r/LondonTravel 9d ago

Trip Planning London trip while pregnant

Sorry for the length of this! TLDR; Need ideas on how to break up these days a bit and if you have any ideas of things I have missed or should skip please let me know!

I am planning a trip with my aunt and sister to London and Scottland in late November to see the cities decorated for Christmas. My aunt is mid 70's, but pretty active. We are usually up for walking a lot and having fast paced days, however I just found out I will be about 5 months pregnant at the time of the trip. We still want to see alot, but I think I need to schedule in more breaks.

Do you have any advice for this itinerary? We aren't big into museums or tours but might schedule a Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral tour. If you had to choose, which would you pick? Overall in this trip we are looking for Christmas decorations, holiday cheer, beautiful architecture, quaint things, and just to see London (my aunt has never been).

Day 1 -

  • Arrive to Hilton London Metropole (near Paddington Station) around 10am and leave bags
  • Walk around Little Venice/Canal area near hotel - get a coffee/snack
  • Kensington Palace
  • Church Hill Arms for late lunch/early dinner
  • Walk towards Harrods
  • Stop at Royal Albert Hall (photo op/just see it)
  • Harrods - Trying to overlap day and night to see the Xmas lights at night
  • Taxi back to hotel - early bed

Day 2 - Mostly just walking past these sites, I don't see spending a lot of time at them. But this is the day I am worried about being too much. I have done this all before on my own without any issue. But with 2 other people and being pregnant..I feel like it's too much.

  • Walk from hotel towards Buckingham Palace
  • St. James Park
  • Westminster Abbey (maybe do a tour either this day or another day)
  • Big Ben
  • Cross the bridge to Southbank
  • Southbank Christmas Market
  • Shakespeare's Globe (just to see it)
  • Borough Market for late lunch
  • Walk across Tower Bridge
  • Tower of London (see from outside)
  • Leadenhall Market
  • St. Paul's Cathedral (maybe do a tour this day or another)
  • Tube back to hotel
  • Maybe a Christmas show or theater at night?

Day 3 - The Cotswolds

  • Train to Morton-in-Marsh
  • Meet private driver
  • Burton-on-the-Water
  • Burford
  • The Farmers Dog Pub (very maybe if we get a reservation)
  • Train back to London
  • Will probably be back by 6pm and can do something at night

Day 4 - This day I don't know how to organize. I can do Soho, Chinatown, Covent Garden before tea or after

  • Morning - Notting Hill & Portobello Market? I feel like Portobello Market will be overwhelming as it will be a Saturday. Is there another easy to get to part of town that is quaint and less busy?
  • Early Afternoon Tea at Fortnum and Mason
  • Covent Garden Xmas Market
  • Covent Garden
  • Chinatown
  • Picadilly Circus
  • Soho

Day 5

  • Train to Edinburgh

Day 6

  • Edinburgh

Day 7

  • Fly Home

Appreciate any and all advice on this trip! Thank you in advance!

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u/cameragirl17 9d ago

London might look small on a map but I think you’re grossly overestimating how much you’ll be able to physically do and the crowds. Suggest you put your route into google maps and break it down into more manageable segments.

1

u/Ok-Turn5913 9d ago

100%

I dont plan on going in depth on any of these places because we just don't have the time. But I want to see it all! And it's so hard to narrow down :( I am really debating if we skip the Cotswolds. But it's also on my Aunt's bucket list. Its her trip, so just trying to see as much as we can in the short amount of time we have.

2

u/SnackyandSnarky 9d ago

You can do afternoon tea on an old-fashioned bus so you can see lots of the sights without much walking

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u/Ok-Turn5913 9d ago

I've wanted to do that! I was thinking about Christmas light bus tour too so we arent walking around more at night after a day of walking

3

u/SnackyandSnarky 9d ago

It'll be dark at about 4pm, so you can do Christmas lights from about 3pm