How to Time Your Trip to London

London may be the most cosmopolitan city in the world. It is an exhilarating potpourri of the Empire's staid old glory, nouveau-riche financiers, beggars, a self-affirming working class, recent immigration and the avant garde art world.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Travel Clothes
• Local Guidebooks To London
• Maps
• Airline Tickets
• Travel Services
• Cameras
• Film
• Maps
• Cameras

General Considerations

1. Join in on the Brits' national pastime and agonize over the weather. Actually, compared to many climes, the British Isles are quite mild.

2. Avoid the cold winter, when days are short and gray. The best weather occurs from April to September. The average January low is 36 degrees F; the average July high is 74 degrees F.

3. Check out what festivals, expositions and live performances are happening.

4. Book your flight, transportation and accommodations (see Related eHows).

5. Check the weather forecast for London shortly before leaving, and pack accordingly.

Attractions and Seasonal Events

6. Treat your eyes and nose to the horticultural highlights of England's gray, moist climate. Visit the Chelsea Flower Show in late May. Advanced tickets only; call Ticketmaster at (44) [phone]. (Don't forget to first dial the international access code, 011.)

7. Shake yer booty at the Notting Hill Carnival, the largest of its kind in Europe. Live soul, rhythm and blues, and reggae music combined with Caribbean food makes for a fun time. The carnival is usually the last Sunday and Monday in August; you can check at (44) [phone].

8. Select from a huge variety of concerts and other productions at the City of London Festival in June and July. Call (44) [phone] for details.

9. Probe the depths of human cruelty at The Tower of London. Once a castle and palace, the Tower now exhibits the cells of famous prisoners and the instruments used to torture them.

10. See the architectural brilliance of the Houses of Parliament. Lines for tours inside are shortest around 6 p.m.; check Big Ben for the time.

11. Transcend time and distance at the oldest museum in the world, the British Museum. Well-organized artifacts from nearly every age of nearly every civilization are on display here.

12. Pay your respects at Westminster Abbey, where English monarchs have been crowned and buried for most of this millennium.

Tips & Warnings

• London is so big that the "tube" (subway) is a must. Beware: This complex system bears little resemblance to the streets above, making the transition a confusing one.
• London is a world-class city with innumerable sights. Unfortunately, these sights attract world-class crowds in July and August.

[mikilucia]

on 5/13/2009 London is a one thousands attractions city, where past and present blend giving birth to a unique city! London is a melting pot of cultures and races, in this city you will be able to see the most different cultures live together; one quarter of the inhabitants of The City of London belongs to one of the ethic minorities that liven up this astonishing and non-conformist city.Book a hotel near the City of London with prontohotel.com and you will be not disappointed.

on 11/22/2005 The London Eye is a must-do in London! It's like a huge ferris wheel, right on the Thames, with "capsules" each holding about 20 people. You get a full 360 degree view of London, and can walk around freely in the capsule to get photos from all viewpoints.

Here are my London Eye recommendations:

1) Book your tickets in advance at www.londoneye.co.uk -- you'll thank yourself later! The lines are very long as it's a popular site. If you book online, just remember to bring with you the same credit card you used to book your tickets. In the ticket building, go to the right and you'll find the pre-ordered ticket kiosks. Just stick your card in and it'll spit out your tickets -- no long queues to wait in!

2) Be sure to show up at least 30 minutes before your "flight" time, even if you book in advance. You still have to queue up to get onto the actual ride, and it can take 20 minutes or more to do this.

3) Go to the loo before your ride! The flight is 30 minutes long, which doesn't seem like a long time unless you *really* have to go! There are bathrooms in the downstairs level of the ticket building.

4) At the end of the ride, they take a photo of each capsule, which are available for sale later. If you want to actually BE in the photo, you have to be at the entrance of your capsule as soon as you hear the photo announcement. If you aren't, then you won't be in the photo!

P.S. For anyone who thinks the London Eye might be "too touristy" -- my British fianc thought the same thing but agreed to go because I really wanted to. It ended up being his favorite thing we did in London!