When I ask questions about a trip to England in this time frame I got a lot of negative responses due to weather and short days. Well, our trip was great. We spent two weeks staying three nights in Bath, two nights in Oxford and eight nights in London. Here are some comments and pros and cons of this time of year.
- ETA process was easy. I could not get the app to work but the website did fine. My husband had no issues with the app.
- Planning ahead about three weeks for bus (Heathrow to Bath) and train (Bath to Oxford and Oxford to London) paid off. The prices we got were super. The total for two for all three segments was about 100 pounds.
- I took 50 pounds from the ATM and came home with 20 of that. Almost everyone uses tap and pay and many times that is the only way they want you to pay. One time the machine was not working and it required cash.
- Tap to pay for the tube, Uber Boat and Elizabeth Line to Heathrow was seamless.
- Using the website for day of tickets to shows was easy. Went to Hamilton, Book of Mormon and Wicked. Great seats for all three at Pounds 40 to 60 per person. Can get the tickets starting at midnight. I did ours in the early morning. Used the ticket booth once and that was fine as well.
- Short days were not an issue. Most sites do not open until 10am and close at 5pm. Lighting on the streets is good so nighttime walking was not an issue. We knew we would not be seeing blooming gardens.
- There were not big crowds. There were school groups at some of the museums but planning ahead for what areas of a museum we wanted to go to and thinking about where school groups would spend their time let us avoid them, going back later in the day when they had left to hit those areas. We did not need timed tickets. (Big PRO for January travel.) Some venues you use a different entrance without a ticket but the security lines were the same at both entrances. If you do not have a bag (everything in your pockets) you can skip security at the British Museum. Enter at the non-ticketed line area. Ask a security person.
- CON to this time of year is that some venues were closed or had galleries closed for maintenance and upgrades. You did need to check the websites to be sure what was open and when.
Hope this helps someone that is considering off season trip planning to London and other parts of England.