London - Recommendation

[Gil-Galad]

I would like to take my mother, rather frail because of chemo (can't walk too long), to London in December. She is really anglophile, loves "English" Christmas and since Brexit is delayed a little further it's a now or never kind of situation (not just because of Brexit...). We are quite experienced in adapting to her weakened state, already did Paris, Sicily, Andalusia etc. together.

I am looking for recommendations for B&Bs, they have to be easy to access, should be traditional, very English - hopefully with lots of Christmas decoration. Or would you recommend another British city/town for the "British Christmas experience"? We live about 3 hours from Brussels, so we would prefer to go by Eurostar. (Or is Dublin a better choice? Irish Christmas?)

Your help would be very much appreciated.

 

[Sylvia]

Bumping this thread back up because I'd like to go for a Xmas visit in the future and would love to read some recommendations/tips from our worldly & wise travelers.

 

[acraven]

I've already suggested this to Gil-Galad via PM, but for others seeking more thoughts on this topic than they receive here, I suggest a visit to the Rick Steves forum on England. When I'm planning a trip to Europe, the RS forums are my first stop. The Search function is really poor, so I just go back through the appropriate forum(s), looking for promising thread titles. If I still have questions, I start a thread of my own. Best results will come from including relevant specifics in the inquiry: dates of the trip, nightly budget in GB pounds and number of people to be housed if looking for lodging recommendations, ages of any children in the travel party, special interests if seeking sightseeing information, etc.

For highly specific questions ("Has anyone ever stayed at Hotel X?"), a Google search including ricksteves.com/travel-forum may be easiest.

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks, @acraven!

I also found this thread that @oleada started last year that has good suggestions for London (and Paris): https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/two-days-in-london.104080/

 

[oleada]

@Sylvia

My favorite things I did London:

• Tower of London (Do the Beefeater tour!)
• Westminster Abbey (I did the audio tour ; and it was worth it)
• National Gallery

I didn’t get to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit (it was sold out), Kensington, The British Museum or the National Portrait Gallery. I did a TON of walking which may not be helpful for @Gil-Galad’s mother. I also was lucky to have incredible weather the whole time. I also went at the time Trump was visiting so I ran into the Trump Baby Balloon and a ton of protests which were of course right up my alley. I expected to like London and love Paris but it ended up being the reverse. Husband has another work trip to London in December and I really wish I could tag along again!

 

[acraven]

One thing to be aware of is that there seem to be noticeable year-to-year increases in the crowds at the most popular sights in many high-traffic cities (including but not necessarily limited to London, Paris, Barcelona, Granada, Seville, Rome, Florence, Prague, Berlin and Krakow). Places at which you used to be able to buy a spur-of-the-moment ticket may now have hour-long lines or may sell out days, weeks or even months (the Alhambra) in advance. Advice from even last year's guidebook or from well-meaning friends who traveled a few years ago may set you up for disappointment. I stood near the tourist office in Krakow last year as visitor after visitor asked about tickets for the tour at Auschwitz, only to learn that advance tickets were sold our for the next eight days. That sort of thing is happening increasingly frequently, in more and more places.

One problem sight in London is the Churchill War Rooms, which has experienced an uptick in visitors due to a recent movie; you really need to buy that ticket in advance. I think the lines at the London Eye can be long at certain times on nice days, but it's hard to recommend buying a ticket in advance for that one, since weather is so important. I haven't seen a significant line for the British Museum at the north entrance, but the crowding in the Egyptian Galleries is really bad, especially on days with poor weather. Try to cultivate an interest in other periods of history.

On a more positive note: The 2-hour walking tours offered by London Walks are usually very good. There are dozens of them, they cost only 10 pounds (less for kids and seniors), and you just show up at the designated meeting point, so you can make last-minute, weather-driven decisions.

 

[morqet]

I would like to take my mother, rather frail because of chemo (can't walk too long), to London in December. She is really anglophile, loves "English" Christmas and since Brexit is delayed a little further it's a now or never kind of situation (not just because of Brexit...). We are quite experienced in adapting to her weakened state, already did Paris, Sicily, Andalusia etc. together.

I am looking for recommendations for B&Bs, they have to be easy to access, should be traditional, very English - hopefully with lots of Christmas decoration. Or would you recommend another British city/town for the "British Christmas experience"? We live about 3 hours from Brussels, so we would prefer to go by Eurostar. (Or is Dublin a better choice? Irish Christmas?)

Your help would be very much appreciated.

I'm not sure what you mean by traditional English Christmas, but I would suggest going outside London to somewhere like Bath or Winchester. More traditional architecture & decoration, Christmas markets (Bath has a particularly good one), carol services in the cathedrals and still very easy to get to by train from London. You're also more likely to get good accommodation that's accessible. In Bath I'd recommend the Henry Guest House or Royal Hotel.

Wherever you go, I'd suggest looking for National Trust events/properties to visit for traditional events and decorations. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/christmas