Summer Olympics and 2nd honeymoon

According to www.gueensdiamondjubilee.com, the official dates for celebration next year will be June 2nd - 5th. You should be able to squeeze in a visit between the middle of June and first part of July. But since that is also high season, don't wait too long to book accommodations. Congrats on your upcoming anniversary.

The actual games run July 27 to Aug 12 2012. One would think that in London you would see the excitement but not have the olymic crowds a month before they start. IMO.

I would personally recommend May/June but you should look at making early reservations. Things will be most crowded in the London area with people arriving to see events have free time to visit the normal tourist sites. People will also come early or stay after their events to tour the UK and possibly the Republic of Ireland. The closer you are to the actual dates of the olympics the more you will have lodging availablility and site attendance impacted.

Isn't the Queen's Jubilee celebration in June? Next year just sounds VERY tough for London! I am going to try and go in May before it gets TOO "booked up" (I hope!)

Athletes will be arriving, in some cases, several weeks before the games to acclimate and train, too.

During the Sydney Olympics in 2000 obviously we had plenty of tourism and crowds here. But I would say they were not as bad as expected and everything was very orderly. I remember seeing news reports at the time also mentioned that whilst Sydney had an increase in tourism, other parts of Australia actually had a decrease. Of course it may be different in Britain since it is much smaller than Australia.

If you are planning on going next June/July then book your flights as early as possible as they too will take a hike. I've noticed an increase in the cost of ferry crossings for the channel for next summer already, although ferry companies are saying it's just seasonal!