Early planning thoughts- 3rd visit

On your list of BTDT, I noticed a couple of omissions - the National Gallery ( my favourite museum/gallery in London), and the V&A. Suggestions for day trips - Hampton Court (just the palace, the grounds are not that impressive in winter), and Bletchley Park for different historical experiences.

Regarding York - i would definitely add at least one more night; possibly 2. We were there for 3 nights and still left several places unseen. Of course, the chance to walk the walls will be completely weather dependant. Oh, and dont forget to research the York Cat Trail. I think there are over 20 cat figures on historic buildings.

If you love history, I'm surprised you don't have Westminster Abbey on your list, either as something you've experienced before or something you want to experience. Maybe you've been there before and didn't like it? It just has an incredible amount of history in it, and I found that true of many churches in England.

And what about the Victoria and Albert? They have some wonderful exhibits there, and again, lots of history.

Have you been to Edinburgh before? Are you looking for information on that as well? I'll throw in a few things here, but stop me if you've already been there and are familiar with it. I would highly recommend a day trip to Stirling and Stirling Castle, which has a ton of history there and is very beautiful. The town is also quite interesting, with some sights to see on its own, like Holy Rude Church, and then, of course, Stirling Castle is just incredible. It sits at the top so you can look out over the countryside from a beautiful vantage point. It's easily reached by train from Glasgow and Edinburgh.

And of course, the main sights of Edinburgh you can find in any guide book or by going to the Edinburgh tourism website.

You are certainly correct to focus on urban UK for a winter visit, although statistically there isn’t necessarily much more rain then than in other months in the places you’re considering. In fact in terms of amount it’s fairly evenly distributed on a monthly basis across the year in the places you’re going. But to be sure, the much colder temperatures and far shorter hours of daylight make it feel wetter and make rural touring unpleasant. I agree that you should add a night or two to York. Take it from Edinburgh, since, great as that city is, even with day trips, 8 days is long. I would take at least another two nights from there for Glasgow as well. Yes, it’s within daytrip range of Edinburgh and that would involve the inconvenience of a hotel change, but Glasgow has some great museums, and a cool urban vibe that is different from the more touristed Edinburgh. London, of course, has a lifetime of things to see and do and it’s impossible to spend too much time there (as long as your budget can tolerate it!). You might also consider a stop in Durham between York and Scotland, even if just for a couple of hours to see the castle and cathedral. Well worth it. And while it would likely be too much for this trip, I also really like the relatively underrated cities of Manchester and Liverpool over on the west side, along with lovely nearby Chester.

and am an introvert.

+1

https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/smithfield/
The London Museum in its new location will open in late 2026.

The V&A, definitely. Their jewellry room is a must for me.
The British Library's treasure room and gift shop is also a must for me.
Also it's next to St Pancras (hotel has awesome afternoon tea) and King's Cross for Harry Potter stuff. More inside things for January could work for you.
I want to get to Parliament tour on my next (5th) trip.
My birthday's in January so I'm thinking of going at that same time. :)
My uncle moved to England decades ago and was shocked how everything came to a halt with even the smallest amounts of snow. I was watching traffic on the roundabout near Waterloo one summer and realized most of the cars seemed to have no tread on their tires. I wouldn't underestimate the transportation shut down that can happen in winter. Flexibility on all of it may be key to a January visit.
Just saying it so that I might remember it myself :)
And cat-centered options:
https://www.thistle.com/trafalgar-square/blog/cat-lovers-london/
And theatre tickets to go see Cats? :)
Have a great time!
-Alison

I know you said you like train travel but I really think you can fly open jaw such as Edinburgh then London and home from there or Start in London and home from.Edinburgh. this is nof.one way tickets and open jaw should not cost anymore than what you plan. We have done this several times using train in one direction. Check out the prices. I maybe missed St. Paul's, Windsor Castle and Hampton Court in London. Have you been there?

My uncle moved to England decades ago and was shocked how everything came to a halt with even the smallest amounts of snow.

The reason things shut down with small amounts of snow, is because it snows so incredibly rarely - it just isn't worth building the infrastructure to deal with a once in five year event. Particularly in cities like London or Edinburgh. I really don't think this is something tourists should worry themselves over.

The V&A will have 6 sites in a couple of weeks, 4 of them in London. The original site in west London, the Children's V&A in Bethnal Green, the V&A Warehouse at Stratford and the new V&A East which opens in Stratford on 18th April.

Thoughts now are flying in and out of LHR with 7 nights in London, then a train to York (1 night?), then train to Edinburgh for 8 nights, train back to London for two nights and fly home.

Back in February 2022 I did a similar trip. Landed at LHR did one night in London near Kings Cross Station and the next morning took the train to Edinburgh for a week there, then took the Caledonian Sleeper back to London for a week and flew home. It was great.

At the time I flew IAD->LHR then home LHR->IAD->RIC. United had not resumed flights to EDI yet and in and out of LHR made sense and the price was good. Do look at the option of multi-city tickets. I believe right now United is the only carrier that has direct flights between the US & EDI year around from EWR, while their IAD to EDI route is usually suspended January 5 to February 20. I did a few searches on United and not knowing anything about where your journey would start, I was finding that RIC to LHR then home EDI to RIC was the same price or up to $40 cheaper than a round-trip to LHR or flying into EDI and home from LHR.

If I did this trip as a multi-city I would consider giving York a couple more nights.

I will put in a plug for Glasgow. It is small and easy to get around. The subway system is a cinch. It is much smaller and simpler than London’s.

Plus Glasgow is one of perhaps few places where the hop on hop off bus makes sense. You see key attractions and traffic is no problem.

The Kelvingrove museum in the city and the McIntosh attractions are fun.

Whilst in London, notice the whilst, you might enjoy the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, a tube ride plus a short uber ride. Very interesting.

For your London days;

Review the London Walks site: www.walks.com
I’ve taken one on each London trip. Well managed and informative. Last one was the Royal Inns of the Court in 2024.

You do not have to drink alcohol in pubs. Personally I find pub grub tasty. I throughly enjoy sitting in a pub reading and resting tired feet and back after hours of walking. I travel in November so in the cooler weather welcome a warming bowl of soup or a stew.

Also enjoy enjoying meeting pub animals. Found meeting The General in the Seven Stars pub a privilege. The pasta dishes at the Seven Stars were excellent.

I travel solo 98% of the time. Not an introvert but not gregarious either. Love discovering places where tourists don’t often go. Last trip wandered about the Walthamstow Wetlands and saw no one.

You might consider visiting the fascinating Hunterian Museum.

Do consider and research a neighborhood like Hackney or Fulham or Bethnal Green to meander about.

Maltby Market, Columbia Road Flower Market,
National Maritime Museum, Brunel Museum all worth your consideration.

As far as theatre Witness for the Prosecution, Operation Mincement or Shadowlands. Look at what’s on stage online to see if any of them will be in production in 2027.

Lastly, if you get to Richmond Park and like cheese visit Teddington Cheese next to the Victoria Inn Pub on Hillrise.

Undecided: See what theater tickets are cheap at Leicester Square (Saw Wicked and Book of Mormon previously via this method)

The TKTS booth in London has an online site so you no longer need to go wait in line. I usually check first thing in the morning:
https://officiallondontheatre.com/todays-tickets/

I’d also suggest checking the multi-city option to fly into London and home from Edinburgh (or vice-versa). When you add the cost of trainfare back to London, there might not be much of a price difference.

Even though you’ve been to a number of the museums, it is worth checking to see if there are any special exhibits you would be interested in during your visit.

I take a couple of London Walks on every trip.

There's a cat tour in York (a sort of see if you can find them on buildings).

Laura, what a good reminder about the special exhibitions at the galleries and museums. We've returned to sights just for those exhibitions.

Have you visited Windsor? A castle visit is usually the key event, a walk across to Eton is nice (we walked across in pouring rain in Dec) but most of all, I loved visiting all the charity shops and little restaurants.

Sounds like a great trip, although 7+2 nights in London and 8 in Edinburgh seems a little too much in those places. I would add an extra night in York and on your way north of south, detour slightly to other parts of the country, spending a night in different towns or cities.
All regions have interesting places to visit, but in my region, the North West, a couple of nights in Liverpool or Chester would be nice. Plenty of museums and things to see and do regardless of the weather. You could stay in one and visit the other, or Manchester as a day trip. Manchester is more of a working city, but has some interesting sights.
When in Scotland, consider a day trip or even a couple of nights in nearby Glasgow. Like Manchester, a working city, but very interesting.