Planning a Surprise Trip to London for my Husband in 2019 - need advice on dates and neighborhood

You are not considering a Rick Steve's 7 day best of London tour? Our tour stayed in the Washington Mayfair Hotel the whole time. Very nice and well situated in the Mayfair district. We flew into Heathrow and took the train to Paddington Station. Walk across the street to the Paddington tube station and you're on your way to all of London. We would also recommend a day trip out to Oxford from Paddington Station.

I wouldn't worry so much about your neighborhood as London is very spread out and you will have to take the Underground to some sights. I would go in April, there will be flowers starting to bloom yet the summer tourist crunch is still a month or so away. Definitely stay for a week as London has so much to see and do and I would do a couple of London Walks @ www.walks.com . They usually have a theme and past tours have had information about musical legends in London. Also the pub walks are fun especially for introverts like me who otherwise might not go into a bar alone, you get to have a drink and meet other tourists.

As far as what neighborhood to stay in, I've stayed near Gloucester Road in S.Kensington which I loved but I definitely took the Tube everywhere. I also stayed near Russell Square/Kings Cross in a lovely flat. That location is more central and I could walk to more places, ie. British Museum, British Library and even St Pauls. It just depends on your budget and plans.

I was in Shepherds Bush this afternoon for a taping at the Bush Theatre.

I'm used to London and the constant noise, but I have never been in a theatre before where I have heard so many sirens. This follows up several other visits to the area - I don't know where all the ambulances and others are going to or coming from - but it is regular when I visit. You may be off the main routes and maybe have good double glazed windows and noise won't be a problem.

The main tourist attractions are all in central London, a bit distant from Shepherds Bush - all except the ones you want to see in Shepherds Bush of course.

I would suggest Bayswater area and the Paddington area, they are both just a few minutes walk to Lancaster Gate Tube Station and Paddington Tube Station. Also, if you arrive at Heathrow you could easily take the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station. You can get Heathrow Express tickets really inexpensive in you buy them 90 days in advance. Bayswater and Paddington are just a short walk from Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. There is a great hotel The London Elizabeth is right across from Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens, two minute walk to Lancaster Gate Tube Station. There are some nice pubs in both areas.

Next-Jen
I would avoid the UK school holidays if possible. Usually at Easter time school will be out 1-2 weeks. Also avoid 27th May to 31st May and certainly from the 15th July when all the students will be out for the summer for about 6 weeks. If you were to go in June, when weather can be warmer and daylight hours better, I would suggest you try to be in London on the 8th June 2019. Then you could experience Trouping the Colour. You can stand in the Mall leading to Buckingham Palace and watch the Parade. Also, do take a trip to the countryside through a tour company offering day tours. This may be your best bet. Driving in and out of London is not for the faint of heart. Unless your are touring England, Don't rent a car.
What a lovely surprise!

Go with Robin’s suggestion on the Paddington neighborhood. I’d opt for April as well.

Check out Timeout London online to discover whats happening in April. London will be crowded but not with the massive hordes you’d find in the Summer.

I’ve been staying in Paddington area for years. Each morning I walk into Hyde Park. Relaxing to watch sunrise over the Serpentine as well as enjoying all the locals out with their dogs.

Transport from the Lancaster Gate Station to the various sites is a breeze. Use the tfl.gov.uk website.

I book my Heathrow Express tickets 90 days in advance and print out the vouchers.

I fly on the Red Eye from LAX and the last thing I want to do when I’m through immigration at LHR is dawdle. The Express is a clean, safe 15 minute ride into London.

Trust me the moment you arrive at Paddington Station and walk off the train you will smile. As the saying goes “ Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Great city. What a wonderful surprise!

Get the RS guidebook and read it. VERY practical and useful insight.

PM me if you need more intel about the Paddington neighborhood and London.

Have a fabulous sojourn!

This is fantastic advice. Thank you so much!! Do most agree with June being the best month to go? I also liked the April idea, but I wonder if June is a better idea. Our dates are flexible. So if we stayed in the Paddington area, we could easily take the tube into areas like Shepherd's Bush, correct? Thank you again. I will likely PM you for more details as it gets a little closer. OH one more question - would you recommend Airbnb in the Paddington area or hotel or is that really just personal preference? Thank you!

If you really want to dig into punk rock sites, a very useful book will be Fodors Rock and Roll Traveler Great Britain and Ireland (there's also one for the US). It's long out of print, but used copies are very cheap, and since it's about historical sites, the information will still be useful (of course, you have to check for buildings that have been torn down and the like).

Here's the Amazon listing: https://www.amazon.com/Traveler-Great-Britain-Ireland-Fodors/dp/0679031189

NOT JUNE! Crowds are MASSIVE in June.

Go in the Spring or if you really don’t care about when you go you could also think about November. It’s when I usually go. Rates a bit cheaper and for me I love seeing all the Christmas preparations. I also love the chill in the air and dressing in layers. Nice alternative to the 365 days of sun in LA. There’s also the Lords Mayor Parade and Remembrance Day.

And yes straight tube ride from Lancaster Gate to Shepard’s Bush. 10 minute ride at most.

Personal preference about accommodation. In my humble opinion the reason why Prince Phillip is 97 and The Queen is 92 is because of climbing stairs. Stairs are the norm in London so choose your accommodation accordingly.

Oh I do see where you suggested April as well - I missed that the first time I read it. Ok that sounds great, and I will shoot for that. I really, truly appreciate this advice as well as anything else that might come to mind. My husband and I have only traveled outside of the U.S. one time before - this past summer - and it made us realize that we need to try and do this so much more if we can. I think he will be so surprised and excited - it's going to be hard for me to keep it a secret until Christmas Day. We aren't interested in big crowds and don't mind cooler weather, so earlier in the season sounds like it will suit us. Thank you thank you thank you!

Pleased to help.

Others may disagree but if April is your date u need to start looking at and possibly booking your accommodations and airfare now.

I’m traveling to London in January, staying with friends and even though an “off” month have already booked my airfare to take advantage of outstanding prices.

We love London in May, when the days are longer and more flowers are blooming in the parks. And we have experienced less rain in May we have in April. In spending the whole month of May there, we did not notice an appreciable difference in crowds over the second (late May) bank holiday weekend. We did a short trip to York over the first one, and that was a zoo! London seemed quiet by comparison.

The Paddington area is convenient for access to the Heathrow Express ( also our favorite way into London from the airport). We generally spend only one night there, the night before departure. Otherwise we prefer to stay close to the river, which offers a wonderful pedestrian walking path with all the iconic sights of London in view.

If you choose the Paddington area, there is a new boutique hotel that is attracting a lot of good reviews in the media. It is worth a look:

https://thepilgrm.com

But I would also suggest you consider a place near the river and the Westminster sights like Westminster Abbey and the beautiful Parliament buildings. The Premier Inn County Hall is moderate in price and excellent in location. Or if you have Marriott points, there is a Marriott at the same location.

For a first-time visit to London (and Europe), I would suggest you choose a hotel over an Air BnB. Choosing the right apartment can be a tricky process, right down to determining if it is a legal one and other issues. Lots of traps for the unwary in the apartment field, unfortunately.

That is super helpful, and I love the look of the Pilgrim. Thank you!

I agree with most of the comments above. Avoid June. April is a good time to go. I wouldn't stay in Shepherd's Bush. There are plenty of areas which are better and are still convenient for visiting Shepherd's Bush. The Bayswater area is a good place to stay; I've done that on my last two trips. Personally I'm not fond of the area immediately surrounding Paddington Station, but just a few blocks away from Paddington, in the general direction of Hyde Park, is fine.

And, yes, hop on getting your plane tickets and reservations. If you're staying anywhere reasonably close to Paddington, be sure to buy your Heathrow Express tickets at least 90 days in advance of your arrival date. That will give you a good price; otherwise the HEX is silly expensive. There are less expensive, non-express, trains direct from Heathrow to Paddington as well, if you miss the 90 day advance HEX fares. Those trains have been recently taken over by Transport for London (TfL) which operates the underground trains and buses.

Emma makes a good point about Easter.

The UK has bank holidays on both Good Friday and Easter Monday. There are no official/bank holidays in the US for Easter, and so I don't think most Americans even realize the UK has them. Once several years ago we were in London for a little vacation that we'd planned, in ignorance that we'd be there during the Easter holidays. I think it was only a minor inconvenience. It was also of course a good learning experience, as I tend to learn by doing, especially by making mistakes.

I don't know that any venues you'd want to visit would be closed on those Easter bank (and school) holidays, but I could see that the four day holiday weekend could increase crowds for leisure activities and tourist sites.

Also, if you don't stay in an area convenient to Paddington, ask here about the best way to get to central London from Heathrow or Gatwick, as the case may be. There are other options from Heathrow and if you'll be landing at Gatwick that's another conversation anyway.

I don't disagree with my friend Claudia on much, but if I were interested in seeing Spring flowers out in the gardens and parks I might prefer June to April.

Nobody knows about the weather either but you have more chance of warm and dry in June rather than April too. And the days will be very long as you approach the summer solstice.

But Claudia also has good points - the overseas tourists may be less in April, but emma is also right about Easter and school holidays.

Many things which have been closed for winter - especially in the countryside as not much closes in London - will open for the Easter holidays and stay open for the summer.

By the way - you both have passports and they both have enough time left?

Thank you! Yes, we actually just got currrent passports one year ago so they are still valid for a while. People have mentioned both April and June. How is May? Aside from part of that month being a school holiday

I'm not sure what your budget is like, but I'd like to tell you about a British Chain of hotels, the Premier Inns, that have several properties well located in the London and a more "reasonable" price tag than some. I have found that I appreciate the value and quality I receive when I stay in these hotels. You might want to take a look at them.

Does your husband have any difficulties scheduling time off of work? I was wondering if that might also play into the decision about when to go. I do think that this will be a lovely gift for the both of you. Enjoy!

We don’t have a huge budget, so I appreciate the tips, and I will check out those hotels for sure! My work is flexible, and his is hard to predict... he does craft service for film and tv shows, so there’s no way to know when he’ll be working. This year we had a trip planned in advance, and he just had someone fill in for him since he was actively working on a show at the time. He may or may not be working any month of the year!

I'll add my two cents to the fray - both Nigel and Claudia have valid points. May is certainly an option - the days are getting longer, and it should be slightly dryer than April. I would just try to avoid the end of May if you can (our Memorial Day, UK May bank holiday).

The Paddington/Bayswater area is a decent area to stay in. If I am staying that way, I tend to use the Thistle Kensignton Gardens. Its just across the street from Hyde Park, just down the street from both the Lancaster Gate and Bayswater Tube stations. The hotel is also ~0.7 mile from Paddington Station, so if you have just fallen off an airplane, its either a quick walk or very short taxi ride to the hotel.

Some ideas:

Use https://www.visitlondon.com/ and https://www.timeout.com/london to find out what you want to see/visit. Take a map with the underground stations and bus routes on and mark all the venues. Use different colors for must-see and nice-to-see. That should help you find out where you want to stay.

Use a site like https://www.booking.com, https://hotels.com, or https://www.momondo.com/hotels to find a nice hotel in your chosen area and in your chosen budget.

Use https://tfl.gov.uk/ to find the best way from your airport to your hotel. Remember there are 5 airports serving London.

Consider if a HOHO bus is right for you - it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it gives an overview of a new city.

Consider if a walk is right for you.

Two other things I overlooked for many years: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/emirates-air-line/ and https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/river/.

Depending on when you end up going, consider http://www.jasons.co.uk/

Enjoy your time in London :-)

This is terrific! Thank you again for all of the help/advice/tips. I will be referring back to this thread many times as I plan this. I think I have settled on dates, and I may go ahead and book the flight this week. I'm looking at 14 - 20 May. I don't see anything major happening that week or any holidays; however, it does appear the the FA Cup Final is on the 18th, but I don't think that would hinder our stay - might even be fun to try and get tickets to that, if possible.

I wanted to throw out that week as one final question to you all in case there are any red flags with those dates that you can think of. Also, does it make sense to book this far in advance? I will be flying Delta and using my SkyMiles, so I don't really have the luxury of looking at different airlines. I have only flown internationally twice before, so I'm not sure if they will just continue to get more expensive the longer I wait.

Thank you thank you thank you again for ALL of your valuable advice!

I would suggest London Walks Rock and Roll London walk, it is only £10 per adult and covered a lot of the punk scene. I’m more of a 1960s rock guy myself, but it was nice to see a lot of the old punk venues.

Premier Inn is amazing. Pick one and enjoy. While it’s a budget chain, it’s more comparable to Courtyard Marriott, it’s certainly not Motel 6.

I would suggest booking Sky Miles flights as soon as you can. For example, we booked Sky Miles flights in January for a September trip. I'd also suggest looking around in the website to see what the fewest miles there are for the destination. Then if the dates you want have more miles than the fewest for other dates wait and check back in a couple of days. We had a group of four and once we had booked 2 tickets for 60,000 miles when we went to do the 3rd one we found it had went up to 70,000 miles. We waited 2 days and then booked the final 2 tickets for 60,000 miles again. When demand goes up the number of miles needed goes up. We had actually called into customer service to question why it went up and the operator told us to wait a day or 2 and try again as more would probably come out at the lower miles again. And they did! But the closer you get to the date you want to leave the more miles it is going to take. At least that has been our experience.

The exchange rate FAVORS you right now in due part because of the anxiety over the UK's future relationship with the EU. Right now, it's £1 = $1.278. When you decide upon a hotel, you might want to book it and prepay if your dates are set. By May, the £ could regain its strength as it is unusually weak. I remember the days when it was £1 = $2.15!!

Nobody knows the future of course but if you look at an exchange rate chart, you'll see what a buying opportunity it is now with the $. Up to you of course!

What a super gift for your husband this Christmas! :-)