London in 1st week of January. Diy book it all or should i go to travel agent?

lighthouse76

Hi as title says, Thinking of london for two adults and two teens on 2nd Jan approx for 5/6 nights? We were thinking of going for attraction tickets that covers the main six attractions, the london eye, madam tussauds, sealife etc. We are not really interested in shopping as such, more interested in seeing sights. Just wondering would booking with a travel agent be of an advantage for us to plan the whole package.. like recommend hotel for what we want, transports/ accomdation etc? I am a bit nervous of doing DIY way as I'll surely mess up something and also , have never been to London before. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Nigel Fairservice

For somewhere like London I'd just book it all myself. The tube in London is great and very extensive so it makes getting around very easy. Because of that I wouldn't be too fixated on a certain area for a hotel. You can buy various cards that will allow you entry into a certain number of attractions. I have mixed feelings on those. Some of them put you under pressure to see x number of things a day to get value from them. You might want a more relaxed pace to the holiday so maybe see 2 or 3 things properly for the day.

endofrainbow

Why would you pay someone to organise a straight forward trip to London?

o1s1n

Planning a trip to London is one of the easiest things to do in the world.

Book return flights.

Book accommodation.

Learn how the tube works (it's very straightforward)

Simple as that!

Not sure about your budget, but we usually stay around Kings Cross. It's nice and central, right beside a tube and there are some bargains to be had in the 3 star hotels around Argyle Square.

You don't really need to go fancy with hotels in a trip like that as you'll spend more of the day out and about. (hotels there are expensive as is)

lighthouse76

Thanks for replies. Yes, I just don't know london,, so even a hotel recommendation would be great. Near centre of things. Things like transport advice would be great. Is the tube easy to follow or can you walk it? It's generally just advice from people who hv been to London. Thanks..

redhill

Hotel depends on your needs, for simplicity a Premier inn (premierinn.com) would suffice, clean, neat, tidy, good beds, kids eat breakfast free… There are loads in London to choose from and usually good value though you are leaving it late. If you want something a bit more with a pool etc then look up some 4 star hotels

for attractions what age are the teens? Older teens may be a bit bored with London Eye and Sealife. Madame Tussaud’s is good though. They are all owned by the same group Merlin attractions and they sell multiple tickets at cheaper cost so value could be good. They also do the Dungeons and Shrek.

we went a few years ago with 4 girls ( ages 8-16) and they thought Tussaud’s was great, Eye just ok, Dungeons an ok laugh, Sealife was medium to good, and Shrek crap.

For skyscraper views the Shard is the main attraction but there is another called the Skygarden that you can book online for free and is just as good..

some of other main attractions such as Tower of London & Hampton Court are outside & could be cold or weather dependent in January , maybe a bus tour may be better, can see all major landmarks

For transport, tube is so so easy, if going for 6 days then get a Travelcard, it covers all Tube and bus journeys in central area, was about £40 for adults and 20 kids and makes journeys very stress free.

also pre buy transportation from Airport to London city, e.g. Stansted Express as it’s usually cheaper

would also take in a West End show or two, most a v v good.

we saw School of Rock and Wicked and both were excellent

ted1

The dinosaur museum is worth booking and it’s free.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/galleries-and-museum-map/dinosaurs.html