Good news! This past weekend I finally sat down and did a marathon London planning session! On the negative flip side, it ended up completely dominating literally my entire day and into the evening (and I ended up ignoring other things I needed to do).
Oh well, I guess. I mean, I needed to find the time to do it at some point, so might as well just get in the groove and go all in and get it done when I had a free day.
My least favorite part of trip planning is the very beginning. I always find it very overwhelming for a while when I’m not yet familiar with the layout of the city, I don’t know what things are, etc…. It’s a lot to navigate.
Prior to Saturday, I knew just enough about London to pick our accommodations, which I booked before Christmas. (Obviously at that point I had had to look at a map and figure out proximity to main attractions and tube stations. We’re staying in South Kensington, within a block or so from the tube station, which is on the Circle and Piccadilly line. Finding good and affordable lodging for 6 in London wasn’t the easiest feat, but I’m very satisfied!) But that was about all I knew.
I went to London when I was a senior in high school, so I do actually have some (now vague) memories of most major sites, but it’s all rather fuzzy. On that trip I just went wherever the school tour bus took us, lol! Zero involvement with logistics.
Planning anxiety
Anyway, this always happens, every time I sit down and begin planning a trip. I get a wave of anxiety, where I’ll feel initially really overwhelmed with all of it and will feel like, “Gahh, there’s so much and I don’t know where to start and is this all going to come together?!”
The travel books and blogs and forums rattle off all these names and places I know nothing about, and for a while, it’s all Greek to me. Then throw in possible day trip ideas, which I also know nothing about, or other “special tips” that I’ve yet to discover… (Ideally I like to start planning a lot farther in advance. I am Very Busy and therefore I typically sketch out our general trip destinations 1+ years in advance, and try to start chipping away at research early on. But this time it was a whole chaotic “switcheroo” from Italy, right before Christmas.. so it’s really snuck up on me, hence a little more stress right now.)
When I felt those feelings cropping up on Saturday, I tried to remind myself, “You feel this way every single time. And every single time, pretty soon, you start to figure it all out, and it always ends up going great.”
And sure enough! By Saturday night I felt night and day different from Saturday morning. I mean, I’m not claiming I’m a London expert here (not at all!), but I at least have a good handle on what things we definitely want to see (and which I feel comfortable crossing off the list). I also am now well versed in what part of London things are located in, how long to allocate for most places, how I might group things, which places need tickets, etc.
Advance Bookings = annoying!
I also did my usual research into “which attractions need advance bookings in London”. This part is always such a hassle, because I truly despise having to book things in advance. BUT, there are times it is definitely worthwhile, or even essential, for certain key places that may sell out months in advance.
Unfortunately I was too late to get tickets to go up inside Big Ben. Completely sold out for all of March. Boo! Oh well, my bad for not planning sooner.
The other big one in London is the Harry Potter Studios (where all the movies were filmed!). I knew about this, actually, but we had been on the fence about if we’d actually go there or not. It’s a ways outside of London, and eats up a very large chunk of a day. Considering I’ve never read a single Harry Potter book (in process reading #1 though!) or seen the movies, I guess I’m not exactly what you’d call a “Potterhead”. LOL. However, the boys have read the whole series. And Ivan has watched all the movies! He was pretty interested in the studios. Also, Harry Potter is such a worldwide phenomenon, so it still feels like it’d be cool to see, even without being a diehard fan.
The internet didn’t lie, though, and sure enough, our week in mid-March was already almost completely sold out as of January 25th. There were exactly 3 slots left, and 2 of them were the very last slot, 6:30 pm. (Apparently the place is huge, so that last time slot seemed NOT ideal… it says you need several hours or more to see everything, with many people saying they spend a full half day.)
Fortunately, there was exactly one spot left for a 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. That should work! They don’t close until 10 p.m. So I booked it immediately, since if I hadn’t, there’d be no chance of getting tickets later.
The other thing I booked is tickets to an England national team football game! Ivan would have died to see the Premier League play, but they are very sadly on break in March (and, apparently those tix are $$$ anyway and can be hard to get?). But the England National Team is playing a World Cup qualifier game that week at Wembley Stadium, so we’re going to go to that! As a SERIOUS lifelong football fan, Ivan is really excited about this. They are playing Latvia, but of course our tickets are in the England fan section!! 🙂 (*Would have loved to see, say, England vs Germany! Or France. etc. But Latvia will have to do. 😉 )
I also decided on Windsor as our day trip option. There were so many tempting day trips, but as our first trip to London, I really want to mostly focus on LONDON. And see/ do the most that we can. I’m intrigued by the Windsor Castle, where Harry and Mehgan got married!, the town looks so cute, it’s not too far away (i.e. easy) and I think will be a good fit for our overall plans. (Also, Buckingham isn’t open to visitors during our dates, so this will get me a castle/palace fix!)
I’ll have to keep York (reeeeeally want to go here!!), Stonehenge, Bath, the Cotswolds, the Cliffs of Dover, Oxford/ Cambridge and Brighton all on my list for the future. Haha. 🙂
All in all, I feel like at this point, if I were to do ZERO additional planning before we go, I think we’d be okay! (And I know I will continue reading up on some things, anyway.)
Jackets!
Now my next conundrum is what jacket to take.
I swear I have about 25 various jackets/ coats/ fleeces etc in this house, yet oddly, none of them seem just right for potentially changeable London weather?!?! 😩 I do have rain jackets, but they are all super lightweight, like the one I took to Costa Rica. I don’t actually own a lined rain jacket…I have various heavier jackets and coats, of course, but I also am not sure I’ll need like, a Wisconsin winter level coat? I have some cute fall/spring type jackets that I like a lot, but not sure they’ll be warm enough if it’s especially chilly…argh!
Oh, and London is a big city, so of course I’d prefer to at least try to look moderately “cute” or reasonably fashionable. lol. Some of my jackets/coats are a little more like, basic/everyday or sporty looking, if that makes sense? I don’t know. Will see. I’d rather not spend $$ buying something, but we will do carryon only, so I’d really prefer to just take basically ONE perfect jacket that works for everything! *Also need to be mindful of the late evening football game… what if it’s cold/rainy?? Hmmm. To be determined… Anyone buy a jacket lately that fits this description? haha.
Questions!
- Has anyone been to the Harry Potter Studios?
- How about Windsor?
- Tips for jackets for London in March??
- Seems like there are various options for “city lookouts”… Sky Garden, The Shard, among several others, many of which require tickets in advance, probably. Any tips on which of these to do? I definitely want to wait if I can (no sense in going to a viewpoint if it’s raining or foggy!).
- London Eye… going up in it. Yay or nay? I’ve read mixed reviews.
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for snagging those Harry Potter tickets just in the nick of time. New goal for 2025… watch at least a couple Harry Potter movies before we go!! haha.
GRATEFUL KAE 
the weather in March is very variable. I suggest you wait until the last minute and decide on a coat – it could easily be very cold or very warm.
Personally I wouldn’t bother with the London Eye. You can get great views elsewhere. Sky garden is good – and you can eat there so it kills two birds.
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Yes, very good idea about waiting and watching the weather! Thanks for the London Eye tip. I had thought maybe it was one of those things it’s nice to do once, basically just to have done it.. ha. But I think it’s also not cheap and the reviews sound like much of it is pretty anticlimactic (only really great views for a very short time just at the top, basically?).
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Harry Potter Studios and Windsor are both fantastic and worth it. Skip the London Eye. If you have time and are interested the Big London Bake is so fun! Eat at Dishoom. The Tower is my favorite- the jewels!- but get there early.
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dishoom!!! YES
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Thanks! And yes, definitely planning Tower of London as a major site and will allow lots of time! I think it will be a place the boys will love, too.
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My go to for European cities (thought London is no longer in Europe I suppose) has always been a trench coat. It’s good for day and night is waterproof but doesn’t look like it is only for rain and you can look put together with it open or closed. If it is cold you can layer under it, wear it with a scarf etc.
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Yes, I was thinking something along those lines! I don’t have one but I feel like it would be a worthwhile coat to own in general, for future use as well!
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Ahhh I already said this on another post but I just truly love London – it is absolutely the city I’d move to in a heartbeat if that was even a remotely feasible option for me! I also already told you I’m going back solo in May, and I do have a 91 spot google map going but that likely would be very overwhelming, and it focuses extensively on things I personally care about (spots I used to frequent, where I worked, locales featured in regency era romance novels FOR EXAMPLE)
When I studied abroad there, I lived one block from the Knightsbridge tube stop, and went to school in South Kensington so I’m pretty familiar with the area. If you happen to hit up the Waitrose or Sainsbury’s on Cromwell Rd (near the Glouster Rd tube stop) please think of me 😛 lol Paxton’s Head pub on Knightsbridge was also my local pub, and is also still there! South Ken is SUCH a cute neighborhood, and the high street is fun shopping.
In all my time in London (during college and a long trip in 2009) I’ve never done the London Eye, nor did I even know you COULD go up Big Ben lol so I think you’re not missing much. I did love the Tower, and LOVE the museums because they are free so you truly don’t need to feel guilty or bad if you just go in for less than an hour. You’ll be right near V&A and Natural History Museum and both of those are really fun to walk through. The British Museum and Library are also fascinating and my favorite museum to walk through was Tate Modern. I also loved going to evensong at Westminster but I’m not sure that is as accessible anymore? Hampstead Heath is a really cute neighborhood to walk through and the park has great views of London, no reservation required.
re: coat dilemma – I usually bright a very lightweight puffer or fleece AND a rain coat and layer it if needed if I’m going anywhere cool/rainy in early spring. It’s not like I’m an expert but it seemed to drizzle more than downpour in London. It also can be absolutely beautiful in March so you’ll probably get a mix of both.
I’ve not been to HP or Windsor (but we did go to Hampton Court in 2009 and I really loved that), but my biggest recommendation is to at least watch a few of the movies before you go, it’ll be so much more fun. At least on Delta, I’m pretty sure the whole series is on the flight, so you could get through at least 3 that way 🙂
I already see Dishoom rec’d above but that is by FAR the most common recommendation I get when I tell people I’m going to London!
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hi Erin
fun fact – I managed that waitrose on Gloucester Road for several years in the early 2000s so may have aligned with your shopping years?!
Louise
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!!! January – May of 2003, so probably!! I have such fond memories of that store.
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Awesome tips, thanks!! Making note of these things now…. 🙂 Especially the SK spots. We are staying basically in between the SK and Gloucester tube stations (but closer to the SK station).
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Agree with Gillian on a trench! That’s what I’ve taken in similar weather.
Thanks for sharing your planning process. Most of my travel is visiting family (across five time zones), but I’ve recently started a few other trips. It seems I’m in good company feeling like it’s a big task! I love starting with a block of several hours to plan, which can be hard to find.
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It is a big task! And yes, I think having an initial big block of time to get your bearings on everything is essential. In this case, I had joined a couple London FB groups weeks back now, so I had been reading snippets here and there and had a few general ideas rolling around in my head. But since I hadn’t yet had time to sit down and figure out all the “basics”, it was actually kind of just confusing me! People would mention things and I didn’t really entirely know what they were talking about…Sort of felt like eavesdropping on a conversation I know nothing about, haha!
It’s just always hard to find that big block of time to get started but it makes a huge difference!
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“Anyway, this always happens, every time I sit down and begin planning a trip. I get a wave of anxiety, where I’ll feel initially really overwhelmed with all of it and will feel like, “Gahh, there’s so much and I don’t know where to start and is this all going to come together?!””
OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS ME. I sat down last night and started planning out Paris and it is so much work (at least the way we do trips – I want to do fun memorable things and I don’t hire someone to plan it for me, though that does sound tempting sometimes).
I do like the planning part in a way, but it also is stressful and overwhelming. There are so many variables like: weather, distance between points of interest, what days are things open/closed etc. Like last night I learned that I think we should go to Musee D’Orsay on Thursday night when it’s open late and gives a very different vibe to the visit.
I have a Google map covered in points and I’m going through one by one and making notes in my spreadsheet. I haven’t even touched planning the two day trips we’re likely to take. Too much to do, too little time. That said, I also feel like a few days in to a trip we tend to have done things off other day’s itineraries as well so even when we’re there sometimes I’ll Google cool things to do that had never crossed my path before.
I am so glad you’re doing London because I want to do London and I want to just follow your lead 😉 You do London for me, and I’ll do Paris for you – ha. Deal?
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I actually never used to use Google Maps for planning until the last year or two! I do this same thing now. I especially leaned into it for Hawaii planning, because I actually found some hiking trails, beaches, etc on there that weren’t necessarily “main attractions” mentioned in the travel books, but ended up being really great stops. I remember sitting one day and just zooming in on the map and clicking on tons of different things on the map to see what they were! haha.
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Could you take a fleece to wear under one of your rain jackets? Do the layer thing?
My husband is the trip planner and he loves it. I do not and so I just happily go along with whatever he plans. Once we’re there I’m the “language person” because I can usually figure it out/ speak a little. It works out well for us. Oooh maybe I should hire out my husband to do trip planning! He IS retired after all, he has all the time in the world!
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I have a new Patagonia lightweight puffer type jacket that would definitely be great for travel (easy to pack!). So yes, I have been thinking perhaps I can pack that and then layer? Or maybe if I find a cute lined rainjacket/ trench coat type thing, I could pack that for day to day use … and then just squish the puffer in, as I think the Patagonia jacket would be good for the soccer game night if it’s cold.
That’s nice that your husband does all the planning! Mine does NONE of the planning! I sometimes wonder what our trips would be like if he were in charge, haha! I’m sure we’d still have a good time, but I think things would feel a lot more chaotic.
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Oh, and also- that’s cool that you’re the language person! Ok, I should give Ivan credit- he is always our driver anywhere we rent a car, which was a BIG job in both Costa Rica and Hawaii (we drove tons!!!), and he is always the “currency” guy, lol! Like he’s the one that figures out if the exchange rate is good, where we should get money without paying an international fee, stuff like that. I’m terrible at all of that. (In Mexico everytime we go there are the signs with the different exchange rates, some signs saying “compra” (buy) and “venta” (sale) with different numbers and I’m always like, I don’t get it. What does that mean? You’re buying pesos? You’re buying dollars? Why are the numbers different? LOL. It always takes me forever to wrap my head around it. 😅
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I’m going to London in late April (Hubby is running in the marathon) so I’m looking forward to seeing what you do and getting all the inside tips!
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Ooh fun!! Yes will definitely post all about it, I’m sure! I am mainly planning to focus on mostly the “classic” itineraries this time, I’d say, as it’s our first trip there. You know, the big main stuff like Tower of London, Westminster, St. Paul’s, museums, etc etc… although I know there are loads of other things to do there! We’ll have 8 nights/7 full days but it feels like it will fly by!!
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I have a lined Michael Kors rain jacket that I really love. If we lived in the same city, I would lend it to you for your London trip because it would be pretty perfect. That’s what I wear when I travel for work so I will wear that for the kind of shoulder seasons, even when I go to places that can be colder like New York and New Jersey. I think layering probably would work well too? Especially during that night soccer game or I should say football game! I went to London during spring break of my sophomore year of college, which would’ve been the spring of 2001 and I’m pretty sure I only brought a light trenchcoat, rain, jacket, sort of thing! I had the best time in that city so I know you guys will have a great time as well. We might have even been in London the same year since I’m several years older than you! I bet the Harry potter place will be awesome for your boys who’ve read the books. I hope you’re enjoying the first book. I found it to be such a page turner.
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Send me a pic of your jacket!! That sounds great. Yes, I’m thinking potential layers. I have new Patagonia jacket that is lightweight and easy to “smush” in a suitcase or backpack, lol, so I am thinking that could be a good jacket to bring, especially for like the soccer game night! We went to Ireland/ Rome in March as well in 2022 but I had a checked bag for that trip… so I ended up packing sort of a variety of jackets (surprising I’d do that, I know 🤣) and sort of mixed and matched depending on the weather. I will say- I wore them all! But I took a longer fleece/button up jacket type thing (which was great in Ireland some days as we were around my sister’s house/ in the car, etc..). I also took my lighterweight winter jacket, which is a good option, but for London I feel like it’s a little blah/ basic looking. It was fine just bumming around town by my sister’s house etc, but I’d rather maybe look a little more “elevated” in London? I don’t know. Then I took a lightweight spring hooded jacket, which I wore in Rome since it was warm a couple days… AND on the plane I wore my green boiled wool winter coat! Which is very cute and I love, and I did actually wear at night in Rome and Dublin, as it was quite cold at night. Sooo…. it worked for that trip, and I was happy with my choices, but simply copying what I did on that trip is not really an option, as I will not have near as much luggage space this time!!
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Oh how exciting! I’m SO glad you got those Harry Potter tickets! Yes, you must start watching the movies. Well- wait till you finish the first book and start with that movie.
I was in London about 30 years ago, so like you, I only have a hazy memory of everything I saw. And, as a Floridian (who rarely travels to cold climates) i have no jacket recommendations for you. I would be baffled- I’ll be interested to see what you decide on.
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How exciting! Re jackets – I lived in London for 5 years and wore my proper raincoat (purchased for a South America trip) – once or twice? It’s more likely to be drizzly than heavy rain. I had 3 jackets -a heavy lined knee length wool for winter and then alternated between an unlined shorter wrap wool coat and ultralight puffer the rest of the time, with hat/scarf/layers if it was colder. I hate lugging coats around inside so would lean towards ultralight down for your trip, I don’t think you’ll be cold, especially during the day being in/out of buildings and bus/tube which is hot and coming from somewhere colder (I’m Australian :))
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Hello! sky garden is free but you do have to book tickets. I would skip the eye too! Windsor is great – small and easy to navigate. Go get a glimpse of Eton while you’re there! South Ken is a great spot. Def get to the V&A and it has a good cafe for lunch (though it does get busy).
Transport for London runs river boats which can be a cool way to travel east-west or west-east. They have a cafe on board so a nice way to enjoy a scenic cuppa!
Happy planning!
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Hello! sky garden is free but you do have to book tickets. I would skip the eye too! Windsor is great – small and easy to navigate. Go get a glimpse of Eton while you’re there!
South Ken is a great spot. Def get to the V&A and it has a good cafe for lunch (though it does get busy).
Transport for London runs river boats which can be a cool way to travel east-west or west-east. They have a cafe on board so a nice way to enjoy a scenic cuppa!
Happy planning!
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We are going to Italy in late March to visit our daughter who is studying in Florence and I totally hear you on feeling overwhelmed about planning. We just got our flights about a week ago. And we booked a hotel in Rome, but not sure how long we will stay there, so might need to adjust that.
In addition, we have to arrange life back home. A few of our older guys will juggle the care of our younger girls, but the girls are on spring break so it’s a bit more complicated than if they were in school.
I feel similar about what jacket to bring to Italy. I was in London briefly when I studied abroad in ’92, so a lifetime ago. I have no suggestions, but I think the Harry Potter thing will be cool given your kids ages. Well done, you.
There are 6 of you going? Are you bringing grandparents? Good luck with the rest of your planning.
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I love doing planning for smaller trips around the U.S., but the one time I planned a big international trip (Ireland), I was SO overwhelmed. The good news is that one of my closest friends has a travel planning business now so the next time I’m planning an international trip, I’m just going to hire her. I do enjoy the research so I may still do some of that to give her an idea of what I want to do – but booking accommodations and excursions and travel and all of that? It stresses me out so much so it would be AMAZING to outsource it.
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Hi, longtime reader but never commented. For the trip to Harry Potter you can take the London overground from Euston to Watford Junction that takes around 45 minutes. Or you can take a Midlands train that takes 20 minutes. I think the cost is the same but fewer stops. Also trainline.com is a great way to compare routes and tickets. Have fun!
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Yes to HP studio! I went years ago and really really enjoyed it, and it’s gotten much bigger and (I hear) better since then. Highly recommend you try to read the books before you go. I loved the books so I’m biased but this was so fun and a highlight of our trip.
I get the same planning anxiety but I don’t think I end up planning nearly as well as you do.
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Ooh I’m so glad to hear you loved it! Working on the book! Hopefully I can get through at least like, 1-2?! Hahaha.
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