Travelling in January...yes or no???

Other than bits of the Scottish Highlands and Islands we don't really get extreme weather in the UK. Even winter temps rarely drop more than a degree or so below freezing, so cold by Aussie standards but nothing to cause traffic problems. Even though the UK is famous for rain we rarely get the torrential downpours you might be used to in tropical parts, we tend to get a little bit all the time rather than one rainy season (I just looked up the rainfall figures and apparently Brisbane gets nearly twice as much rain as London.) Once every ten years or so we get a few inches of snow that cause traffic chaos for a few days, the level of fuss this causes gives an indication of how unusual this sort of thing is. I would not expect there to be any weather related travel problems.

The sun does set early in winter but it's not necessarily a problem depending on what type of activities you want to do, which leads on to your next question: what things are open?

A lot of predominately outdoors or rural things do shut down over winter. This includes a lot of things like gardens and some of the more rural Country Houses and a lot of National Trust properties. Also some seaside towns tend to shut some attractions down out of season. This again probably won't be a problem for you as the sort of places that shut down aren't where you'll want to be on a chilly, wet, winters day. As long as you're not planning a hiking holiday you'll be fine. Towns and cities are unaffected by winter closings, in fact museums and theatres etc. will probably have more business as we tend to make the most of the outdoorsy things in summer.

I'm not clear if you are planning to use a motor home this trip? If you are be aware that many camp sites close over winter.

thanks for the reply peter!
as for your question, we're definately not campervanning in winter. probably just get a hire car or something, though we havent worked that out just yet. we havent really done much research yet, i'm just worried about how "wintery" it will be...

we're tossing around the idea of spending 3 or 4 days in london doing the sights, then doing a bit more scenic driving/countryside/outskirts, etc, but we're not sure just yet. i spose it all depends on the weather, and where we can actually get to.

As for the weather, click here for the FAQ & scroll down to Weather

No need to hire a car- espeically in London!!!! Trains and the Tube make getting around easy. Winter is lovely in England. There are fewer crowds!! At the end of this post I'll give you the link to an article I wrote about day trips out of London by train. We have done England/Scotland and Austria in winter- all are lovely! Just dress in layers. I usualyy wear cotton blend pants, a long sleeved T, a "big shirt" or sweater (jumper) over than and a mid-weight coat. Take gloves, hat and scarf and maybe warm tights if your legs tend to be cold. Feel free to private message me. Here is the link: (if it asks for a zip code, use 28208) http://www.aaacarolinas.com/Magazine/2008/Jan-Feb/britain.htm?zip=28201&stateprov=nc&city=charlotte

As I imagine you have little use for hat, scarf etc in Brisbane, why not wait till you get here to buy them. Lightweight (and cheap) fleece gloves etc are widely available. As has been said layers are better than a heavy outer coat, it's a more efficient way of keeping warm anyway. You will find that most/all shops and public buildings are overheated and it's easier to shed and pack away a layer rather than carry around a heavy coat.

Touring the countryside of Europe in the winter is more problematic. This is when the short days (and frequent fog) can really limit your sightseeing. No such problems in the cities, however, which are usually well illuminated. My advice? Unless you're big skiers and want to hit the Alps, stick the cities of Europe in the winter.

And as others have noted... the winters in most of Northwest Europe, apart from Scandinavia and the Alps, are rather mild. Unless you plan to spend hours at a time sitting outdoors, I even think long johns are overkill.