Britian during the Olympics

To be honest I suggest putting off your trip till after the Olympics and Para Olympics, at least anything doing with London. There are going to be crowds, people coming from every corner of the world. If you go to northern England, Scotland or consider Ireland you might avoid the crowds, London is going to be more expensive then it already is.

My experience of the Sydney Olympics is that away from actual Olympic venues the city was no more crowded than usual. News reports also mentioned that the rest of Australia actually experienced a drop in visitors. What will be a major issue though will be the price of accomodation in London. This alone could be reason to delay the trip.

Do you think September (mid to late) will be ok to visit London? Aren't the Olympics in August?

If you were planning on traveling in late July, August, I'd suggest you consider visitng Scotland, Wales or Ireland during that time (just avoid Edinburgh in August due to the Festival/Tatto). Parts of England that are not "suburbs" of London will also be fine- Bath, York Cotswolds, etc. The problem may be airfares, as you mmight find those more expensive this years due to the Olympics. You could also choose another area of Europe and save the UK for another time.

27 July to 12 August 2012 then the Paralympics.

Kevin: I will be in London for almost the entire duration of the Olympics and have been giving your concerns some thought. Here is my take on the matter: (1) As Ted from Sydney has said, there are folks in Britain's hotel industry who say that the number of regular tourists has dropped and that the increase in Olympics tourists does not offset the drop. It is possible that the non-Olympics sites will have fewer tourists than normal which evidently happened in Sydney. (2) Regardless of the final mix of regular and Olympics tourists transportation on the Tube will be a mess. The organizing committee is promising to get spectators to their venues in quick time but no one believes this. (3) I spent a lot of time looking for a place to stay, and for the most part I did not see any evidence of hotel price gouging at the budget price range ($90 - $150 for a single). Some places had modest increases for the Olympics period. I think the pricing gouging takes place with the more deluxe accommodations and private homes. (4) Highly rated budget hotels are pretty much booked for extended periods. You might get a few days at each place but I don't see myself hauling mu luggage around London every few days. This will be the world's biggest party for years to come so why not enjoy it crowds or not. It will be the most tourist friendly Olympics for years to come (2014 - Sochi Russia - are you kidding?). I enjoyed the crowds in Vancouver in 2010 and in Paris in 1998 for the World Cup. It was easy to talk to strangers united by a common interest. This will be an experience that so few of your friends will have. They will be envious. Enjoy London whether it is during the Olympics or not. George

"....This will be the world's biggest party for years to come..." Sorry the world's biggest party is going to be in Brazil when they host the World Cup in two years;)
When it comes to celebrating...nobody comes close to Brazil!

Thanks for the insights. We are making some adjustments to our plans, and believe that we will still see and enjoy what we were wanting to do Thank you