have in mind, and where, local services for walkers/bikers in rural/wilder areas may well be much more limited than in the summer, which could be a real problem if the weather turns nasty or if you have an accident.

What you could do is find a base, be it London or some smaller centre, and take day walks when the weather looks reasonable. There are plenty of books and online guides for day walks within an hour or so from London by train (Time Out guides for one), or you could look at walking the Thames Path, which keeps you reasonably close to towns and transport. I'd imagine tourist information services in places like Bath, Norwich, Cambridge and York would have information online as well.

I've done a lot of dog walking and other outdoor activities in winter, and as long as you are dressed properly it's okay for hiking. You will need lightweight waterproof boots and outerwear.

Short daylight hours, as PatrickLondon wrote, are a problem. On cloudy drizzly days it never seems to get very bright. SE England is dryer than other parts of the UK.

On the night of the 5th the country will covered in smoke from millions of fireworks.

It depends, us a weather app to monitor conditions.

This website is still in Beta but gives you an idea of what is avaiable
http://footpathmaps.com/
you also need http://www.traveline.info/ so you can catch a bus back if it starts Pi@@ing it down.

It may be cold and crisp or wet and soggy--all in one day sometimes. Daylight will be limited so longer walks aren't a good idea. Certainly do NOT walk across open country at that time of the year when weather is so changeable, you can get lost and hypothermic quite quickly.

I'd stick to seeing some of the historic cities like York, Bristol, Liverpool and Manchester. Unless you've been to London before, 5-7 days would be great to explore.

I agree with Patrick - use London as a base for day tripping, if you run out of things to do there. [you won't, but it can be nice to get out of "The Smoke" on a sunny day]

Thanks. I did London 1 week last year.

The thing about using London as a base = $$$ unless I youth hostel it.

What about another base?

I was looking for: awesome English countryside, small towns, local pubs, great vistas.

Thames Path sounds interesting.

Have a look at this website www.southwestcoastpath.org.uk This likely fits your criteria. The only problem being getting to a starting point, but I believe there are several points that have train stations. It is farther from London but may work. Another option would be the Cotswolds. They won't offer you great vistas but otherwise a great place for walking.

So do you mean the Thames Path is something I could hike or bike with the option of quickly bailing into a town nearby?

Yes. Check the maps for the Thames Path and see how many Riverside towns and villages it passes through or near.

The past three years during this period has been very mild in the UK. the colder weather (sub zero) has either not been present at all during winter or has been in February/March. However, expect anything between -2oC and 18oC in the south.

Personally I'd spend the time in The Lake District. If you pick the right train with the least stops, it's 150 minutes to Lancaster then change to Oxenholme which is around 30 minutes. I'd hire a bike and tour for a 5 days, there are youth hotels in stunning locations which will be very reasonable.

The Lake fells are fairly small on the world scale, they average around 1000m but the glacier erosion which produced the range created some stunning peaks and vistas.

You will need to book train tickets early as the prices rise hugely closer to departure.

My understanding is that the Lake District is a classic example of where the unwary can be caught out by sudden changes of weather, particularly in the late autumn and winter.

In an earlier post I wrote: "SE England is dryer than other parts of the UK." The Lake District is one of the wettest parts of England.

<<I was looking for: awesome English countryside, small towns, local pubs, great vistas.>>

May I suggest the south Cotswolds?

Easy 90 minute train ride from London Paddington to Stroud, a dull little town at the heart of the Five Valleys. But travel a few miles outside and you'll find glorious English villages of the greyer Cotswold stone found here in the south, and a myriad of deep, steep-sided valleys with incredible views, on clear days you'll be able to see the Marlborough Downs, the Brecon Beacons, the Malvern Hills, and maybe those in Shropshire too.

Really nice local pubs in the villages, some even do B&B, most do good food and all have great local ales on tap.

And a veritable maze of footpaths criss-crossing the countryside here, and you could also consider walking part of the Cotswold Way. But in November, be prepared for mud.

"do NOT walk across open country at that time of the year when weather is so changeable, you can get lost and hypothermic quite quickly."

For crying out loud.

Even by the histrionic standards of the risk-averse wooses who populate this forum, that has to be the most inane piece of confected gibberish ever.

If any healthy, adequately clothed, person feels even slightly uncomfortable in an English field in November, they need to obtain urgent medical attention.

Not for any physical risk they may be running, but because they're clearly so psychologically disturbed as to be a severe danger to themselves and others.

If they can't find a decent psychiatrist, they should present themselves to the nearest police station and request immediate sectioning.

Or deportation to the nearest foreign country populated by like-minded fantasists.

The answer to the question "Will it be miserable to do bike/hike [in England] in November?" is "No."

No ifs, no buts. Just no.

Anyone claiming otherwise is either too pissed to understand the question or congenitally delusionary.

"The answer to the question "Will it be miserable to do bike/hike [in England] in November?" is "No.""

The weather must have changed a lot since I grew up there - and biked - in the 50s/60s.

flanner, you have clearly never walked in the Lakes on a day where the weather has changed drastically from clear to virtually zero visibility, coupled with a plunge in temperature. Lots of people have been disorientated and become lost when darkness has fallen. As they were inadequately prepared the situation has become life threatening.

To indicate that this doesn't happen is irresponsible.