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London Trip Planning: How Far Ahead to Book Hotels, Restaurants and Attractions · UK Travel Planning

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, tracey Collins.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: In this podcast, tracey shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Hi and welcome to episode 90 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: This is your host, tracey Collins.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Thank you for tuning in today.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: If you are a member of our Facebook group or are following us on our Global Travel Planning Podcast Global Travel Planning Instagram account or our website, you will know that I've just returned to Australia after travelling around quite a bit of the globe for the last five months.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: So I'm sitting here now in Australia and I thought actually better get some UK Travel Planning Podcast sorted for the next few months.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: So we've got a great lineup organised.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: I'll be recording quite a few this week, but for today's episode I'm just going to chat a little bit about how far ahead you need to plan when you're going to visit London, so how far ahead to book certain things.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: Now I am also going to put together an article and a podcast about how far ahead to book in general for the UK, because we are receiving quite a lot of emails and requests in our UK and London Travel Planning Facebook group about how far ahead to plan things.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Now, I'm a planner.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: I like to have things planned out.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: That is just me.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: As I got older, I found that I just feel more comfortable that way, not to say that I was like that when I was younger, but certainly Now, my 50s, I like to have things planned.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: I do a little bit of flexibility now and again.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: It is quite nice to have that if you're like a particular place and you want to stay longer.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: So I always do free cancellations on my accommodation bookings if I can, because you never know what's going to crop up.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: But anyway, these are the general guidelines that I recommend for London.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: So I'll tell you what I'm going to cover in this podcast episode.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: It's mainly going to be things like accommodation, restaurants, tickets, tours, particular attractions that are popular in London.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Okay, so let's start with accommodation.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: So for the best prices, hotels and locations, really the best advice I can give you is to book as early as you can, especially during the peak months of July, august and between late November and New Year.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Those are very busy periods in London, very popular time for visitors from all over the world.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: So if you are planning to visit at any of those times, really book as soon as you can and even if you're not visiting at those times, really secure your accommodation early.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: If you want to stay somewhere affordable, central and pleasant All the best places book up quickly.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: We do have lists on both our UK Travel Plan and London Travel Plan and website of different places to stay for different budgets, so do have a look on there.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: There are, of course, some amazing five star hotels in London, such as the Savoy, the Dorchester, the Ritz, claridge's, shangri-la, the Shard, for example.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: But yeah, they get booked up very fast too.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: I recommend highly that, once you've got your flight booked, to start looking at accommodation straight away.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: And if you're wondering where to stay in London, I will point you towards episode 68, where I talk about the different areas and tips to help you choose the right area for your budget and travel style.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: So do take a listen to episode 68, which goes into more details about the different areas in London.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: But I would really highly recommend that you also look at our Area and Accommodation Guide.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: We also have tips on the website on UK Travel Plan and London Travel Planning in particular.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: So do take a look at those articles because it will help you narrow down the area that you want to stay in, and then you can go ahead and book.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Now, I always book with free cancellation.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: That's just me.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: I've done that for years.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: It may cost a little bit more, but the one time that I didn't do that, in Paris a few years ago, I got sick, so it was a very expensive hotel, so we did actually go.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: I wasn't feeling great.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: I think I'd eaten something I didn't want to cancel because we weren't going to get any money back.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: So it's just always worth thinking about that.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Book it with free cancellation.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Book well ahead of time If you need to or consider really not sure about a few areas, maybe just book a couple with free cancellation.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: You can always cancel them near the time when you've narrowed down where you want to stay.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: But, honestly, if you've got somewhere in mind that you really have to stay, or you travel with a family group of five or more, or there's a particular area that you want to stay in, for example, common garden, I recommend that you do research and get booked as soon as possible, especially if you're traveling July, august and end of November, december, new Year's Eve, those kind of peak periods and time in.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: London.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: Okay, secondly, let's talk about restaurants and afternoons teas, because I think this is probably the question that we receive most often is how far in advance do I need to book a restaurant, or even do I need to book a restaurant.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: So really, I think the advice in a nutshell is really, if you're going to go for something Michelin Star or popular restaurant and afternoon tea venue, for example, the rates, you're going to need to book in advance.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: Though I'm going to put this proviso in there Bookings may not be accepted more than a few more weeks or months ahead.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: So it makes it a little bit more challenging.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: It's a bit like how long is a piece of string scenario about whether you need to book and when you need to book, because actually you can walk into many London restaurants without a booking the chain restaurants, for example and you can get seated straight away, or you may have a slight wait.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: We ate in Nando's.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: Just before Christmas we had a 30 minute wait, but that was literally the week before Christmas.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Again, chain restaurant, somewhere we enjoy eating when we're in London.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: It's not pricey, it's always enjoy the food, but for some places you might need to book weeks or months ahead of time.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: So really, if you have an idea of a restaurant in particular that you want to eat in and I can think of lots of places in London that spring to mind it's worth checking as early as you can about what their particular booking policy is, because some places won't allow you to book more than three months ahead.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: If there's somewhere you think really I want to go to, you need to know what that booking time is and write that down.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: Other places, like Dishoom, for example, which is really popular, you just have to go and queue up.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: There is no, you can't book.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: But what I would suggest you do is one you're at the point of actually doing the research about where you want to eat.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: Or, once you've got your itinerary sorted, you know what you're going to do on a day to day basis.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Or if there's somewhere particular that you want to eat and you're including that in your itinerary, then I said, do that research.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Now, if you've missed out and you've found that it's fully booked up, do check, because cancellations can happen at places and you might decide that you really want to go to Sketch after your team you couldn't get in.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: It's worth just checking if they've had a cancellation, for example.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Now remember that Friday and Saturday evenings are the busiest everybody's out in London, so weekdays tend to be a little bit quieter.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: And also, if you want to save a little bit of money, I'd book for lunch rather than dinner.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: If you're going somewhere, posh, because lunch menus do tend to be cheaper and you'll get more chances of getting a table too.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Now there are amazing restaurants to eat at in London.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: There are amazing places to have afternoon tea.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: I have articles on London travel planning all about where to eat in London and what to eat in London actually, and I've also an article on UK travel planning about the best afternoon teas in London.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Now Doug and I are trying to work our way around and trying All of the afternoon teas.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: That would be my dream.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: Just spend a few months doing that.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: That I'm not sure about our waistband.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: And now last time we managed to fit an afternoon tea in, we did Peter Pan at the Shard, which we absolutely loved, because you get the view from the Shard when you have any afternoon tea and it's also quite a dramatic, lovely, theatrical little afternoon tea that.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: So we thoroughly enjoyed it, but pricey.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: So we did quite a few different afternoon teas.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: So do check on the website.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: I will put a link in the show notes for those articles so you can check out if there's somewhere in particular you want to go.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: Obviously, there are a lot of very popular, instagram worthy restaurants in London that you may think, oh, I really want to go to that.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: So do check individually.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: I'd suggest that you write a list of the places that you want to go to and then check out the reservation policy.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: If you want to go somewhere that's less pricey, there are certainly lots of chain restaurants.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: Again, I'll list those.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: In London Travel Planning there's lots of places where you can just pop in and turn up Sunday Roast.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: We are asked about all the time because I know that's popular.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Again, I would suggest, if you want to do a Sunday roast, that you do book that.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: It's very popular with Brits.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: We tend to go out for Sunday roast and everybody will have their popular favourite restaurant to go to.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: So if you want to do a Sunday roast, I would definitely look at booking that ahead of time, especially if, say, it's going to be a Sunday, though you'll find many places will actually serve a roast in it in the week.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: If you can't manage to get in on a Sunday.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: Next thing I want to talk about is just train tickets, because we talk a lot about trains in UK Travel Plan and Doug being absolutely a total lover of train travel and myself anywhere in the world and we do advocate train travel around the UK as well.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: So normally we would recommend that booking ahead is the best thing to do.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: But, however, in London you don't need to, because in London your biggest decision is probably going to be whether you're going to use an Oyster card or not.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Again, we have an article about Oyster card.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: If you want to use Oyster card, what it is and all about the information is on the website.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: We'll put a link in the show notes.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: Or you might decide that you want to use Contactless Again, we've got an article about Oyster card versus Contactless.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: It's a very personal decision.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: Whatever works for you.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: That's what we say.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: Just look at the pros and cons of both and decide which one is going to be the best one for you.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Now, if you plan to travel outside of London, then you would need to look at booking ahead, because generally, booking as far in advance as you can, bookends open up about 12 weeks before.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: It's usually cheaper to do that.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: So there's lots of different types of tickets advanced purchase fairs, usually the cheapest, you've got off-peak, you've got any time tickets.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: But for all of that information about tickets, really we have got an ebook about that and we have got other podcasts.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: So if you want to go into more detail about finding out about train tickets, if you're planning to do a day trip out of London, I'd recommend looking on the website or listening to those podcasts.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: We also say we have an ebook about UK train travel, which we'd highly recommend, which we've got some excellent reviews about, which will help you again, which will go into more detail about the different types of train tickets.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: But, as I say, for London itself, you don't need to worry.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: And if you're going somewhere like Windsor or you're going to go to Amtkort, you don't need to worry.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Okay, windsor, you will need a train ticket.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: You can't use your Oyster card for that, but you can buy that on the day.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: So if you're not traveling too far out of London, honestly, you can buy it on the day.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: It's not a problem and it's not going to be significantly cheaper.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: And also, train tickets don't sell out for those routes, so don't worry about that.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: That's a bit of a kind of myth that a train gets full and you can't buy tickets.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: The train might get full, but they will still sell tickets.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: So next thing I want to talk about is tour tickets.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: So obviously there are so many very popular attractions in London that it can become difficult to get tickets.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: So it depends if you're doing a specific tour.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: So if you want to do something like the ceremony of the keys of the Tower of London now, I recommend doing that with walks.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: I've done that twice now, absolutely loved it.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: It's still my favorite tour in London.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: I would recommend that you book that.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: Go on on the website I'll put a link in the show notes and get that booked, because that again, that's very limited numbers and it's very popular.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: There are other places that I will talk about.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: For example, that house, the parliament only available at certain times of the year, since they book ahead, and places like booking palace the state rooms are only open during certain times of the year.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: So if you want to go to those particular places, if you want to have a look around booking palace, or you want to do a tour, for example, of Tower of London that's a bit more exclusive, vip, such as the Summit of the Keys or you want to go to the House of Pomp, those sort of things you need to make sure that you book ahead.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Again, once you've got your itinerary sorted, you've got your flight, you've got your accommodation and you start finalising your itinerary for London, you can start looking at one of those places you really want to see.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: Are they open?
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: What's the availability?
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: And I suggest getting those booked, particularly the ones that are a bit more difficult to get.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: So if you want to get the theatre, for example, if you want to go to Shakespeare's Globe or a specific show or a specific theatrical performance, book your ticket as early as possible.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: And what we hand up here because I missed out on Shakespeare's Globe last summer because I did not book it in time Okay, so even I make mistakes.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Well, I could have booked a seat, but it was restricted view and I wasn't going to pay the amount they wanted for restricted view.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: So I suggest that if you want to go for someone like Shakespeare's Globe or a specific show that you really want to see, make sure that you book that early.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: I don't do what I did last year and miss out on something that you really want to do because you didn't book it.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: So let's talk about eight London attractions that we recommend that you book ahead.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: Okay the London Eye.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: It's among one of the most popular UK visitor attractions and I love it.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: I have to say I care people say to me oh, I don't know that London Eye, no, don't fancy that.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go to the Sky Garden, for example.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: I actually get a different view.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: And the London Eye is, you just get an incredible, amazing view of Big Ben, house of Parliament and all down the Thames.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: It's lovely, it's great.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: It's not very long, it's been about 30 minutes.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: I think.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: I've been on it a few times.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: If you want to book a certain date, I would book a few months ahead to make sure.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: We booked last summer and we specifically wanted later on in the day and then we were going to an event at.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Horse Gods Parade actually.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: So we made sure it was booked so that we could plan our day around that, because we knew we needed to be at the London Eye for a quarter past five or something like that.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so do book that.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: You might get something last minute, but don't leave it until the day before.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: I would suggest that you just get that booked, particularly for busy times of year.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: It is popular.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: Another great viewpoint and I have got an article about the best views in London which we're having a look at and one of our other favourite views is the view from the Shard, which we did for the first time in Christmas.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: We had a London pass and we booked it through that and actually I booked that quite, I think, a few weeks in advance, maybe a month in advance, and that's what we recommend about a month in advance to book that.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: Again, it's very popular in certain times of year as well.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: So if you're going to be going there Christmas or you're going to be in there in the summer, you get great city and river panoramas from the 72nd floor and again, it's best to book a few weeks before to get that.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: Or if you have a London pass, you go through onto the website and then you book your slot at the Shard.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: I'd recommend it.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: Actually, we really enjoyed it.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: So I've done the London Eye, I've done the view from the Shard and I've done the Sky Garden and I enjoy all those views.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Now the advantage of the Sky Garden is that it's free and that you can go from 10 am to 6 pm on weekdays and weekends, 11 am to 9 pm.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Now you need to book this up to three weeks ahead of time.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: Now, as I say, it's free and you get great views over the city.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: Bookings open up on a Monday, which is when new allocations are released.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: So I would check because I tell you what it doesn't matter what time of year we've gone to the Sky Garden and I go to the Sky Garden every time I go to London there are always people being turned away.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Always people being turned away because they didn't book this lot.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: So do not wait until the day before and think I want to go to the Sky Garden Now.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: I know I understand that if the weather's not great you're like, but I've been up the Sky Garden when the weather's not been great, but it's still worth going.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: You do get good views.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: You get a different view.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: I guess you can see over to the Shard.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: You can see the Tower of London again, tower Bridge, great views, I guess.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Whichever you want to do, the Sky Garden's free.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: The view from the Shard looks over the other view, so you actually see over at the Sky Garden.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: So both are really good.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: If you can get in the Sky Garden, highly recommend it.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: If not, again the Shard is worth doing and for a different view, the London Eye.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: Just make sure you book one in advance for those Harry Potter Studios.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: Now, this is incredibly popular.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: If you are planning to go to Harry Potter Studios seriously ticket sell like hotcakes you really need to be looking a few months in advance, because quite often I've heard from people that they really want to go to Harry Potter Studios and it's too late.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: If it's too late, the best way to do it is to book a tour.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Walks have just launched a new tour which combines a walk-in tour of London Harry Potter sites then a transfer to the Harry Potter Studios itself.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: If you miss out and you haven't got tickets, can't get tickets.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: Do look at a tour, for example, such as the walks one.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: Now, harry Potter Studios is hugely popular and I highly recommend it.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: We've been a few times, loved it both times.
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: I will be visiting again next time I go to London.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: It is quite pricey, so do be prepared for that, but highly worth it, honestly, and give yourself about four hours.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: We have got an entire podcast all about visiting Harry Potter Studios, so I'll put a list in the show notes for that episode, so do listen to that.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: If you think you want to go to Harry Potter Studios, I recommend it.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: Now Kensington Palace again another popular place to go, associated with the British monarchy, particularly Princess Diana, who used to live there, and after her death you remember, the grounds were covered in floral tributes.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: The gardens are beautiful.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: It's worth spending some time to explore.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: I personally like Kensington Palace.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: When you need to visit is Mondays or Wednesday to Sunday, except for public holidays and other planned closures.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: So you need to check.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: Monday it's open.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: Wednesday it's Sunday, it's open, so Tuesday it's closed.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: Okay, but you do need to check.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: I would book a month ahead again if you've got something like the London Pass that's included.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: It's just lovely to find out also about Queen Victoria.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of information about Queen Victoria, who was born there and grew up there so you can see her toys and things like that.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: So Kensington Palace is, I think it's worth going to Now.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: During the winter season it's only open between Wednesday and Sunday.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: So booking a palace my next place that's open mid-July to late September for the state rooms because they're only open during certain times yeah, because obviously the king is in residence and it's a work in palace.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: Now I did actually put myself on the email list for Royal Palaces and I got an email in April last year and March last year saying that they were doing small group tours and I booked myself on it.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: Now, it was not cheaper I think it was about £90 but wow, it was amazing.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: So we had a small group tour it was about 12 of us with a guide around the state rooms.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: I absolutely highly recommend it.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: So we're going to put an article together if you want to visit Booking Palace with the different options and the different time of year.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: I think the big thing with booking palaces quite often people are very disappointed to find that when they're in London, booking Palace is not actually open.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: Do bear that in mind really If you want to do the kind of larger group tour that's mid-July, late September.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: Those tickets sell out fast.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: But do get yourself onto the Royal Palaces email list because if they have small group tours going on outside of their season they will email you with that offer and then you can book it.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: I booked straight away.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Next one, westminster Abbey, which is a hugely popular destination and it gets really busy.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: I will say that I've done tours with walks around Westminster Abbey because I just find getting in the early entry around the back it's just so much easier.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: I know you get a tour so you do find out lots and lots more about Westminster Abbey and the history.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: I must have done a tour there about three or four times and I still find it absolutely fascinating.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: And you can actually go to the Jubilee Galleries as well as part of the Walks Tour, which I highly recommend.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: Just a fascinating place to visit.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: But really look at a month in advance and if you want to do a tour again as soon as you think it, ah, I want to go best man's happy.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: I really want to do a tour.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: I want to have a small group walk in tour.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: I want to have a private tour.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Then book that ahead of time and it's just to go as early as possible in the morning to avoid the rush.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: It is really popular Now.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: Tower of London as I've already mentioned earlier on in the podcast, it's one of London's top attractions and it becomes really busy, so book at least a month ahead.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: The Tower of London is open daily, except on the 24th, 25th, 26th of December and the 1st of January, and it does have slightly different opening times and closing times depending on the season.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: So you do need to check that.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: It is probably one of the most popular places in London to go.
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: If you're planning to do a tour for example, the Walks opening ceremony or the ceremony of the keys, again pop on their website and get that booked, because they do get booked up.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: I highly recommend that you do the beefy tour.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: If you do it through the walks and you go in the VIP experience it's just you and the beefy tour and like 12 other people, so you can get really get kind of personal and find out all the gank gossip of what's going on which is really cool, like about the cat which we found out last time because the Yomun order who took us around it was this cat.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: So it's become quite famous, this new cat in the Tower of London.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: If you can't do that and that's fair enough, not everybody's budget is going to stretch that If you think, okay, I really want to still find out about the Tower of London, then there's a free Yomun order beefy tour.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: I think it's on the hour, every hour.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: Do join that.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: There'll be lots of people there.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: It does get quite crowded, but I've done that numerous times before as well and it's really good fun and you do learn more about the Tower of London.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Give yourself about four hours as well, by the way, if you're going to go Tower of London again busy out the weekend and during public holidays and school holidays.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: Next is St Paul's Cathedral.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: Now, st Paul's is another popular destination to visit in London.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: You can actually book tickets to St Paul's up to three months in advance of your visit, so if you're doing some forward planning, then you can always get a ticket.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: It's also included in the London pass, so if you calculated that the London pass is with it for you, then you can go into St Paul's.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: As part of that, I would recommend going to St Paul's Cathedral.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: It's actually part of a lovely walk that I enjoy doing so, starting off in the morning at the Tower of London, walking across Tower Bridge, spend a bit of time in Borough Market, then walking across the Millennium Bridge to St Paul's, so it's a that's a nice circuit and then you could go to the Sky Garden for late running the afternoon.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: Also, there's St Dunstan's in the east there, so that's kind of a lot of places that you can fit in.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: It'll be a full day, but it'll be really nice day walking around and you're going to see some of the main sights that way.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: But again, so say you can book St Paul's up to three months in advance or you can leave that a little bit closer to the time.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: Next place Hampton Court Palace.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: I highly recommend going to visit.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: It's a little bit out of London, but we have an article about how to get to Hampton Court Palace.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Personally I love it.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: It's associated with King Henry VIII because he spent time there.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: You can, in theory, purchase tickets on the day, but it can get really packed.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of school kids and public holidays and weekends and things are going on and that it can make it really busy.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: So, again, it's a little bit out of central London, so you make sure you book your ticket beforehand.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: Hampton Court Palace is particularly nice during the summer months when you can really enjoy the grounds or a dry kind of crisp winter's day.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: I think I did go yes, I went in January this year actually and we had a lovely day Blue skies, it was cold but lovely, and it wasn't that busy actually.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: So it was a nice visit.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: Now Windsor Castle.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: So the thing about Windsor Castle is you need to check the opening times because it's not open every day.
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: So you do need to check that, especially if you want to go to St George's Chapel and pay your respects to the late Queen.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: Okay, I thought I'd just double check this to make 100% sure.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: St George's Chapel is open on Monday, thursday, friday and Saturday.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Okay, on Sunday it's only open for worship.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: Now Windsor Castle.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: As I say, it's a work-in-law palace, so sometimes the entire castle or the state apartments within the castle need to be closed at short notice.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: So again, really, you need to check on the website for when it is open.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: So it is closed.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you that Tuesdays and Wednesdays, that's throughout the year, it's closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: Don't plan to visit Windsor Castle on a Tuesday, wednesday, because you're going to get to Windsor and you're going to be really disappointed.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: So from the first of November, the 29th of February, it's open from 10, with the last admission at 3, and then from the first of March, 31st of October, opens at 10 and last admission is at 4 in the afternoon.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: So that's just taken right now from the website because I thought about it.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: Just double-check that myself because, unfortunately, much, much I'd like to, I can't always remember all of the different places.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: High Clare is another place that is very popular to book Now.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: Book that in advance, I think I would say really a few months in advance, and if you can't, you'll have to really have to take a tour out there, because that's the best way you could do it.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: There are lots of day trips from London that you could book, or you can take the train out there and book a taxi from the train station to High Clare Castle.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: It's fabulous.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: I highly recommend it.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: We went in 2022.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: In the summer it was the hottest day of the year.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: It was at 42 degrees.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: It was crazy, but what a fabulous place to be.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: And if you were, if you're a Downton Abbey fan like myself and talk, then you're gonna absolutely love it.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: So highly recommend High Clare.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: But again, have a look at booking that.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: Have a look on the website, because they have different types of tickets and if you can't get one off the official website, then I recommend booking a tour which will include villages associated with Downton Abbey.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: There's a whole load of different ones that you can choose from and I've got another article on the UK travel planning website all about the different trips out to High Clare so that you can have a look at that.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: So basically, that's it really.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: I've covered accommodation, I've covered train tickets, I've covered restaurants and afternoon teas and I've covered some of the most popular destinations in London.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: To give you an idea of how far ahead to book.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: Now I know if you can't book one of these places for whatever reason, it's fully booked up.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: Do always look at a tour option because quite often a lot of the tour companies will have a listed on get you go out of Vita or you can go for a private tour.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: So don't be disheartened if you want to go Harry Potter and you can't get a ticket because you can look at, for example, walks and do a tour, or you could book a private transfer with a ticket included.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: So there's lots of different options and lots of ways that you can try and book things, except, obviously, shakespeare's Globe, which I didn't manage to do last year.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: So what I'm trying to say is really sort your itinerary out for London.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: How long are you going for whether it's a day, two days, three days, four days, five days, six days, seven days, whatever how long are you going for?
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: Work out your itinerary.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: Don't try to put too much in.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: Don't try, seriously, do not try to cram too much in.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: You will walk thousands of steps and we recommend, once you know the places that you want to visit, try and look at places that are in the same area and put them in the same day so you're not going to go from one side of London to the other.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: That's what I'm trying to say.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: Book at church, for example, something like the Discover Real London Black Cab Tour of London.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: Highly recommend it.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: Amazing.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: We had a fantastic time with Ollie before Christmas.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: Highly recommend that because he can take you to places that buses can't get to.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: They can park in places that other people can't park and you can get out Like we got out, I think, about five meters from Buckingham Palace, went around the corner, took some pictures at Buckingham Palace and then hop back in into the cab.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: You can't do that any other way without walking, because you have to walk from the tube station.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: None of the buses can go anywhere near Buckingham Palace.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, consider that as well.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, totally recommend that.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: Get in touch with Ollie.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: I will put a link in Discover Real London Black Cab Tour.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: Highly recommend that.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: Get booking.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: I don't want anybody, I don't want you If you sit there and I think I'm going to London later on in the air and I really want to do these things.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: Get your itinerary sorted.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: If you need some help with your itinerary, if you've got an idea what you want to do, you can book myself and Doug for an itinerary consultation.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: You can book us for an hour.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: We'll go through your itinerary, we'll fine tune it, we'll make some recommendations.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: We'll tell you if you need to book stuff.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: Get that book now.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: We have got some slots available in April.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: They're getting booked up quite rapidly, so do have a look on that if you want to book it.
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: We've also got a London itinerary planner e-book, which you can purchase as well, which has got different itineraries in it and lots of different hits, hints and tips to help you plan your London trip.
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: And anyway, I think that's going to wind it up for today.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: Hopefully that will give you lots of thoughts and advice and ideas about what you need to be planning If you're going to be visiting London this year or next year.
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: This was episode 90 of the UK Travel Planner podcast.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: We are rapidly moving towards episode 100.
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: Now for episode 100, I'm asking you, our listener, is there a particular episode that you loved?
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: Would you like to be a guest for a slot on episode 100 of the podcast and tell us what it is that you love about the podcast and which episodes or episode particularly you find really helpful or that you enjoy?
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: Then let me know, send me a message.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: I will put our email address in the show notes.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: Get back to me, let me know, and we'd love to have as many of you as on that episode as possible Just sharing with the world what it is that you love about the UK Travel Planner podcast and, yeah, and saying hello to everybody, because that would be fantastic.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: Now you can find information about everything I've shared in this episode on uktravelplanetcom, forward slash episode 90.
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: So we'll have links to all the different tours, links to the information.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: We actually have an article on londontravelplanetcom which goes through the information that I've chatted about in this podcast, so you can double check on there as well.
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: But really that leaves me to say, as always, until next week from myself happy UK Travel Planning.