London in December and day trips

I’d book a visit to Kew Gardens as soon as tickets for the Christmas Lights go on sale.

Remember no public transport on Christmas Day so book your stay where you can either cook your own meal or make reservations at a hotel where meals are being served or research somewhere near where you are staying that will be serving Christmas lunch/dinner… where you can walk to or Uber. Expect to pay premium price for the ride.

Instead of calling it Westminster refer to it as Parliament Square ( Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey) and after taking a tour or 2,
( check Parliament and Abbey Websites for ticket availability ) walk along Birdcage Walk past St James Park to Buckingham Palace. I’d then walk through Green Park to Piccadilly and let her explore/shop in Fortum and Mason. Then return to hotel to drop off bags. Find a coffee spot near your accommodation, sit and relax. Then back out to explore. Make sure you two are on the same page about what’s important to her to see.

London is very, VERY crowded especially at Christmas. Be prepared. Honestly I walked into Harrod’s, got a pricey tuna and cucumber sandwich and walked back outside. Felt like a pinball inside the store. Great sandwiches though!

London is great at Christmas. Simply adjust your adaptation mindset to the “not to panic or be depressed” mode due to the hordes.

Yes, you need to book Stonehenge tours.

Only after conferring with your daughter regarding what she’d like to see and do should you start making accommodation reservations.

Some good references for things to do:

www.timeout.london
https://www.aladyinlondon.com/
https://londonist.com/
https://london.eater.com/

Was in London in early December last year. Loved seeing the Battersea Power Station conversion. Also climbed the trail up to the Greenwich observatory. Stellar 360 view of London from there. Lovely meander back down. Had gotten a picnic lunch at Pret A Manger so sat on the lawn and ate it. People watching the entire time.

Search to see if any Santa Runs are scheduled when you are there. Fun to watch. Also check church calendars. There are always chorales and choruses.

Tis the season.

EDIT: as for other parts of England. Whitsable or Rye are doable train rides for a day.

You can also easily tube to Richmond or Highgate and explore Richmond Park or the Hampstead Heath.

If looking for an interesting and vibrant neighborhoods try Camden and Shoreditch.

Years ago I did a tour with Evan Evan’s to Stonehenge and Bath in the depth of winter. It was a very long day and extremely cold at Stonehenge, but we enjoyed it. It does get dark early in December, but that will only really affect the journey back. Definitely worth doing if your daughter is also interested, but there are also tours to many other places.

I meant Windsor! not Westminster. LOL Thank you all for the posts!!!

The Bath Christmas market should be on that time of year. I enjoyed it when I attended a few years back. I would include that in your Bath plans. I was in Bath this past week, and it was as lively as ever with the Spring Fayre, but there is always something special about the holidays. Also, we took the free mayor's city guides walking tour, and if you'd like to learn more about the history, I thought it was worthwhile. https://www.bathguides.org.uk/

Looks like the 2025 market dates have been announced. https://newsroom.bathnes.gov.uk/news/bath-christmas-market-2025-dates-announced

My thoughts: I would do my own thing for Windsor and Bath as they're easily accessible by train. I haven't been to Stonehenge in years/decades, so I can't speak to its current set-up, but of those you mention, that would probably be the one I would visit on a tour.

Happy trip planning!

Windsor or Westminster answer remains the same… book a tour

Just heading back from Rye now and loved it - very picturesque and lots of nice shops. Short train trip from London.

Windsor and Bath are easy DIY trips by train.

I note you're actually visiting before Christmas, which is a nice time. Lots of decorations and atmosphere, but everything open and running.

Besides the good advice you've already gotten, take a look at London Walks.

They offer tours both in London and as Day Trips to most of the places you've mentioned. Although not every day.

I've taken numerous walks in London and a few day trips with them and none have been bad.

Bath is very busy during the Christmas Market. If you take a day trip don’t do it at a weekend. The trains are often absolutely packed. It’s worth going as the market is good and it’s a definitely a very festive atmosphere.

Amazon has a great selection of travel guides on day trips from London. I've used them in the past when I wanted to make London my home base. If there is a Barnes & Noble near you go & browse to see which you like best.

Will be following closely.

We've mused about doing a Christmas market trip to the continent at some point in the future but just have not quite had the motivation for planning one at this point.

We love the UK and surprisingly squeezed 3 trips to UK in 13 months '23-'24. Our daughter got engaged last fall (in the UK) and is getting married this summer. Because the date wasn’t set until February, and we are trying to get some major home renovations completed before the end of the year, we didn’t feel we could make plans for an overseas trip this spring or fall. I just haven’t had the brain bandwidth to look beyond.

Months back, however, I began toying with the idea of a future Nov/Dec trip to the UK to enjoy the Christmas ambience and museums, in lieu of a European market trip--at least in the near future. Still not convinced we should add a trip to our plate this year, I dared peek at flights to London a couple of weeks ago. Nothing jumped out as a ‘can’t resist’.

I haven’t been on the forum much as we’ve had projects and several short trips for business and family in the last couple of months. This weekend I skimmed some posts and started salivating for travel. Late last night, I began playing with fire and discovered flights to London for 27.5K airmiles/person each way with $550 total for the two of us. It is coach, which I swore I wouldn’t do again because of my restless legs, but I clicked ‘buy’ while my husband was sleeping. (I had shown him the possible flights just before he fell asleep but with enough time for him to buy us --from his pillow-- the 4K miles I thought we needed).

This morning my husband was surprised to learn that I had, indeed, dispatched us into another travel planning vortex. Fingers crossed that other commitments fall into line so we can keep this November appointment for travel. The flights are refundable, so what’s to lose? We are delighting in extra dopamine today.

I found a Delta flight from MSP non stop to London for only $875. What airline did you book for only $550 for two people?

Aer Lingus. I don't have it in front of me, but I think it was about 27.5K miles +$23 on 11/21 and 27.5 +225 return 12/8 for each of us.
Leaving Seattle, thru Dublin.
We've never flown internationally with Aer Lingus (prefer British Airways and Delta) so have some reservations (lol) but decided to just go for it. The plane is Airbus 330.

There were 4 seats left before I booked. I almost didn't find the return trip because I thought the cheapest were at the top, I scrolled down quite a bit to find the return through Dublin. I did not want to return via an American "winter weather" city and I wanted the airbus. We usually try to book non-stop from Seattle, and we usually can book from our hometown airport for the same amount of miles. Not so, maybe because it was not BA or Delta. This time it would be over 100Kmiles to include our home airport to Seattle. We will drive the 4 hours or see if there's a cheap morning flight to Seattle (Dublin flight leaves Seattle ~8 pm)

$875 would be a decent price from Seattle to London nonstop.