London advice needed

[moka]

hi,

My mom is taking me to a short vacation in London (our favorite city) for my birthday, to relax a little and have some mother-daughter quality time. 8)
I was wondering what is the best time for me to go there in terms of weather conditions and indoors heating.
I have no problem with cold weather as long as it's not very windy, but i can flush badly when i enter a heated room.
On my last trip abroad I've been to Ireland and enjoyed the cool and cloudy weather very much (it was in September) and managed to minimize my stays at warm or heated places such as restaurants and stores so i know that i can do without them and still have wonderful time. however, my dear boyfriend wasn't so pleased with us not being able to eat at a decent restaurant in the evening and being rather limited with going into places. so this time i thought i might chose a more convenient time when the heating will be less used.
I was thinking about April as a good time for the vacation since the weather is warmer. but i have no idea whether places will be heated during this time, so i would love some advice on that.
Thanks,
moka.

[phlika29]

April/May/June is a lovely time in Britain. The flowers have come out, the days are really drawing out, the summer is on its way. So much expectation.

If it were me I would leave it till May/June as the weather by then will mean heating is defintely off and windows will be open in the restuarants and you will probably be able to eat outside.

I went to Pais last easter and I remember it was still cold in the evening and they had those awful outdoor heaters everywhere.

I would book a place around Covent Garden if you want to be in the ehart of it. From there you can walk everywhere.

Sarah

[moka]

Thanks for the advice Sarah!

Ahhh... Covent garden, just the thought of it makes me smile... :D
I checked a few weather sites as well, and May looks perfect (it's the same as the temperatures here now which my skin loves).
I just hope it will be cloudy enough so i will be able to walk outside freely since sun exposure isn't very good for my skin as well.
But from what i remember, it can always rain in London, so I can expect some clouds...
It's funny how the same weather is treated differently in different countries. Here in Israel, whenever the temperature drops below 20 degrees Celsius, the heaters are turned on practically everywhere, while in Britain it's considered spring... :lol:

[Capri]

I would definately go for May I think, where it will be pleasently warm but not overbearing.

The thing is with Britain is the weather is very unpredictable! That's probably why we(the British) enjoy talking about it so much.

[phlika29]

Yes I reckon your gets lots of clouds :D

[moka]

I was wondering if i could have some more advice, this time about the tube which i guess can be a challenge for rosaceans.
i already booked my flights and now i want to book a hotel too (wow, the prices are SO high!).
Anyway, i was wondering whether i can use the tube or not (if i can then i prefer to take a hotel which is located a little off the center).
from my last visit to London (2.5 years ago, before my rosacea started), i remember that it can get quite hot in there and i'm not sure that i can deal with the heat this time.
there are so many things to consider when planning a rosacea-friendly trip... :D

[phlika29]

To be honest you can walk everywhere in central London. I also avoid taking the tube whenever possible and find that you see much more if you walk.

Most of the tubes are fairly hot in the summer. The only one which seems cooler is the jubliee line as its the one that runs past Westminster (where all the politicans are).

Prices at travel lodges and premier travel inn tend to be abit cheaper if you book in advance. I have stayed at this one in covent garden and you can get some good deals:

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/find_a_hotel/hotel/hotel_id/318/LondonCoventGarden

Best thing about this hotel is that you can walk from Waterloo if you are coming by train, walk to oxford street, soho, etc ,etc.

sarah

[moka]

Thanks!

Sorry for the delayed reply, i've been swamped at work and didn't enter the forum much.
Eventually, I booked a hotel in kensington wich looked great ("Parkcity hotel") and i think that i'll just take a bus or a taxi or simply walk to the center.
it was important for me that the hotel would have air conditioning at the room so in case i'll have a rough day of flushing, i'll be able to cool down in the room...
I know it might sound absurd since it is not expected to be warm, but i reminded myself that "better safe than sorry" and decided not to take any chances.
So thanks again for your advice!
Moka.

[MARPUSBEAN]

I agree with Sarah, it is best to go as late as possibly.
The climate is warming up here, but most places still behave as if it is a very cold country which is annoying, so they tend to leave heating on late in the year, and conversely, and even more annoying, they hold off turning the aircon on until the weather is fairly warm (remember it can be humid when its warm here), so I find most hotels too warm even with aircon (because its often not on)
Unfortunately, the best places are the very expensive upmarket hotels, who because they cater to Americans and other overseas visitors do tend to have nice cold aircon available most of the time!!
Restaurants can be a similar story, I often find myself in a restaurant which is prettry full and hot, and my face is warm and flushy, and I look upwards and there sits a nice big aircon unit which is mostly "fast asleep" and has not been used for months!!

[moka]

hi,

I checked the weather forecast this week and saw that the temperatures were pretty high (in comparison to the April's averages). I must admit that it made me a little worried because i can't be outside in a sunny day of 24 degrees. At least not for a long time.
I know that the weather is very dynamic and it doesn't mean that it will be warm when i arrive there ( in about 2 weeks). but i begun thinking what i could do in case the weather does get warm and sunny.
my hotel room has air conditioning (i confirmed it several times), but i wouldn't like to spend my entire day there waiting for the sun to come down.
any suggestions as for what i can do?
any air conditioned places i can go to?
are museums a good place to be in warm days or are they warm as well?
I can't believe i'm having so many problems with a simple 5-day vacation...
I feel so pathetic...Rosacea makes life so much more complicated!

[phlika29]

The heat wont last, it will probably be rainy by the time you arrive. It is unseasonally hot here at the moment but even at 24 C its still got a nice breeze and until today there has been no real humidity. It doesn't feel like the heat that occurs in the summer.

It depends on where you go but generally the big deprtment stores are usually an okay temperature and the big museums are always a little cold anyway.

I would say that if it stays like this then you can comfortably walk around in a t-shirt and sandals during the days. But when I went to London last week I thought my nose and ears were going to fall off it was so cold.

[moka]

Thanks Sarah!
You have really cheered me up.
I was getting kind of worried and now i'm pretty much relieved. I still hope that during my stay the weather will be cool, but i know that I have some good options for a warm day as well.

[moka]

Well, here i am, back from London.
It was SO much better than i expected.
The flights were the most difficult to handle. it was extremely dry and rather warm in there (23 celsius degrees. have i mentioned that Israelis love heat?) and my small hand held fan got caught in my hair after 30 only minutes of use and was not so effective afterwards... #-o
But when i arrived to London everything changed for the better.
The weather was excellent, my skin completely cleared up and i didn't breakout at all even though i ate lots of candy, some chocolates and a muffin for breakfast every day :) . I felt kind of normal most of the time and managed to stay in heated stores without flushing. (i must admit that i even enjoyed the indoor heating in times when the wind outside was too strong).
I tried using the tube once but it was WAY to hot for me, so i used cabs instead which were actually not that expensive. and off course i walked a lot whenever i could.
The hotel was heated, but the room itself had a/c that worked perfectly. i used it after the flight and the tube ride and it helped me to cool off quickly .
So overall i had a fantastic vacation, i strolled in the beautiful parks and streets, visited art museums, went browsing for antiques in Portobello road and did lots of other great things.
Thank you so much for all your advice, it really helped me to plan my vacation and to calm down before it! :D

[Melissa W]

That's so great! I'm so glad you had such a wonderful time!

Best wishes,
Melissa :D

[phlika29]

Glad that you had a great time. I love London (and any big city really). I'm always amazed at just how green the place is.

Sarah

[moka]

Thanks!
Now that i realized i can handle indoor heating and do almost everything (well, i still have some limitations but they are not so bad), i'm already thinking about my next vacation... 8)

Yael.