So...is a bank holiday good or bad for our visit to London?
 

We'll be in London on May 28 and 28 next year. I just learned this is the weekend before one of the bank holidays which is on Monday. Would this effect any typical tourist spots while we're there...maybe some of them will be closed? Are there any ways this will help or hurt our weekend in London?

I'm assuming this would mainly just effect things on Monday and possibly the weekend will remain unaffected. Although with a three day weekend...maybe more people leave...or come into the city.

We were in London on May 29, when it was a special 'salute to the queen' holiday. It was really cool because there was lots of pageantry around it.

For instance, I got to observe the royal horsemen preparing for a canon salute in Hyde Park. And we saw Scottish bagpipers rehearsing behind Buckingham Palace. We loved it.

I was in York and Bath on a Bank Holiday in August and everything was open. It was more crowded. Go to the websites of the places you want to visit and it will list the days they are closed.

Not an issue. Tourist attractions don't close on Bank Holidays -- that is when are most crowded because lots of locals are also visiting . . .

You won't notice a Bank Holiday much in London -- it is always crowded. There may be special fairs/events but otherwise it is just a busy weekend.

Where Bank Holidays REALLY mess things up is in the major scenic areas like Cornwall, the Lake District, theme parks, etc. Huge crowds/traffic jams.

But in London -- generally no biggie really.

I'd avoid places like the Tower of London that weekend because of the extra crowds. But if that is the only time one can go to the Tower, Saturday would be better than the Sunday/Monday.

During the two yrs i lived in UK (London and Oxfordshire) Bank Holidays didnt effect anything except banking. In the days befre ATMs, that was a rare but minor inconvenience.
it wont affect you as in terms of your itinerary, as attractions will be open, As said by JanisJ, the "worst" effect is because it's a 3 day weekend for schools and many workers (like Memorial Day in USA) so there will be more tourists heading up to London for the weekend.

It's not a 3 weekend for schools, in England it's a week off for most of them....the half term break.

Thanks for the replies...good to know.

Train schedules can get disrupted by track work on Bank Holiday weekends; pieces of many rail lines were closed for parts of the late-May holiday weekend this year. By extension, & thinking about how subway systems work in the US, I wouldn't be surprised if more parts than usual of the Tube system in London get shut down for maintenance work during long weekends. I don't know that for sure, though.

Fortunately the Tube system is so extensive that even closing a few stations in central London shouldn't keep you from getting places. Before you book your hotel, you might want to see if you can find out online about Tube maintenance. Maybe janisj or others know how far in advance those schedules are posted.

"Before you book your hotel, you might want to see if you can find out online about Tube maintenance. "

Hmmm...

Trains and the tube are certainly more liable to enginerering-related disruption at holiday weekends than at other times. This can sometimes mean one or two tube lines are out of action from first thing Saturday to last thing Monday, and that some train journeys need a mid-trip bus connection. The works, and their precise duration, are announced on the TfL and National Rail websites 3-4 months in advance. 99% of the time, the announcements prove accurate - though obviously strikes and emergencies can happen as well

3-4 months' advance notice may be too short to let you get the best hotel deals, unless you leave booking till very very late and use Priceline.

But, with a couple of exceptions, engineering works are an irritant rather a significant issue for most visitors. Almost all tube stations inside the Circle Line (the rough definition of central London) have two or more tube lines: the few that don't usually just require a hundred yards' walk in the other direction to an unaffected station.

Train and tube works can matter seriously if:
- you're planning to stay some way outside the Circle Line. Not a good idea for most tourists anyway, but a good reason for not booking a far-out hotel months in advance. Within a 10 or so mile radius of the centre, buses are thick on the ground - but can often be very slow.
- you're planning a rail-based daytrip. Over the past couple of years, rail-based daytrips have been practically impossible several times at weekends to destinations west of Oxford on the Cotswold line and south of Winchester on the Southampton/Bournemouth line (as well as other lines I don't use), since the bus transfer can add an hour or more each way to journey times
- you're planning a very tight schedule, involving seeing x at 5.30 pm and getting to a play for an 8 pm curtains-up.

Otherwise, engineering just adds a bit of complication, time and discomfort to life.