traveling in December

I can't speak to Ireland, but some b&bs in parts of Wales close for the winter months. Have you decided exactly where you'll be? Cardiff and other larger towns and cities will be going full steam, but places like the Snowdonia area won't be. If you are wanting to rent a flat in London , I'd recommend reserving well ahead of time. You should really enjoy the Christmas markets at that time. Cardiff has a nice one, as does Swansea. London has several. Bath and York both have very good ones, along with Windsor and Canturbury. Many cities also have Christmas fairs with "state fair/carnival" type rides and games.

If your travel ends in London around New Year's, you may want to make reservations for that portion of the trip. Although less touristed than during the high summer months, the winter holidays usually see a brief spike.

I would definitely make reservations for the holidays (Dec 24-26 and also Dec 31 - Jan 1).

Keep in mind public transportation is virtually shut down on Christmas Day.

I think you need to do some good research (Google is very useful) on B and Bs in Ireland and waleas in the areas you wish to visit. Where are you planning to spend CHristmas? This is important as a lot of things close down around the holidays. I would spend it in London as you will have the most choice of what to do although museums, etc. will be closed on the day itself. Whatever you plan, don't even think of traveling by public transportation on CHristmas itself. (the tube probably runs on a holiday limited schedule but not much else)

The first thing I would do is to draw up a list of places you wish to visit and then start looking into places to stay in each area. I have noticed on lots of hotel websites that they are closed over Christmas and even for some of the winter months. In Ireland, I would think Dublin is OK but I would really look into anywhere in the country.

In no circumstances would I go without reservations!!
Too risky at that time of the year anad you don't want to be driving around in the dark desperately
looking for a bed!! Remember it gets dark much earlier than in the USA, although as you live in Alaska, you probably have shorter days as well.

Thanks everyone. We are closing in on our plans. Our daughter will be in Cardiff as an exchange student for the year so we start there for 2 nights. I think we're taking the train-ferry-train to Rosslare & getting a car for 4 or 5 nights in Ireland ending in Dun Laoghaire. Then the ferry to Holyhead and another car for 2 nights in North Wales.

We're taking the train to London although we may detour to York (yes, that's the other direction but still...), we're still working on that plan. We plan on 8 nights in London, arriving the 24th and leaving New Years Day. I am working on renting a flat and still need to figure out which areas to chose from for ease of transport. Since the 25th and 26th are "no tourist" days for just about all of London we thought those would be good walk around days.

And yes, being from Alaska, we are absolutely not concerned about the day length or the weather! The days will be longer than at home and the weather will be much warmer!

Laura: I checked most of the museums sites plus the Tower of London for their holiday schedules. They are all closed Dec. 24-25-26. Christmas is on a Friday this year so that makes a long weekend for most. The only thing I could find open was Madame Tussard's (closed dec. 25 only). HOwever, it is the last place I would personally go. Westminster Abbey seems to be open (never open on Sunday except for services) but I would check their website later in the year because I don't think that they have really addressed the issue of CHristmas yet!! I strongly recommend going to Evensong there, Regardless of
religious belief, it is truly an awesome experience.
NOw not all is lost.....the shops will all be open on Dec. 26, Boxing Day, trying to lure shoppers in to their sales!!! Also, I see that Warwick Castle is open except on CHristmas Day.

I am not trying to be funny but the churches may well be your salvation as they should all be accessible. Also most stores will be open for at least part of Christmas Eve. Since finding restaurants open could be a problem, be sure to stock up on food in advance!!!

I think that more info on CHristmas openings will be available later in the year. This subject has come up in the past.

Maryann: thanks for your research. We are not religious but were planning on some sort of Christmas service for the experience. We also are hoping/assuming that ethnic restaurants might be open, too.

Usually I hate the day after Christmas sales here but it might be fun to wander about in London.

We haven't ruled out going to Paris for a couple of days, it might be better to spend the 24th and 25th there and then travel to London on the 26th. However, the benefit of a flat is the weekly rate for 4 people and we can't stay later than New Years Day.

Laura keep in mind that on Dec 26th in England, some places will be closed for Boxing Day.

If we arrive in London on the 24th we are planning on staying somewhere central so that we can use the next two days as "walking tour" days.

We are also thinking of spending the 24th - 26th elsewhere in England, but haven't started to look at options yet.

If Christmas 2009 is like all those before, the only public transport on 25 December will be the Heathrow and Gatwick Express services (sometimes replaced by a bus service) so, no buses, tubes or other trains (London and rest of UK). Also be aware that services start running down early on Christmas Eve so that trains etc are back in their depots ready for 26 December when there will be a Sunday service timetable (and to let staff get home for the holiday) but not all tube stations will be open that day.

Taxis will be running but are allowed to charge a supplement, last year I believe it was about £4.

With the reduction of traffic noise and fumes, Christmas Day is a great time to walk the city streets.

thanks Linda, especially for the taxi info. We are planning on finding a pub that is open for Christmas dinner so we can have as English a meal as possible without going to someone's home. Being able to take a taxi means we'll have lots of options.

Laura- most pubs will be closed on Christmas day and maybe on Boxing day, and probably for dinner on Christmas Eve! Check with the restruants at nearby hotels- and make reservations for both lunch and dinner. Plan on breakfast on your own and you may need to stock up at Tescos the day before and plan to cook all your own meals those days.

If you do have problems finding somewhere to eat on Christmas Day, those few pubs that do open for lunch get booked up quickly, it should be easy enough to do it yourself. Traditional Christmas lunches at hotels can be pretty expensive as it is very much a seller's market! Majority of the restaurants that are open will be Asian etc.

Marks and Spencer's Food Halls (much wider choice than their Simply Food outlets) sell the prepared components of a traditional Christmas lunch ie turkey and all the trimmings, prepared fresh vegetables and Christmas pudding. All you have to do is put them in the oven and serve! The food is chilled not frozen and of good quality. Other stores will do the same sort of thing but apart from Waitrose, M&S is my usual choice.

Don't forget to buy a box of Christmas Crackers (not the edible sort!), Christmas cake and mince pies.

Then after lunch join Londoners for an afternoon walk in one of the Parks, then back home for a high tea (if you can face it!) of cold turkey, ham, mixed salad, sherry trifle and cake. After/because of all the eating most of us settle down to watch the Christmas shows on TV/snooze in the evening.

Some pubs will open for a couple of hours midday for drinks only so you could visit one before lunch. It used to be the tradition that the menfolk escaped to the pub while the womenfolk stayed at home preparing the meal and dealing with over excited chidren!

Every year one of the posters on TripAdvisor's London Forum prepares a wide ranging list of info about London at Christmas time. It would be worth your while to print off a copy for reference.