48 hours in London—Yea or Nay

There is certainly nothing wrong with staying 2 nights in London. There are many things to see there.

I would definitely do it. There's so much to see in London! Choose 3 sights to do-you could definitely wander around the day you arrive and if there were 2 sights you wanted to do, you could do them the next day.

I'll start by saying I'm a big fan of London.

Stay in London. It's not as intimidating at you think. If you can handle Chicago, you'll be able to handle London. They speak English, or at least something resembling English (LOL), the signs are in English, and their transportation system is easy to use.

Spend the day, or two, seeing a few of the main sights. Don't rush too much. As you said, you'll be back. That should actually take the pressure off to see sights and allow you to, as you said, just wander.

Another option would be to ride the hop on, hop off buses. Yes, they are slow due to traffic but your objective is not to get off to go sight to sight, but to stay on board to get a feel for the city. To note where things are and what you might want to visit on your return.

I've lost count how many times I''ve been to London and I keep returning. As Samuel Johnson said, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life."

I would never skip a chance to see even a little bit of London !

Definitely do it. If nothing else, it will give you an idea of how soon you want to come back and how long you should stay the next time. London is not beautiful like Paris is, but there is so much history there and so many things to see. The parks are beautiful.

Definitely do the 1st 2 nights in London. Walk around, take the Underground, try a double decker bus (NOT during rush hours), stop in a pub, have tea and scones. As others have suggested pick your top 2 or 3 places you want to see. Not only is London a great city, but this is a good way to get over jet lag.

Hell yes spend time in my favorite city on the planet!
Premier Inns are fine. Theres one at Kings Cross and very close by one across the road from the British Library.

Easy peasy 2 day meander is to use a tap debit or credit card to use the London Underground ( the tube ) to get around.

From Kings Cross St Pancras take the Victoria or Circle Line to Westminster. Exit and stroll around Parliament Square ( Houses of Parliament, Elizabeth’s Tower ( if you get there on the hour enjoy the chimes) Westminster Abbey ( best seen via a vergers tour). Then you have options
1.) walk across Tower Bridge
2.) see the changing of the Royal Horse Guards https://www.householddivision.org.uk/queen-life-guard
3.) visit the Churchill War Rooms ( must book a ticket beforehand )
4.) Walk up Birdcage Walk to the Palace, cross in front Victoria Statute and cross Whitehall heading to Green Park. Walk through Green Park and turn right on Piccadilly. Walk past the pricey hotels to Piccadilly Circus, then into Leicester Square and visit the National Gallery. Great art, good cafe, nice toilets , pleasant gift shop.
5.) see a play

I was just in London. Never fail to enjoy it. Have fun in your 48 hours.

Either choice is good, but,

If you stay in London for two nights, you will arrive very early and not be able to check into a hotel that early without paying a "day rate."

Not sure how long you plan to stay in York? It is one of my favorite cities in the UK. Lots to see and do there, including the Minster (Cathedral) and the National Railway Museum near the rail station.

I'd definitely vote for Option 2.

Well, shoot, an overwhelming “yes” to London. 😊 I appreciate all the responses and suggestions. The lack of good flight options and all the recent airport issues is messing with my head as I try to finalize my plans.

geovagriffith and nick, I have 5 nights scheduled for York. And good point about the early arrival to the hotel.

Thanks again everyone!! I’ll spend some time this week to hopefully figure things out.

Carrie, regarding early arrival - if budget allows, consider reserving the night before so that you can access the room right away when you get there. I always do this and consider it money well spent.

I’m a little intimated by London

As your trip approaches take a look at the tours offered by London Walks https://www.walks.com/ They have 2 hour guided tours of museums and neighborhoods. We've found them very enjoyable and it takes some of the trouble out of the visit. They generally meet at a tube stop and you go from there.

Since you'll arrive so early I like the suggestion of booking the room for one extra nite. Be sure to notify the hotel you won't arrive until the next day so they don't cancel your reservation as a "no-show". Alternatively you could check your bag at the front desk but since you're arriving so early an extra day may be worth it. I'd stay at the Kings Cross Premier Inn you mentioned since that's the station the train to York leaves from, and you'll easily get around London on the tube from the Underground there.

When you arrive in London buy an Oyster Card and take the Picadilly line to Kings Cross. I'm not sure about your arrival time, but in June they had uniformed people from Transport for London there to help although we didn't need it. We like to look at Google Maps prior to our trip to get an idea of how to go from the station to our hotel.

So, I think I might do option 1 AND option 2. My mom asked where I was flying home from and suggested I fly home from London too and add my London nights at the end. I was thinking I’d just fly out of Edinburgh, but maybe London makes more sense as that’s pretty much a guaranteed nonstop flight.

Thanks again for the helpful responses. I’ll do some pondering over the weekend.

Since you don't have your airline tickets yet, why not do the reverse....fly into Edinburgh and work your way south to London.

If you decide to stick with your original itinerary, and want to stay at the Premier Inn, why not go directly to your hotel when you arrive, drop your bags off, go out and do some sightseeing, and then return to check in. (Call the hotel first to see if they will allow that. Most do but I'm not sure about a chain like Premier Inn.)

But if it's in your budget, reserve for the night before so you can freshen up, or even sleep a little, before venturing out. Alert the hotel ahead of time but I would also call late the night of your "scheduled" arrival to alert those on duty that you will be arriving. (The shift on from 11 pm-7 pm does the night audit and determines no-shows so it is them you want to talk to.)

In the end, I went with option 3, none of the above. 😊 Just booked my flights in and out of Edinburgh.

I just wasn’t feeling the excitement for London that I have for Edinburgh and York. Last night, I was watching the latest RS Monday night travel with Cameron talking about updating the guidebooks. And when he was talking about London and held up that 600 + page guidebook for London, it hit me. I don’t know anything about London. I don’t even know where I would want to go for 2 days. So, I’m going to buy that updated London book when it comes out and start researching for a future trip. Everyone’s enthusiasm for London is a bit contagious.

Thanks again for all the responses. There is some great info. here that I will add to the beginning of my London trip notes.