Planning a trip Aug 12-24, too busy?

Mid to late August is the summer school holidays, so it's certainly not the winding down of the busy season. Schools will be back in the first week of Sept, and universities late Sept/early Oct.

That said, I wouldn't avoid the UK just because it's school holidays. London in particular is always somewhat crowded. You will find hotels etc more expensive during the holidays, and some summer country accommodation options can book up, so if that's what you're planning, it's worth getting in early.

Thanks for the help.

Where do you plan to visit? While certain London attractions may be busy, we have never found crowds to be a problem in the UK. Just be sure to make advance reservations for the popular attractions ( Tower of London, Churchill War Rooms, etc. in London, for example).

When I was looking at August hotel prices in London yesterday, they seemed to be better in August than in July. But I was only checking 2 hotel; others may be different.

There may be individual towns that will be having festivals that bring crowds and high hotel prices. The one I can think of right away would be Edinburgh, as the Royal Tattoo takes place in August and hotel prices skyrocket.

There is basically no business travel in August so it can be a relatively inexpensive time for hotels in London.

Places that the British enjoy visiting in the summer will be busy such as the Lake District and Cornwall so it depends where you want to go really.

Hi-
I was in the UK with my niece during the first three weeks of August in 2023. It was the only time she could go due to her college schedule. London was absolutely packed with tourists! I have been there many times and had never seen it like this. Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London were especially crowded and we visited each early in the morning. York, Bath and Stratford on Avon were similar. Warwick Castle was just crazy. Alnwick was wonderful.

This year my husband and I are going in late September (Cornwall, Yorkshire, London) and are hoping for less crowds. If you could push your trip to September, you might find it less busy. Or it might be that last year was still post-Covid travel frenzy (I think RS referred to it as "revenge travel")?

Happy travels!
Sara

I'm pretty well locked in to the dates I can travel. Hoping to see London, Oxford, Lake District, and even get into Edinburgh. Just have to make the best of it. Sounds like a busy time to be there.

You will be fine; just be sure to book your lodging ASAP. And I still advise skipping Edinburgh, unless you want to see The Royal Tattoo, which lasts from Aug 2-24. But if the hotel prices and potential crowds are intimidating, there are other nice places in Scotland to visit (we loved Glasgow and Oban). Or skip Scotland and devote more time to the other places.

You will have a wonderful time, despite the crowds- we sure did! If you are Harry Potter fans, the studio tour is a well oiled machine so that you are hardly aware of crowds. We had an excellent time there.

It’s not the Tattoo which mainly pushes up prices in Edinburgh in August. It’s the large number of festivals, including the world’s largest arts festival that does that.