London
London trip planning tool
Pick your month and your pace to get a recommended stay and a shape for the days.
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When are you going?
High crowds and prices. Cold temperatures.
December fit for London
Value in December50/100 Good Christmas markets and winter evenings
Longer is better on every axis
January is 60% better value
A day here in December
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Morning 09:00–12:00
Outdoors, before the heat and the coaches
Westminster Palace & Clock Tower · London Eye · Hyde Park
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Midday 12:30–16:00
Indoors, while the sun is high
British Museum · National Gallery · National Portrait Gallery
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Evening 16:30–19:30
Streets and squares in the late light
Borough Market
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What's your travel pace?
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Your recommended stay
3 days
Balanced pace
Why this duration?
- Covers the 3 headline sights
Best destinations by month
May, June and September are the best months: long days, warm but not hot, parks at their best and everything open.
Late June gives the longest evenings — light until nearly ten — which changes the character of the city entirely.
July and August are the busiest and most expensive, with queues at everything and an Underground that gets genuinely unpleasant in a heatwave, since almost none of it is air-conditioned.
November to February is dark by four in the afternoon, damp rather than freezing, and much cheaper. Museums and theatres are at their best, and Christmas lights run from November.
March and April bring blossom in the parks and unpredictable weather.
Late August is Notting Hill Carnival, and the last Monday in August is a bank holiday.