Shar

I know silly question but surely there are some new things to see and do if not in London then perhaps outside of the city. Been over 10 years since I was there. Many things are worth repeating like the "crown jewels" and churches. Have done the eye and museums and will probably revisit some museums and "markets" we have tix for theater one night. 3 full days at beginning of our trip and 3 days at the end of river cruise in June. Is there a boat ride on the Themes and if so is it worth it? Have not done the Hop On Hop Off in London but have done it elsewhere. is it Good in London or not? Also thinking of taking train to Cantebury-thoughts on that Any and all suggestions welcome.

Tulips

There are always new exhibitions to see in the museums.
Even having in lived in London for almost 10 years, I have not seen everything there is to see; London is a huge city.
Have you been to Apsley House? Leighton House? Highgate Cemetery? Kenwood House? Greenwich, where the painted hall in the Naval College has been renovated. Take the regular Thames river boat to Greenwich. There's also the Maritime Museum and the Observatory. And have you been to Hampton Court?

The HOHO bus is not a good idea in London; it's expensive and you'll be stuck in traffic.

PatrickLondon

https://londonist.com/
https://secretldn.com/
https://www.timeout.com/london

isabel

Tulips and Patrick - since you guys are from London I'd appreciate your take on things. From what I've seen in BBC and other UK based outlets, it looks like the UK/London is less likely to panic and close sites/disrupt transportation than Italy was. I have until tonight to cancel my hotel reservations for London for a trip that starts in 2 weeks. Obviously no one knows what's going to happen but as people currently in London would you advise tourists to still come?

Tulips

Don't know, I don't live in London, but am going tomorrow. I won't cancel, since the virus is probably going to spread everywhere, here in Belgium as well as in the UK.
But then again I'm not flying across the Atlantic to visit, and have a home in London.

PatrickLondon

I haven't (yet) seen any signs of major impacts on daily life in London, but of course the situation's changing all the time. One case has been confirmed in Surrey, worryingly in someone with no known connection to any of the known hotspots for transmission, and with connections to a local GP. Contact tracing is of course proceeding apace, and so far there have been no more than 20 or so cases confirmed across the whole country, almost all with known connections to a source overseas, so we're (so far) much less affected than other places.

I'm in no better a position than your own State Department to interpret and predict the statistics. Our government is ramping up its reserve powers and resources, but no-one can know if or when it'll escape the current precautions, anywhere in the world.

Tulips

I don't see any difference at the moment, it is just as busy as always in restaurants, shops, underground.

bilboburgler

Pretty steady around the country at the moment being part of a series of islands helps but Heathrow will bring the world to our door.

@Shar you mentioned "the city". I guess you know that "the City" is a small area in the centre of London (population 10,000 and centre of employment for 500,000) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London I was not sure which you were referring to. The terms can get confusing.

Often a good place to start is https://www.visitlondon.com/things-t...eums-in-london

annettetx

Thanks for the Secret London website, Patrick -- I've been to London many times, but didn't know that site!

Here's my contribution to the "what's new in London" question -- the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries in Westminster Abbey just opened a couple of years ago. (https://www.westminster-abbey.org/vi...ilee-galleries) We thought it was fascinating, and the views down the aisle of Westminster Abbey from the Galleries was fantastic!

Cheers,
annettetx

menachem

You may be stuck going back. Either in UK, or not being admitted to the US because you travel from the UK

isabel

Glad to hear things are still 'normal' in the UK.

menachem - of course that's true, that's one of my concerns. But that would mean that ALL international travel to ANYWHERE would need to cease immediately. The UK seems to be among the lowest risk. I had briefly considered changing my travel plans and going to California instead but that now looks to be a worse idea.