We are contemplating a trip to London in late Sept. Good time to go? Any 2024 concerns?
We’d try to combine it with time in NY first, to visit my Dad. Would try for multi-city United frequent flier flights.
Note - This 2023 thread (now closed) also has great info.
All I have to say is I’m jealous! Lucky you. Have a fabulous time.
If your budget will allow it, Clove Club was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. The theater district has lots of great shows.
Late Sept is great, just plan on wearing layers. Many at the start of the day, peeling off through the day, and back on late in the afternoon - and a hat. I found that my knee-length puffer, a hat and a cotton scarf (not a winter scarf) were my best friends. I did wear booties and sprayed them with water repellent - I’m glad I did. I packed using those compression bags you roll vs needing a vacuum.
Late September will be a lovely time to go. Fewer tourists, kids back in school, fall color will just be starting. You’ll probably get rain.
We were there late May/early June. We decided that a 20% chance of rain meant that it would actually be raining 20% of the day. 
FYI - Weatherspark is great for weather geeks and travel planners (London example). So many helpful charts.
We were there last October and had wonderful weather. I think we only had one evening of rain. It was not that cold. I mostly wore nice blazers during the day and a light puffer at night.
Have you been to London before?
I have not been to London. My husband went in 2019 with his brothers (also visiting his niece in Cardiff Wales). They liked staying in Kensington, the Queen’s Gate hotel. Not sure if we’d stay around there (familiar for him) or elsewhere (to give him tast of a new neigtborood.
https://www.hotels.com/ho286231/the-queen-s-gate-hotel-london-united-kingdom/?
We have stayed here many times. It’s in Kensington across from the Gloucester Road tube station . Very easy to get around from here.
We have also stayed here in Covent Garden a few times.
Note that past couple of years it has actually been warm in late Sept/early Oct. c 70F. However, it could all change! Pack for various scenarios 
I’ve stayed in that hotel regularly. It’s been modernized since 2019, but that means the price has gone up (it used to often be the cheapest Hilton in that area). I do think the access to both Piccadilly and District Lines makes it convenient for access to all the main tourist destinations (as well as a cheap but slow option for travel from Heathrow). And it’s walking distance to some of the museums. Also one of my favorite pubs, with excellent food, the Hereford Arms (best to book a table if going there for dinner).
Having said that, the Elizabeth Line has now opened up a lot more options for quick travel across the city and easy access to Heathrow. So now I stay more often in the area around Paddington (though it’s not an area with tourist sites).
We ended a UK tour with 3 days in London last October, during what would have been Columbus Day weekend here in the colonies.
Certainly we were lucky, but we had 3 days of 70 degrees F, sunshine and no humidity–for mid-October! One caveat, the London Marathon was that weekend and some roads were closed on Sunday morning of that weekend.
EDIT: Our hotel was in Victoria, behind the train station. Made it very easy to walk to Parliament area, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar, etc. Taxi stand right in front of the station made it very easy to get a cab to further-flung places, such as the British Museum (which was mind-blowing, BTW)
London is very expensive for accommodation. I think there are good deals at nice hotels near Battersea Power Station. That’s where we stayed last time.
I have been to London a couple of times. We are pretty thrifty folks and stayed at a variety of Premier Inns. It’s a chain, mostly in the UK, kind of along the lines of a Hampton Inn. Nice beds, good breakfast. We are planning a trip in the spring (very early planning stages, mostly just thinking about it). Our D22 will be doing study abroad in London then. I would definitely stay in another Premier Inn for sure. I have stayed in 6 different ones in Britain and have had good experiences in all of them. TravelLodge there is another more budget chain – it’s not the same as the US TravelLodge. It’s like one step below Premier Inn, but like from a Hampton Inn to a Choice hotel. Still good, just breakfast is probably not as good. I can’t remember it to be honest. Maybe they didn’t have a restaurant at all.
I love London. I think it is my favorite big city I’ve been to (which is mostly US cities and UK and Ireland, so not a ton to compare with). London has so many parks and green spaces and I really like that being from the South where we would turn back into a jungle if left alone.
It’s so easy to get around on the Tube too. We always take the Tube from Heathrow into the city. It’s cheap and the Piccadilly line and the Elizabeth line both terminate in the airport so you can just walk right into the Tube Station. When you pick out your hotel make sure it is a short walk to the Tube. From the Tube you can get anywhere. I usually just look on Google Maps to select a hotel. Last time we just had a 24 hr overnight layover and we stayed in one of the Premier Inn high tech micro hotels, Hub, right by West Brompton station and not far from Earl’s Court. It’s not the kind of hotel I would want to stay in for a week (bed took up most of the room) but it was pretty cool for one night and the location gave us easy access to the rest of London. Also had a really cool old cemetery next door where Emmeline Pankhurst (sister suffragette) is buried.
We have also stayed in Premier Inns in Kensington and in The City (near Monument/Bank tube station) not far from the Tower of London. I really liked The City hotel better. I enjoyed being able to walk along the Thames. The Kensington hotel was fine. It was a little older (this was in 2016 so probably updated by now) and our kids were under 16 so we were doing family rooms and it was tight with four of us in it. The Premier Inn family room in The City was much more spacious. We did not walk to Kensington Palace or Hyde Park that time, but I did on our more recent trip from the Hub in West Brompton. The kids took off in different directions on the Tube that time to meet up with friends elsewhere in London.
I don’t think it will be too cold in September. I keep London on my weather app and it’s not that different usually from me in NC just less extreme (not as hot, not as cold, not as torrential, but plenty of drizzly rain).
One weird thing to know about traveling to the UK is they probably will not give you washcloths in your hotel. It’s considered too personal of an item, so if you like to use a washcloth (or “face flannel”) pack your own.
And here is the Transport For London website with all the info on the Tube, busses (coaches), river boats, etc. https://tfl.gov.uk
If you want to take any train journeys outside of London (they are lovely) check out Guide to train travel in Britain | Train times, fares, how to buy train tickets and https://www.nationalrail.co.uk
Thanks so much for the detailed and helpful feedback.
If we were to add a few nights in one place outside of London (rather than doing long daytrips from pricey, hectic city hotel)… which towns should we consider? We’ve done various multi-city tours, and this time I’d like the trip to be all in London…. or mostly in London with a logisically sensible extension.
The Cotswolds.
It’s lovely but I think that’s best if you are going to rent a car and drive.
If the objective is to go somewhere by train, then I’d probably pick Oxford or Cambridge. But note that move-in weekend (looks like Oct 5-6th) for either university will be extremely busy.
Indeed!
I’d add Bath to the two great cities you mentioned if without a car.
Yes. Bath University move-in weekend is two weeks earlier (Sept 21-22).