Thanksgiving in London too!

No plans for a night of theatre? Just an idea as when I used to go to London for Thanksgiving week, my girlfriend and I bought tickets to a different play every night. I'm not saying YOU do that but maybe one evening of theatre?

I hope you all have fun. I would presume that it's not the first time you've gone, & have experience getting off a flight and driving in the UK on the left side and all that. Perhaps there's a hotel room near Gatwick that night before the kids arrive.

I know when my friend took her nephew to the UK when he was under 18, it was complicated to prove she had permission to travel with him. It might be good to make sure that none of the kids under 18 will have any immigration/security problems if they're flying without you (especially the girlfriend). Might be something to double check, or at least make sure that everyone under 18 has a notarized letter with them from parents about having permission to travel with you picking them up. Maybe.

If the Buckingham Palace stop is to see the changing of the guards, and there's a good chance you won't make it there early enough to see over the crowds, there have been some suggestions made in the past about different ways to see it, standing on the Mall to watch the guards coming & going, something like that could be possible.

Also it's good to make sure all the cell phones will really work over there, or at least to have WhatsApp installed in case someone gets separated from the group. I've been told that my Project Fi (Google phone that switches networks) will indeed work over there for the same price as here. I hope to test my theory some day soon :) I've taken too many trips with phones that I was told for sure by a salesman that it was for sure supposed to work there, and all I had was a high tech paperweight when I got there. :}

I've been to Burrough Market on a Tuesday because it was the only day my niece could take off from work to meet me and my daughter, and there was exactly one expensive restaurant open on that day, and that was in Sept when they were open a bit more than they probably will be in Nov. You may want to find a nice pub for lunch instead, and save yourselves the trip. Not much of the market open on Tuesdays either. Maybe eat over by the Globe Theatre for the river view, something fun.

The Parliament tour with afternoon tea is only available on Saturdays:
https://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/tours-of-parliament/tours-teas-of-parliament/#jump-link-1
not on Wednesdays. Looks like even the recorded audio tours are only on Saturdays.

I've also seen people post on this forum that their wait time to get in to the Churchill War rooms was 2 hours, so you may want to look into any options for purchasing tickets in advance or add a couple of hours to your estimate. The Darkest Hour movie made it much more popular. Or maybe it's changed by now, or won't be that busy in November. They could have been summer posts :)

When I volunteered at Pax Lodge (Girl Scout hostel), the staff (mostly 18-22 yr olds) loved going to Harrod's for milkshakes. Your kids might want to know :)
And Camden was their super-favorite place to shop.

Have a great time!
-Alison

I traveled to Greece last year with a family group of seven. So my advice is more related to the size of your group than your specific London itinerary. I planned the way you are and then found that we could not do all I had thought we could. So be prepared to prioritize and be flexible and to even divert your plans for others’ ideas. Also think about whether everyone will want to do everything together and how to manage that. Our kids were in their 20s not teens so we were fine with everyone doing what they wanted, although interestingly enough people mostly did what I had planned.

Beth

I agree taking in a play would be wonderful. I saw Wicked last year and Aladdin this year in London. Portobello market is only on Saturdays but if you go where the market is held, there are a lot of cool shops just not the outdoor market.

Do check the times of the shops as they may not stay open as late as they do in the States. Where are you having your afternoon tea and did you make reservations for that yet. You may want to check into make reservations for a tea and for the Sky Garden.

There are pubs in the area if the weather is raw and you decide not to go to Borough Market. As others have said, do make reservations for the Churchill War Rooms. It is an amazing museum been there twice and was very impressed.

Harrods has a very nice food hall so don't miss that and Forum and Mason has a wonderful tea.

Buckingham Palace is not open to the public at this time of year so it won't take long to see it but still worth seeing the outside of the Palace.

Big Ben and Parliment is under scoffoding so that is a bit disappointing to go see. But if you have a tour of Paliament that would be nice.

It sounds like you it covered. Love to hear how it goes. I hope to go back to London in the next year or two. Still have so much to see. There are London Walks which are really nice and their pub crawls are really fun. Not a lot of drinking, just three pubs and a walk but really fun.

If you are arriving after a long transatlantic flight, then driving 2 hours from Heathrow or 3 hours from Gatwick is dangerous. Day 1 at least will be lost to jet lag and day 2 you are heading back to Gatwick. Daylight hours are short at that time of year and there won’t be much colour left in the gardens, so I suggest that you stay somewhere closer to your arrival airport instead. I would suggest the South Downs or Lewes if you arrive at Gatwick and the Chilterns if you are arriving at Heathrow.

I don’t know where your children are arriving from, but it could take up to 2 hours to get through the airport, assuming they are not on EU passports. Will they be jet lagged? If so, you may have too much planned for this day.

Borough Market does not have the full range of shops open on Tuesdays.

If you are heading to Hyde Park, then shopping at Selfridges would make more sense than Harrods. These days, with Harrods being Arab owned and catering for the rich Arabs that are the only people that can afford to live near there, few self-respecting Brits would want to be seen in there! Selfridges is much more tasteful.

Your days are very full and don’t allow much time for ad hoc activities.

On 11/19 I question whether your all of your children will feel like doing that many activities after a transatlantic trip. My 22 yr old daughter definitely would not be able and willing to do much on arrival day.

Slight correction to the post above regarding Portobello Market....while the full antiques market is on Saturday, there’s definitely market activity on the Friday. In fact, Fridays are my favourite days as there are significantly fewer other shoppers there and about 80% of the full market stallholders.

Thank you mincepie! I did not know that and will keep that in mind on my next trip to London. I went to the Portobello Market once and loved it but it was super crowded!