London in April?

My wife and I were in London this year on Easter weekend and it seemed fine to me. It was our first time there so I can't go on past experiences like many folks here can. But we were in Paris, Amsterdam and Edinburgh during the three week trip and London didn't seem any more busy or crowded than those cities.

I don’t think it will be any busier than usual in London, except in places that people take children such as the Science Museum and Natural History Museum.

Depending when Easter falls it may be at the beginning, middle or end of the 2 weeks holiday and it can vary from area to area. Where I live Easter 2025 comes right at the end of the 2 week break from school.

I try to avoid mid-July and August as ALL of Europe is on vacation. However, I don't find the other holidays are as bad for crowds and some British families will take the opportunity to take the kids on a vacation somewhere else in Europe. Are you spending all of your time in London?

Checking on my old school's 2024-25 school calendar, the following dates are scheduled for school holidays:

April 7th - 18th, with the 18th and 21st being Bank Holidays for Easter.

May 5th (Bank Holiday)
May 26 (Bank Holiday), with May 27-30th as a school holiday.
The summer school break begins July 23rd for six weeks.

April in London is always gorgeous! I would definitely recommend it. Wish I could share photos here from this spring!

As for the extra kiddos… well, lots of London families take a break and leave the city during school holidays, so it might all balance out with the folks coming TO London to visit then.

The point is - London is always RAMMED. It’s a frikken madhouse, no matter when you come. But it is a glorious, fabulous, wonderful, enchanting madhouse! The trick is to book ahead online for anything that is likely to have an outrageous queue if you don’t. That includes the big national museums, Tower of London, major tourist sites, etc.

If you crave fewer people, get to places that you cannot book ahead (like Borough Market, Covent Garden, and the like) as soon as they open or as early as you can haul yourself out of bed, and there will be far fewer people to battle. You can also schedule in some time to explore less touristy spots (Little Venice, Chelsea, Holland Park, for example) and walk through historic, leafy, beautiful residential streets. Less bustle and all the beauty!

I've been to London twice at Easter, in 2012 and 2023. I honestly didn't find it more crowded than any other time I've been there, but if there are some popular kid friendly things you're interested in going to, definitely try to book ahead.

I asked a similar question when going on my honeymoon in 2012 - better for Easter in Paris or London (we were going for two weeks and debating which city to visit first). I was told Paris is a madhouse Holy Week but London is always crowded so it's not much different at Easter. After visiting Paris first half of Holy week last year, that was definitely true.

Holy Week isn’t really a thing in England, most people are atheists or Protestants. There are things that get booked up early, notably the Harry Potter studio tour. Also, the Wonderlab for kids in the Science Museum.

Easter weather in England is very variable (even by English standards) and do expect some wet days which are chilly if not really cold. Indoor activities which appeal to children, eg Science Museum and Natural History Museum, get very busy with British parents or grandparents trying to find things to do with kids.

Oh yeah I forgot about the Natural History Museum. We were walking by after going through Hyde Park. Way too many kids! That was the only real time I thought it was too crowded and we left after about 1/2 hour. But it was late in the afternoon and we had already logged 15,000 steps by then.