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Dublin (and London?) in December

My youngest child is spending the semester at Trinity College in Dublin. For various reasons, we are unable to pay her a visit until the first week in December. It seems like a pretty bleak time to go - with eight hours of daylight and probably rainy weather. My thought is to fly into Dublin on Friday and then fly to London on Tuesday, spending the rest of the time in London and environs. I am fairly certain that my child will be happy to have us out of her hair after a couple of days and I enjoy London and have always wanted to see it decorated for Christmas. The alternative would be to explore a bit of the Irish countryside - I'm skeptical that this would be all that enjoyable given the limited daylight and nasty weather.

Does my plan to spend 3-4 days in Dublin and 4-5 days in London seem to be a good one?

Posted by
9220 posts

Yes.

Haven’t been to Dublin for years but have been in London for Christmas season many times.

Lots to enjoy in London:
Santa Runs
Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park
Pantos
Christmas at Kew Gardens
Winter Market at The Southbank
Regent Street, Oxford and Bond Street Christmas Lights
Choral performances
Christmas Carols: Barbican Center. St Martin’s in The Field and St Johns Smith Square Concert Hall
Carnaby Street Shopping
Ice Skating Rinks
Visit Richmond Park

Posted by
11507 posts

I think your plan is good - there are also many wonderful museums in London ( imperial war museum is one of our favourites - ) so much to do inside

Posted by
6713 posts

Sure, why not? But the weather won't be any better in London.

Talk your kid into another semester and go back in the spring, with time to spend in the beautiful Irish countryside. ;-)

Posted by
10599 posts

Great plan. London should be wonderfully festive in December.

Posted by
33 posts

Hi Skip,

We live in Dublin and had some friends (whose daughter was doing a semester in Cork) came over about the same time last year (end of Nov/first of Dec). They had an amazing trip, and while it does get dark...it didn't slow them down. They drove from Dublin to Cork and then around to the West side and hit all the top spots. When they got back to Dublin, they raved about the entire trip and their daughter was able to join them for pieces of it as well.

Feel free to private message me for any questions

Jenine