Trip Report-November in London, the Christmas Edition

Day 1 Monday.

Gladys, Mark and Lori live in Brandon, Manitoba and had an extra long travel day starting with a 2-hour drive to Winnipeg and then a 2-hour flight to Calgary to meet us for the flight to London. One surprise regarding their flight from Winnipeg to Calgary; the gate agent asked for their proof of ETA before being allowed on the plane. Luckily Mark had the emails on his phone. None of us were asked in Calgary.

The initial plan was explode out of the gates and get to touring, but it was a sleepless flight for 2 out of 5 and so when we got to our 3-bed/3 bath apartment in Fulham via https://corporateblackcabs.co.uk/ for £95 plus parking fee of £11.50 it was decided not much else was going to happen except for groceries and going out to eat. I’d give a link to the apartment, however it is currently not on Airbnb’s site. More on that later. Here’s a link to its location instead https://maps.app.goo.gl/h9CRChDQXBysj3xM6.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to stay in Fulham and its because of my uninformed biases. When I searched for images of the area it showed redbrick row houses and my imagination got the best of me because it looked very similar to the unflattering neighbourhoods in Birmingham featured in the English gangster TV show Peaky Blinders. However, we found it a charming, family-oriented neighbourhood where we saw moms and dads walking their kids to school or daycare every morning. I really wanted to stay closer into town, but finding a 3-bedroom place that wasn’t a ridiculous price was tough. There was a full-size grocery store 10 minutes away, a beautiful walking path along the river which was spectacular at night, and a traditional English pub nearby where we ate that first night. The Imperial Wharf Overground station was also a 5-minute walk from our door, so access to the city was not an issue. Two thumbs up for the neighbourhood if you’re looking for something quieter.

The apartment was as advertised in the photos and we have no complaints, however with my minimal experience with Airbnbs I learned a few things that I want to avoid if there is a next time. I knew going in that somebody lived there but had moved out for our stay, but we all still felt odd when we opened drawers and cupboards and found other people’s stuff such as clothes and shoes. I know that’s the concept behind Airbnb, but I didn’t like it and will try to avoid that in the future, possibly we’ll try VRBO (I’ve never used before, but it advertises as homes that aren’t lived in). But the biggest complaint we had and didn’t find out until the ‘owners manual’ became available to us the day before check-in is that the key pick-up was a lockbox attached to a fence hidden below a bush about a 5-minute walk from the place. After we got the keys, we realized there was only one set. I messaged the host to ask if we could get a 2nd set and she said that would be £15, plus a £100 deposit and I could pick up the keys at a small corner store that was a 15-minute walk away. This all seemed odd because we noticed when we arrived that the building had a 24-hour concierge office. Why weren’t the keys left there? Well, according to the owner’s manual; and this wasn’t disclosed to us before; Airbnb’s are not allowed in this building and the manual stated not to let anyone know we were renting through the platform.

In any case none of this ruined our stay. We liked the apartment, loved the neighbourhood, but it’s got me rethinking the Airbnb thing-not that we use it often anyway. Just wait until you read my Day 10-Wednesday section.

Day 2 Tuesday

Everyone got some sleep and we’re off. While putting together a list of must-sees in London for a newbie, the top of my list was Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. After a walk near Buckingham Palace to wave to the King we made our way to the Abbey for our 1:00 time slot. I was excited about seeing the Queen’s Galleries which hadn’t been opened when I was here in 2018. A lot has changed since then in the way it can be toured. First was a different entrance, and now a handy tablet guide is available, and a 1-way path through the church to see the sites. The tablet does a pretty good job of pointing out the highlights. However, the star of the show-at least to me was the Queen’s Galleries. It’s only £5 more on top of the pricey entrance fee, and I would have loved to go back another day but not if I had to pay the Westminster Abbey entrance fee again. As usual, I can linger in a museum all day, but the other 4/5ths of my party don’t have nearly the love of museums that I do and weren’t as excited to see blueprints and conceptual drawings from the 1700’s of potential alterations to the towers of Westminster, or forged documents by Monks to prove ownership of lands including the monastery that the Abbey is on. Apparently, it wasn’t uncommon for the sneaky monks to do such things.

We probably spent close to three hours at Westminster and then we headed toward the Mayfair area for the primary purpose of this trip, to start seeing Christmas lights. Let me tell you, if you’ve got a Christmas Crankypants in your family, bring them to London in Nov/Dec. If this doesn’t change their attitude, then there is no hope. The highlight for me was Selfridges Department store-inside and out. It had a Disney theme in all its store windows, and the interior of the store was decorated like I’ve never seen. Ironically, while Selfridges was decked out for a Disney Christmas, the Disney store a couple of blocks away barely had a decoration. We walked up and down various streets enjoying the lights, including the famous angels on Regent Street. One other highlight on Regent Street that I wanted to see was green plaque showing the location of a piece of Canadian History. I actually did a post about it during the pandemic https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/the-silly-things-that-amuse-me. The plaque recognizes this as the site that the Stanley Cup was bought in 1892 and brought to Canada to crown the champions of hockey. In my post I mentioned that it was probably one of those places that was of interest to me and nobody else. I was right, not even my hockey loving brother-in-law was as excited as me to see the plaque. But now I can take it off my bucket list.

Day 3 Wednesday

The only planning Mark and Lori did on their own in advance was to book a bus tour to Stonehenge and Bath. It was a long day for them as they left the apartment at 6:30am and got back after 8pm. The rest of us headed to the National Portrait Gallery to start our day. Carla calls it the “all about Allan day” because it was things on my list that nobody really cared about, however Carla and Gladys did manage to create their own interest with the paintings by admiring and talking about the clothing. I remember them being fascinated in 2018 at the Fashion Museum in Bath. While that was actual clothing, they still managed to find delight here with paintings with clothing. I spent most of my time in the Tudor Gallery and after a while it dawned on me that there was enough info in here to create plenty of soap operas. Too bad somebody already thought of my idea as The Tudors and The Bridgerton’s are both available via streaming. I could have made millions. Maybe I should submit a script based on the portrait of The Chevalier d’Éon, a French cross dresser born a male who spied for France, fenced in a dress and was legally proclaimed a woman by King Louis XVI after threats of blackmail.

Next up was the Treasures of the British Library. Once again it started out as a big yawn from Carla and Gladys, but it is after all, “All about Allan Day.” The history of books and the art of books is shown in all its glory in this gallery. The Lindisfarne Gospels was what I was most interested because of my love of the book and tv series “The Last Kingdom”. Part 1 of our England tour in 2022 followed the path of the Vikings and King Alfred, and sometime in the future part 2 of my Viking tour will have us heading north including the monastery on the Island of Lindisfarne in Northern England. The Gallery is far more then old gospels though; one fascinating letter caught my eye written by Alan Turing in 1952 discussing the possibility of Artificial Intelligence.

Day 4 Thursday

This was one of the days I’d left unplanned in case Mark and Lori spoke up about wanting to see something. I don’t like not having a plan, but in the spirit of family and fairness I figured I shouldn’t dominate the schedule. We did however, book tickets last night to see Moulin Rouge, luckily, we found 5 seats together in the 5th row of the upper tier for £55 each. I was surprised that on a Thursday night in November, a show that has been running for 4 years would almost be sold out. It was an eye opener for future planning. I’ve been wanting to see Mousetrap since our visit 7 years ago, but Moulin Rouge was highly recommended by our daughter, and Carla really wanted to see it. Right after booking I tried to book Mousetrap for one of the few evenings, we had left free, but we couldn’t find 5 seats together, and that show has been playing since 1952-28,000 performances. Next time? Moulin Rouge was outstanding, and the theatre was decorated brilliantly, however I almost had to leave at intermission because there was so little leg room that my knees were in pain. That left me wondering if the theatre is for me in the future.

Prior to the show we did a lot of wandering starting from Victoria Station and walking east along the river. London was in a cold spell with highs of about 5C with occasional showers and wind, so it wasn’t the most pleasant day/week to be outside but that’s what you get for planning a November visit. We eventually made our way to the Borough Market which has been in this spot for 800 years. I loved the look of the area with its old dirty, worn brick, but as far as the market goes, we were unimpressed. It was crowded, noisy and just another market. Without the history behind it I don’t get the attraction. It was a one-and-done for us.

Next stop was the Roman Amphitheatre underneath the Guildhall Yard. It had been on my list for a long time, and I thought it was another thing that might be of interest to our European newbies. It’s free, you don’t need much time to see it and its worthwhile if you’re in the neighbourhood. Up to this point, I really wanted to visit a few museums, but Mark and Lori hadn’t expressed any interest and I had no idea if seeing something like this would be enjoyable. As it turns out, it was fascinating talking with Mark because he was seeing things in a way I never could. We same across some pits and old wood planks in the amphitheatre floor and I had no idea what they were. Mark immediately figured it out and told me it was probably a sewer system, and he described what he was seeing and why he thought that. A little bit further on, we came across a sign and he was right. This gave me hope in the next few days when we would hit some castles and museums that Mark would be more interested than I had thought and he might be the teacher and me the student.

Day 5 Friday

Last time in London our intent was to go to Windsor Castle, but it was raining and so we made a last-minute decision to go to Hampton Court instead thinking there would be more inside time and less walking in the rain. No regrets with that decision and I thought Mark and Lori would enjoy Hampton as well, but Windsor won out this time since we’d never been either.

I was confused by national Rail’s app on how to buy tickets from Fulham Imperial Wharf to Windsor and so I did it the hard way. We scanned in with our credit cards to take the London Overground to Clapham Junction but then had to walk from the track furthest from the Entry/Exit to scan out and then buy return tickets to Windsor and then use them to scan back in and walk to another of the furthest tracks from the entrance. I’m sure there was a simpler way, but it was lost on me. In any case, we got there and had a good day. I’ll compare Hampton Court and Windsor as I have for Edinburgh and Glashow Castles; both housed royalty but what you see in the interior is completely different. I think Windsor Castle is more visually stunning on the outside, but we enjoyed Hampton Court’s interior more. Not to say we didn’t enjoy it; I just think Hampton was a bit better.

Upon entry we discovered a free tour offered on the half-hour that was happening in 15 minutes and so we took it. What that caused us to miss though-and I still haven’t seen where to pick them up, was the audio guide. Carla says our guide ‘kind of’ pointed out where to get them but said we didn’t have time and we’d have to go back later. I don’t recall ever seeing a sign at the entry gate leading a way to the audio guides. Anyway, the guide left us outside the doors to the dollhouse which was a long way from where the audio guides supposedly were. I wish we’d taken the time to go back; they would have been useful.

The tour was about half an hour long and was enjoyable but not necessary if your time is limited. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but the guide-who had met the Queen on occasions said that as QE2 got older her staff were trying to convince her to wear a helmet while riding her horse. Apparently, the Queen wasn’t shy of bad words to give her opinion on that.

The Dollhouse took me by surprise. I wouldn’t have listed it as a must-see, but it is spectacular. We missed the Christmas decorations by a week and after we got home, we saw photos that showed even the dollhouse has its own mini decorations. That was one of a many things I saw that I thought would not be of interest to me, another was a massive display of royal china that’s been used for state functions over the centuries. My favourite was the china with an Egyptian theme.

We toured the Castle for about 5 hours; I’m surprised that the RS guide suggests giving yourself 2 hours. We would have to be sprinting to have seen it in that. After the castle we wandered around Windsor and Eton for about an hour and headed home. I can see ourselves staying in Windsor for a couple of days in a future trip. For the record I’m going to say that more than once in this TR.

Day 6 Saturday

If we thought the Borough Market was disappointing, the Portobello Market in Notting Hill was doubly so. And not because it was our only rainy day of the trip. I had a friend who used to live in London who raved about the market. While we aren’t disappointed we went, it’s another one-and-done market and we never have to see it again. Even in the rain it was crowded. Carla is 5’0” and Gladys is 4’11” and 6 days into the trip they’re getting frustrated with crowds. I’m 6’2” and don’t see it from their perspective but London has been crowded wherever we’ve gone and those two were constantly nose to armpit in crowds and it can got claustrophobic for them.

While I love the Tube and how it zips us around the city, it was always extremely crowded as well; especially the Picadilly Line which we took for the 3rd time so far this trip. No matter the time of day, it was wall to wall people. On Tuesday we laughed because we saw a sign at an entry into the Picadilly Circus Station suggesting we may be better off walking if we’re going to the Leicester Square Station because the Picadilly Line is crowded and the walk is only 10 minutes. I guess that sign was foreshadowing of things to come. The next night we took the Picadilly Line to see Moulin Rouge, and it was packed. Then after the show on the way home, authorities were blocking people from entering the station because it was too packed. We ended up walking about 15 minutes to another station to take the District Line towards home.

Back to our day, thankfully the Picadilly Line wasn’t an option as we headed to the British Museum. Sadly, a rainy Saturday is when everyone not at the Portobello Market is at the Museum. Despite Gladys only being 82 going on 72, we’ve been looking for elevators whenever we can to help her out. The British Museum has them, but it was so crowded that it took 15 minutes going up and another 15 going down. Despite that, the museum didn’t disappoint. We tried to start at the Egyptian section, but it was packed with families so we headed to one of my priorities which was the Sutton Hoo exhibit and I thought it was spectacular. Not only to see the original helmet but also the remade replica to show how it may have looked 1400 years ago.

After the Museum we headed to the Covent Garden Market for more Christmas decoration sightings, and it didn’t disappoint. Make sure it’s on your list if you’re going this time of year.

Day 7 Sunday

The Tower of London today. We saw it our last visit but in my mind it’s a must-see when your introducing London to newbies. Like Windsor Castle, the RS guide suggests giving yourself 2 hours which I can’t imagine being anywhere enough time. We arrived for our timed slot at 10:30 and closed the place down at 4:30. When we got there, I was fearful that we had another British Museum type crowd on our hands as we immediately headed for the next Warder tour and discovered it would be us at and about 300 others. No problem I thought, they’ll get another 2 or 3 Warders out to break into smaller groups. Nope, 1 Warder, 300 people. Good thing these guys are loud.

The Crown Jewels area has been completely re-done and it’s kind of a mess. It’s a larger space and now features new stuff and information using the King’s coronation as a backdrop to the history of coronations, and it isn’t until the end that you get to the moving sidewalk to see the crow jewels. The exhibit is interesting, but the directional signage is horrible. You have to follow a one-way path from room to room, but finding the entrances to some of the rooms was confusing. It has spaced out the mobs that gather at the jewels though and gives everyone a bit more breathing room.

Maybe it’s just us that needs more than 2 hours. By about 1:30 the place was emptying out and aside from the main floor of the White Tower, we had the rest of the tower to ourselves. Mark again proved to be a good museum buddy as he was seeing things that were beyond my scope, he’s less interested in the history and more about how and why things are made. Even though he’d never seen a real one before he took a look at a crossbow and was able to give me a lesson on how it was made and how it works. I think he’s got a future calling as a docent.

On Thursday by chance as we were wandering the Southbank we came across an old pub called the Anchor that was all decked out for Christmas. Today we decided to head there to eat after realizing that it was a short bus ride away after crossing the Tower Bridge. https://www.greeneking.co.uk/pubs/greater-london/anchor-bankside Rebuilt in 1676 after the Great Fire it was a perfect setting to get our fill of English pub charm with small rooms and unexpected staircases, all glowing with Christmas decorations. The food was really good, but I’d recommend it for the charm alone.

Day 8 Monday

Nothing firm planned today and everyone wanted a sleep-in day. For me, that means 6:30, apparently nobody else thinks that’s sleeping in. We’d walked along the river one other time to a nearby restaurant, but it was dark. This time I wandered out on my own while everyone was still asleep and I hadn’t realized what a swanky neighbourhood this is on both sides of the river with modern glass apartment buildings and a nearby corporate helipad. It was busy as a bus stop with helicopters landing and taking off every few minutes. We were staying in a 3-bedroom flat but didn’t think it was anything other than average, but other flats in our building were selling on average for £1.38 million. I can’t imagine what the buildings near the helipad were going for. One interesting note from the Real Estate listing is that they all seem to report what the cellphone coverage is like. We had terrible coverage in our apartment, and I learned that aging and poor infrastructure in London is an issue with cell coverage and it’s something renters and buyers will pay attention to when they’re looking for a place.

Other than that tidbit of info that may interest nobody but me, it was a slow, dull day. Mark, Lori and Gladys wanted to ride the Eye so we headed there about noon. While they rode, Carla and I wandered about looking for good views from across the river of Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings. If we hadn’t seen a lot of tourists before then, we did now. Mobs of them getting in our way taking selfies and videos….after taking our selfie we headed back to the Eye to meet with the others. For the record, they loved the Eye and thought it very worthwhile. Up to this point I had wondered if the crowds at the Tower, Museum and along the Christmas sites were tourists or locals because I wasn’t seeing a lot of typical tourist behaviours, but this area across the river must be on some popular Instagram pages because this was obviously tourist central.

We didn’t have any direction today because I had been hoping Mark and Lori would give us a list of more things they wanted to see, as a result we didn’t see much. We took the tube to Leadenhall Market because I’d heard it was decked out for Christmas, but it was mid-afternoon and maybe it looks great at night but was nothing special at this time. Carla was insistent that we were going to hit a Gordon Ramsey restaurant while in town and so we headed to his Bread Street restaurant in the City for a late lunch/early dinner. We’ve always had good luck with Ramsey restaurants, and this was no exception. One rule I have is never to look too closely at my credit card bill after the fact because it just makes me miserable. However, Lori used her credit card for this dinner, and she doesn’t have that rule and so she made me miserable. Three of us ordered burgers, and two had sandwiches, plus one drink each and desert. Bill for the 5 of us was £260 plus a 15% tip automatically added, but you convert that to $Canadian and it came to $565.11!! For burgers and sandwiches!!! Luckily, we are all in a position to laugh it off and have a good story to tell when we got home.

We did note though, that everywhere we ate, a 13.5% service charge was added to our bills. The exceptions were the 15% at Ramseys, and The Anchor had a pop-up on the debit machine with a tip option even though it was a pub and we ordered food and drinks from the bar. Is this service charge and tipping new? I don’t recall it before.

Day 9 Tuesday

“Go to Kew Gardens,” the Forum said, “OK,” I said. Good advice, I haven’t been to Kew before but if the gardens in the summer are as spectacular as the lights at Christmas, then Wow. We were going to be in Richmond anyway. In 2018 we brought Gladys to London to meet cousins she’s never met before and we were able to meet with 3 of them. This time around only Cousin Tony was available and since he lives in Richmond, he invited us to meet him at noon for the grand tour. Tony is Gladys’s cousin, but he’s closer in age to Carla and walks and rides a bike everywhere and the grand tour started at the train station, up to King Henry’s Mound in Richmond Park where you can see north into London to St Paul’s Cathedral, a short lunch at the Pembroke Lodge, down toward a park along the river and past Ham House and then back into Richmond for a quick Ted Lasso tour (Tony hasn’t seen it but saw the filming all over the place and so was able to point out filming locations) and a stop for drinks at the pub used in the show. A total of 5 miles of walking so far. https://maps.app.goo.gl/hCPxMUeK5wAH2sKp7

The path through Kew Gardens takes 2 hours. We thought about an hour in that we were almost done, but then we turned a corner and there was more! The lights were spectacular, and Chrismas music throughout the park added to the atmosphere. Well worth the money-£27/pp I think. We stopped for a late meal at The Shaftesbury which was highly recommended by Tony and he was right. It’s one of those Gastropubs that have been mentioned often on this Forum, and no service charge added to the bill, so maybe that’s just a London thing.

We’d been averaging about 17,000 steps per day on the trip, but today we blew by that with 24,000 worthwhile steps. Even Gladys, 82 going on 72 was able to keep up. Richmond may be worthy of a stay on a future trip, and definitely Kew Gardens will be on the list when the flowers are blooming.

Day 10 Wednesday

Well, this day didn’t go as planned. It was our last full day and I had back-to-back London Walks planned. Some were protesting that we walked enough yesterday, so I said I was going by myself if nobody else came. Sadly, the Travel Gods had other plans. As I turned off the water and then turned to open the glass shower door I slipped. Down I went and the door exploded and I landed on piles of safety glass. Lots of glass and lots of blood from mainly superficial wounds from my foot up to my knee and inner thigh and on my arm and back. I wasn’t hurt except for the cuts (and pride), and the only traumatic experience was likely Lori who is a nurse and was forced to look at me wearing nothing but a skimpy towel She was able to clean me up and she said I had to go to the hospital so they could make sure there was no glass stuck inside my wounds. There is a taxi stand across the street from apartment and every morning and night when we walked to the nearby train station there was a line of taxis waiting. This morning though….none. We waited for a few minutes before I’d had enough and with blood dripping down my leg we caught the bus. For the record I was wearing pants instead of a towel by this time saving the passengers the same trauma that Lori had endured.

To make a long story short, we were in-and-out of the ER in 3 hours. My foot, knee, inner thigh and elbow were x-rayed to confirm there was no glass stuck in me. I had my insurance and credit card ready in case I needed to pay but was told there is no charge for ER visits and payment would have only started if I had been admitted. I’m grateful that it was me that slipped and not Gladys. She showered our first day and said the shower floor was too slippery and she was sticking to baths the rest of the way. The rest of us were also aware how slippery the showers in the apartment were and were trying to be careful; I just wasn’t careful enough. I had notified the AirBnB host that I was on the way to the hospital and had sent photos of the shower door, and while I was sitting in the waiting room I was sent an estimate for £1344 to repair the door. I may start another post to go through the whole experience to describe the steps when something like this happens. I’m disputing the charge and I’ve been going back and forth with AirBnb’s insurance provider. I’m feeling a bit guilty leaving the host in a difficult place, but accident and injury aside, this has been a frustrating experience.

In any case, my perfectly planned day was ruined, and we never made it to the two walks. Instead, we went out that evening to look at more lights including Harrods (major disappointment compared to Selfridges). I get that all the department stores are decorating in an effort to attract shoppers, but Harrods seemed different, it seemed to put minimal effort into decorating, but maximum effort on separating shoppers from their money. After Harrods we walked down to Chelsea to Duke of York Square which was impressively decked out for the holidays.

Day 11 Thursday

The trip wasn’t long enough, but it’s all the time we had. We booked Corporate Black Cabs again to take us back to Heathrow. I was all for taking the Tube and saving some money, but I was outvoted 4-1. Mark especially was adamant that he wanted nothing to do with the train and luggage; especially after I told him that the best route from our location was going to be the Picadilly Line. I can’t complain about the service and recommend Corporate Black Cabs. Our only other experience with Heathrow was in 2014 where we and to change terminals from our flight from Rome to home. We had a 3-hour layover, and we barely made the connection. I can’t remember the terminals, but this time it was terminal 4 and were whipped through security and had 2.5 hours to spare. I may have to stop saying nasty things about Heathrow. However, even if Heathrow had been a mess, London is worth it. I don’t know if we’ve converted Mark and Lori to Europhiles yet, but they did thank us for inviting them and are open to future trips with us. Now the pressure is on, where do we introduce them to next?

I loved reading this! I'm so sorry about your accident- glad you are ok. Honestly I am glad you are disputing the charge and I feel like it serves this person right for operating an illegal AirBnB. I just had my bathroom redone and there is no way a new shower door costs £1344.

As someone who appreciates hidden history, I loved learning this fact about the Stanley Cup and will look for the plaque now.

If you like the Last Kingdom and are interested in the Lindisfarne bible, I can't recommend a visit to Lindisfarne highly enough, especially the walk out at low tide. It's magical.

All theatres here really are that small- I can understand with your height why you'd want to leave after intermission. I think the only way to make it work is to book an aisle seat.

Service charges included in the bill started maybe ten years ago and have become more and more prevalent. Most nicer places in London automatically add them now. They started at 10% and have been gradually ticking up, tho for me 15% is still a bit extreme.

So glad you had a good time overall despite the accident. And you got a true UK experience of the NHS (three hours in A&E is really quite short!). Thanks again for sharing.

Thanks so much, Allan, for your trip report! I have really enjoyed your trip reports in the past and this one as well. I'm sorry about your accident. I guess you will just have to make another trip to get in those 2 walking tours.

Alan, wonderfully written trip report. Except for your accident, it reads like a very nice trip.
We too like those quirky little facts you can find and read about when traveling. I am still annoyed that on our last trip to London the Portrait Gallery was being renovated and Westminster Abbey was closed for the coronation.
Also, I can’t believe the amount they want to charge you for the door. They should be happy you didn’t get seriously injured. Just as others have stated, no AirB&B for us. This just reinforces our decision. Hope you work it all out without too much aggravation.

Allan, great trip report! I loved reading it and hearing about all your adventures and misadventures. And I love the tribute to Love Actually. That is one of my favorite movies and I watch it every Christmas without fail.

Do keep us posted about that Airbnb. That's a really crappy thing for the owner to do. I'd be curious to know if they have homeowner's insurance (is that a thing in the UK, anyone?). favor. I'm not sure what Airbnb says about stuff like that. But I hope it works out for you. That's awful.

I had to laugh at your reaction about Borough Market. Clearly you didn't stop to get a Creme Brulee donut at Bread Ahead! And I'm so glad you got to see Queen Mary's dollhouse. That's one of my favorite things. I first saw it in 1996, but I missed it on my last trip. But I'm definitely going there on my next one.

Anyway you make me want to head over to London for Christmas next year. Maybe one of these years, although my sister and I are talking about going to Europe next year for the markets. However, I don't know where we're going. I know she wants to go to Germany as do I and probably France, so we'll have to see about London. It would be fun to get there as well.

Regarding insurance, as a homeowner, a shower door that was broken due to a fall is not the kind of thing my insurance would cover. It's for things like damage from a burst pipe. This is the result of someone thinking they can make some quick £££ by renting out their flat while they stay at their friend's for a few days and not fully thinking through the potential consequences.

@ Allen

Enjoy reading all your reports. Commiserations to Lori. Hope she has recovered.

Regards Ron

Thanks for the great report, sounds like fun despite your injuries and trauma for your spouse. I'm one of those Christmas curmudgeons and your description almost makes me think I could enjoy London in the holiday times. It sounds like you made the most of it for your new-to-London folks and your returning crew.

FWIW, I've stayed in AirBnBs several times and have never experienced the owner's personal things still being in the house. I'm glad you knew that ahead of time, that would have thrown me. I have had the experience of staying in an apartment that wasn't on the up and up - and didn't find out until I contacted the owner when I arrived to check in. That was in Berlin and right after the city had instituted new licensing rules and things were a bit blurry. Since then I've always read up a bit on the regulations to make sure the property is above board (if you can tell...sometimes you cannot).

What an entertaining report! I’m so glad you weren’t seriously hurt. I’ve never had a problem with an Airbnb, but in the past few years I’ve booked apartment hotels instead and all have been good.

Allan - Thanks for your entertaining (and yet terrifying) trip report. Slippery showers are absolutely dangerous. I'm always surprised when a shower mat isn't provided.

We'll be headed to London next summer. Like you, we usually spend at least twice the recommended amount of time to go through a museum or gallery. Do you recall how long you spent at the British Museum? Thanks!

Hi Allan,

What a great report! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I hope you are on the mend after your accident. If it’s any consolation, my husband did a slip and fall in a slippery bathtub/shower in Patagonia last April and tore both rotator cuffs and did damage to the vertebra in his neck. He is still getting treatment for his injuries.

I am glad you enjoyed the Doll House at Windsor. That was a highlight of our trip to Windsor many moons ago. I would love to see it and Windsor Castle decorated for Christmas and sorry you missed it.

We are thinking about a return visit to London sometime next fall as our last visit was more than 20 years ago. We have so many fond memories of London and have spent quite a bit of time there and in the rest of the UK. London is our favorite city on the planet and England is my husband’s home country. That being said, I am a bit dismayed and disheartened to hear how over crowded it is and having second thoughts. I guess the crowds of tourists are a thing now all over the world. Do you think it was more crowded because of the lead up to Christmas?

I am so glad you made it to Kew Gardens. It is almost impossible to describe just how amazing they are at Christmas. In my humble opinion, they really stand out at Christmas and aren't quite so amazing the rest of the year. I went back in summer expecting to be amazed again. I was not.

Allan, what an incredibly fun report to read except for the part about you getting hurt! Your humor shows through in your writing and I bet your fellow travelers appreciate your great attitude! I’m so sorry you fell and the injuries happened to you but very thankful that it wasn’t worse. I hope you get resolution about the AirBnB. I had a horrific experience with one in NYC and will never use them again. No offense to those who swear by using the company, but I am too risk averse now.

Your description of London at Christmas time makes me want to go. I have thought that I want to go to less touristy places, but this one will have to be the exception. It’s a bucket list addition for me now. I watched a documentary last night on BritBox- Christmas in London. It’s old, but it was really interesting. They showed Harrods a lot. I would love to see Selfridges!

Thanks again for your great report and enjoy the holiday season back home.

A really wonderful report, Allan!
I’m hearing you reading it aloud in my head in Stuart McLean’s voice……. ;)

( For those you unfamiliar with him……his stories are hilarious, heartfelt and highly recommended.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_McLean. )

London is wonderful at all times of the year.

I hope you get some success from AirBnB…….do not pay that amount whatever you do, it’s insane for a shower door replacement!
Perhaps you can hint to AirBnB that the host told you to keep quiet about them renting it out. :O

Excellent point SJ

Allan, wonderful report. So glad you're injuries weren't to serious. Good luck with your Airbnb claim. All the hush, hush sounds like an illegal rental. Maybe you can use that for leverage.

Christmas in London sounds wonderful. I, too, watch Love Actually every year during the holidays.

The next time you book London theater tickets, take a look at a site like TheatreMonkey to get info on where to sit at the various venues.

Loved the report, as always! I learn so much from this forum about what to see - I think Pam and Nigel put me on to Kew at Christmas and it was gorgeous.

I am commiserating about traveling with people who don’t have opinions. I have two friends like this that I travel with intermittently (just finished a week with them in Stockholm). In my case, I have learned they truly ARE happy with anything I choose and truly don’t want to plan. Once I believed that, planning and filling days got immensely easier.

I was in London for a week last December and agree - it is a wonderful place for enjoying Christmas! I am not much of a big city person and didn’t expect to enjoy London like I did. I also wasn’t impressed with Harrods - but didn’t get to Selfridges (although I loved the PBS series about it). Next time….

Accidents - they can happen anywhere to anyone. Some day I am afraid it will be me….. Glad it was basically just money, one lost day, and maybe a little pride that suffered damage.

Thanks for writing this up!

Sands End used to be a very working class area containing the Imperial Gasworks and associated port facilities for coal. The swanky stuff is where all that used to be.

For reference of others on contactless from Imperial Wharf to Windsor you didn't have to go out and back in at Clapham, you could have just changed platforms.
For any journey within the TfL contactless zone the TfL fare finder will tell you the relevant fares, and any special instructions like using pink routeing readers.
It will also tell you about all fares, depending on the routeing and if you enter Zone 1.
In this case buying tickets would have been the same price as contactless/Oyster at £14.80 return. If you had a railcard buying tickets as opposed to contactless also gives the relevant discounts.
I would never ever think of buying such tickets on any website or app, but just buy them from the machine at (in this case) Imperial Wharf Station.
All the above also applies to Hampton Court or any other South Western Trains station within the contactless zone- except the fare.

One example of how the TfL fare finder works is Imperial Wharf to Greenwich- if you route on National Rail via Zone 1 that can be as much as £5.10. If you route avoiding Zone 1 and use pink readers at interchange stations it is as low as £2. (Imperial Wharf to Watford Junction is another great example of how avoiding zone 1 saves a lot of money).- £3.60 as opposed to £9.40

Thanks for taking the time to write such an excellent report. I hope you get the proper resolution for your shower door issue and rapid healing for your injuries-glad they weren't worse. In the US, the host should be worried that you would sue. I couldn't find the exact dates of your trip, which would be helpful to know about when the stores are decorated. Thanks.

Now the pressure is on, where do we introduce them to next?

Oh, good question! Do they tend to like bigger cities do you think? Or maybe cities and countryside? If so, I would consider Italy. That's very popular with first-time travelers and there's certainly a lot of history, wonderful food, beautiful scenery and more. Or France would also be a good option. I think you've been to both places but I'm assuming you're willing to go back to them for the sake of your in-laws. And I would assume since they aren't well-traveled that they would possibly like the more popular places?

And of course you could just let Carla decide. It sounds like she makes a lot of the destination decisions. And I'm assuming that's her side of the family? Either way it sounds like you'll be doing the planning again so that could be fun.

I agree with TexasTravelMom in that I do think that many people who don't want to plan are fine with someone else doing the planning. At least that's been my experience. Right now I am planning a three-week trip to Scandinavia with my daughter, who has absolutely no time to plan anything. She has made a couple of requests but otherwise she's leaving it all in my hands and I'm sure she will enjoy it.

I couldn't find the dates of your trip, which would be helpful to know about when the stores are decorated.

cala, he mentions in the title of his post that he was there in November.

So many comments that I want to respond to, but first an update since yesterday regarding the accident. Just this morning I woke up to this message from Airbnb;

After carefully reviewing the evidence, we have reason to believe that
you’re responsible for the damage...

Reason to believe? I've appealed it again demanding what the "reason to believe" is. Yes, Airbnb is aware, or should be aware that AirBnB’s are not allowed in this building as I have brought that up. I'll be honest, I am conflicted. If this would have happened to me at the home of a friend or relative I would offer to pay immediately and probably would have sought out the door myself and replaced it, so why shouldn't I treat this the same way? It's not the host that I'm frustrated with, it's the bureaucracy and stonewalling by Airbnb. I may still start a separate post; not to complain, but to explain the process, because I don't want this thread to become a negative story of what was a great trip.

As for my injuries, all are healing nicely except for a cut on the side of my foot which is slow to heal because it rubs against my shoe when I walk. The real crime is that I can't play hockey until it heals because it's painful to move in a hockey skate. A skate locks your heel and foot into place, but that snug fit is too painful until the cut heals. It's embarrassing not to be able to play because of an owie that just requires a bandaid.

Great trip report! So sorry about your misfortune.

Good luck in getting a happy resolution.

I am no barrister but I have watched Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution starring Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich, and Tyrone Power so I fancy myself a bit of a legal eagle. In my legal opinion, watch out for the surprise ending!

Happy travels.

Thanks for the update, Allan.
I’m glad you’re healing up except for your “hockey foot” taking a little longer.
You’ll have to just cheer your team from the bench for now.

Be persistent with Airbnb…….

Again, an excellent trip report.

Forget AirBnB's. Choose an Aparthotel (or hotel) for your next London
stay.

We did look at that option but really wanted to stay in one place and we couldn't find a 3bed/3bath aprthotel.

For your next trip to England, I would suggest a run up the east coast
to York, Durham, Lindisfarne Island, Bamburgh, Alnwick, and a look
around Northumberland. If you fancy ending with some days in
Edinburgh, that would be a good end point.

We've had a trip similar to this mapped out for about a year now, just not sure when yet.

Enjoy reading all your reports. Commiserations to Lori. Hope she has

She hasn't clawed her eyes out yet so that's a good sign.

Do you recall how long you spent at the British Museum?

We were there for about 2.5 hours. In that time all we saw was the Roman area and the Medieval and Sutton Hoo exhibit. If you wanted to see the entire museum AND linger, look at a calendar not at your watch.

That being said, I am a bit dismayed and disheartened to hear how over
crowded it is and having second thoughts. I guess the crowds of
tourists are a thing now all over the world. Do you think it was more
crowded because of the lead up to Christmas?

Read Carrie's photo trip report she just posted. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/a-snapshot-of-london-nov-2025-my-trip-report-in-photos She didn't experience the crowds we did and her location may have helped. Up until we were across the river from the Parliament buildings I couldn't tell if the crowds were tourists or locals coming out now that the lights and decorations were up. Likely a mix of both, but there was a lot of London accented English being spoken wherever we went.

I'm thankful you're on the mend although I'm sorry you have to delay hockey playing.

My daughter and I are travelling in the spring (including London) with mother-daughter friends of ours who are not interested in planning, too. But they've just said to plan what I want and they'll join us if they want (sounds like most of the time). I am trying to let go of worrying about if something is already booked by the time they decide they want to see it. But all that to say, I'm glad you got an Allan Day to enjoy museums as you pleased!

For reference of others on contactless from Imperial Wharf to Windsor
you didn't have to go out and back in at Clapham, you could have just
changed platforms.

I wish I could find the same info I'd read when I did a Google search before my Windsor day so I could explain why I was confused. But whatever I read did not explain it like you did. I should have come to you first. I also don't recall seeing a pink reader at Clapham Junction but it could be I wasn't looking for it.

@ Allan

Reason to Believe.

Setting aside the slippery bath and questionable ethics of both the owner of the premises and Airbnb.

Allan, you wrote in your own words that you went down and the door exploded. Me and many others have read this. You are too honest by far. Do not know what you wrote to the insurers, but you may have given sufficient confession. Reason to believe.

The slippery bath is your opinion of the cause. Probably is true. I believe you. The door still smashed.

The legality gives rise to at least two issues separate from the insurance one. As event occurred in UK, one criminal in nature the other civil in nature. Legislated, contract law and common law could be involved. Different ways of handling, with different outcomes/remedies. The door is still smashed.

Regards Ron

Another funny, great trip report Allan. Thank you so much for giving us all the details. Your reports always become a treasure of information for others to use. Thank you!

I’m hearing you reading it aloud in my head in Stuart McLean’s
voice……. ;)

That's an awfully big compliment SJ. My mom was a huge McLean fan and had all of his Vinyl Cafe CD's. I have them now, I may have to pull them out and listen and then imagine me telling my TR.

Truly appreciate the details, Allan! Hope you recover and are back on the ice soon!

Allan,I am so sorry you were injured in the shower and lost a day - and very glad that you are healing nicely - hope the "hockey foot" cut will soon be done with.
And it is so aggravating that the host and AirBnB are after you to replace the shower door. If I were a host, I would be appalled that this happened to someone paying to rent my place.

You are so good to have taken your in-laws and MIL traveling. We know your preferred style of traveling from reading your reports and comments over the years, and I hope they appreciated how flexible you made yourself for them!!

I enjoyed this detailed trip report, partly because I won’t be visiting again (been twice and enjoyed those visits). London is very expensive, a time suck with sights so far flung, and so, so crowded. Just not a good money/time value destination. Also, I think having no British blood and not coming from a Commonwealth country makes a difference in appeal.

Often stay at AirBnBs and only once did it have all the owner’s possessions lying about, including a wallet full of cash. Usually they are pretty spare affairs that no one lives in.

Always wear flip flops in showers due to proclivity for plantar warts, does seem to help with slipperiness.

I saw a production of “The Mousetrap” at an esteemed local theater (Guthrie) and it was so dumb and predictable, like a junior high school play. Don’t rush back just to see that. What an embarrassment for humanity that it is the longest running play!

toby, there are a lot of well-educated and well-traveled people who have enjoyed "The Mousetrap" for decades and there is nothing wrong with that. I put myself in that category and I've been reading Agatha Christie for decades. I love her books and I love this play. It's even better if you don't know the ending. So you may not like it but thousands of other people have enjoyed it and there's nothing wrong with that. 😊

It's even better if you don't know the ending.

I've never read an Agatha Christie book and I always figured I'd start with The Mousetrap, and so I've avoided it because I don't want to know the ending before I see the play. Now I have to avoid the book some more until I get to London again.

I've never read an Agatha Christie book and I always figured I'd start with The Mousetrap, and so I've avoided it because I don't want to know the ending before I see the play. Now I have to avoid the book some more until I get to London again.

Not to be an Agatha pedant (but I am…) The Mousetrap is not an Agatha Christie book. She wrote it as a play. So you don’t have to worry about avoiding the book. There are many, many excellent ones that were actually written as novels that you could read without impinging on your enjoyment (or otherwise) of the play.

As an AggieC aficionado since I was 12, i actually think The Mousetrap is really creaky and not a great example of her plays. Its rare I disagree with Mardee but I think it’s just famous for longevity and not that great. Witness for the Prosecution at County Hall, though - that’s great.

Well, I learn something every day. I had no idea Mousetrap wasn't based on a book. I have no idea if I'll like the play or not; or even if I'll enjoy Agatha Christie books, but I'm going anyway because it's been playing for 70 years.

Allan, that is the reason we went to see it a few years ago. We had a lovely evening.