My husband and I will be in London December 17-22. We have been to London before and are looking for new things to do. Visiting Bletchley Park is an option under consideration. I would appreciate any reviews and/or tips from the collective wisdom of the group. Thanks in advance.
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
Bletchley Park is an interesting full day excursion from London. There are regular rail services from London Euston to Bletchley that take c 36 minutes and the Park is only 100m from the station. The Park is open every day, but closes at 4pm in winter, when it will be dark. They change some of the exhibits, so check out Trip Advisor for up to date reviews, as what someone saw 2 years ago and may comment on may not be relevant now.
If travelling by rail, it is covered by the 2-4-1 deals.
Also on the site is the National Museum for Computing where Colossus is housed - this is a separate enterprise (a charity) and a separate fee is payable. There are restricted days/hours of opening in winter - see tnmoc.org.
Posted by
Rocky Mount, VA
292 posts
I went there is 2015 and highly recommend it. I drove from Oxford with a rental car, but from London, I'd use the bus/train service.
They have demonstrations of the Turing-Welchman Bombe machine which are worth seeing. I suggest arriving early to take full advantage of the exhibits and take a few breaks to sit outside and enjoy the view of the grounds.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15794 posts
I was surprised at how much there was to see there. I took the first "cheap fare" train from London. As soon as I got there, I signed up for a guided tour, which was led by someone who worked at Bletchley - some few years after WWII, of course. I also toured the house. In-between, I visited the Post Office (lots of old 'stuff' from WWII days) and the museum. My visit was 6 years ago, so things may have changed a little, but not much.
If you haven't been, the Churchill War Rooms in central London are a good partner to Bletchley.
Posted by
Vancouver
63 posts
We just went last month. The train was easy and if you print out the 2 for 1 voucher from the train website and show it when you buy your ticket, it is a good deal. My children and husband liked the Museum of Computing next door even better than Bletchley. Good to go if you have any geekish tendencies! The tea room was quite good too. An easy day out from London. I would buy tickets for the train in advance as they don't all stop right at Bletchley.