Travel to the UK in October or November?!?!

For many years my husband and I would go to the UK (and other places) in late Nov/early Dec. We love the Christmas markets, the smaller crowds. etc. The weather in England was never horrible. In fact it was very similar to what we get here in Charlotte,NC-- damp, cool and occassionally a bit wet. Twice we had light snow in London- enough to make the ground look dusted with confectioner's sugar. We have been in Inverness, Edinburgh, and Aviemore in winter. They do get more snow and it is a bit colder, but very beautiful. We got about 1 inch of snow in Aviemore one year. I really love seeing countries in differnt seasons.

Thank you! That's good to know!! I appreciate it! Natalie

Some museums close up for the season beginning Nov. 1. If you are in the York area around Guy Fawkes Day (early Nov), expect holiday-like celebrations. I spent a week or two in London/Bath early Nov one year. It rained some, but I don't remember any seriously cold weather.

So that you have realistic expectations about the weather in Scotland and other UK locations, in November or October, go to this site http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.aspinput your locations and dates (up to a 2-week span) and it will neatly summarize what the actual weather was at those places on those dates for the last 10 years.By November the amount of daylight for sight-seeing will be significantly less than what you're used to, the sun will set much earlier than you're used to where you live for that time of year--and this will reduce what you can see in a day.

Guy Fawkes night, November 5, is celebrated all over England. It used to be (in the last century) mostly privately in people's backyards but in recent years, due to health and safety concerns/legislation, families now attend public bonfires and firework displays in parks or pub gardens etc.

I think that it would be a great time to travel, but you need to plan. First, particularly in November the days are getting pretty short. Check out this website. http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=90 It will tell you how much daylight you actually have. The other thing to do is to check on the web to see when things are open. I just picked up the Visitor's Guide to Scotland and it has no restaurants or accommodations, but it does have the opening times for lots and lots of attractions. I has lots of beautiful pictures by Colin Baxter too. I got it at Borders. Pam

I went to England in Nov.2008 and the weather varied widely....but it was never really cold. Some days were quite warm and sunny, some were rainy. In London,all places are open....you only run into seasonal closures in the countryside. Most National Trust houses are closed for the winter.....however, Chatsworth (Not NT)is open until CHristmas. Figure out where you would like to visit and check the individual websites for opening dates.
The countryside around where I was staying in Oxfordshire was just lovely...
you still have autumn color (just not as much as in the northern parts of No. America.)

I always travel to England in the cooler months...usually cheaper rates at hotels
and the bonus of no hordes of tourists. In Christmas week, you will find a lot more tourists though. In November,all the stores were stocked for Christmas and it was festive. If you go early enough in October, you will find some houses/gardens in the country still open.
My first visit to Sissinghurst was a week before it closed in mid -October and it was practically deserted which was delightful. I went to Bath in January and visited the Baths.

As stated above, I would research online
the places you are interested in visiting
outside of London. Yes it is dark much earlier but I never found that a problem and it will be darker still in Scotland since it is farther north.

Do go off-season..it is delightful. Anyway, you can never count on the summer weather to be "summery" according to No.
American standards!!!!! The last 2 summers were incredibly rainy.

I went to London from Dec 1-8 last year. It didnt rain once. It was between 47-55 degrees the whole time, lots of sun. The only thing I didnt like was that the sun started to set around 3:30 pm. Yes, dusk at 3:30 pm. I just made sure to get any outdoor pictures of buildings, sites, etc before then. It did not seem too crowded anywhere, most tourists around me seemed to be English.. They dont seem to go all out with the christmas decorations like they do in America, but Harrods had some awesome holiday window displays!!!

Having spent several days in London over Thanksgiving 2 years ago I probably would not do it again. It wasn't so much the dark by 4pm that got. It was really cold, overcast, and soggy my whole visit. I was frozen most of the time. I enjoyed my visit in June much more. Planning my next trip for April.

wife and I went to London last September for 10 days, returning on October 1st. We had wonderful weather 4 days in a row, sunshine and blue sky. On the last day of September, the weather turned nasty, windy, cool, and pouring rain. We went out anyway and had a good tour of Kensington Palace. October 1st flying out from Heathrow there was a large front coming down from Scotland, it was a windy takeoff! I'd travel to England in October in a heartbeat, it's off-season, less crowds, prices may be lower to boot. I love fall, and of course the leaves were just starting to fall in late September in London. The weather was warm a nice. The days were sufficiently long too, we were pooped out by 6pm and it was staying light until nearly 7pm. I love Japan in November, but England might be a little cooler than I like. Shoot for October if you can.

I specifically chose early November for my last London visit so I could be a part of Remembrance Day, Opening of Parliament (HRM in her coach!), Lord Mayor's parade, etc. It drizzled one day only; other than that no rain for 2 weeks. I am thrilled that London is always tourist friendly -- I've even been there in February, and there were lots of Americans on school vacation.