We might be biased because we live here all year, but London always has something to offer whether it’s raining or shining. England is in the temperate zone, so each of its four seasons has weather patterns that have pros and cons for vacation. We’ve put together a seasonal guide to London’s most unique parts so that you can enjoy them all no matter when you visit.
London Winter
Unless you like being cold and wet, London in the winter can seem pretty sad. But these months have a lot going for them, too. They are full of holidays, indoor activities, and, if you’re lucky, snow! Winter Wonderland at Christmas and the London Eye fireworks on New Year’s Eve aren’t the only fun things to do in the winter. The Chinese New Year parade and the beautiful Festival of Lights both happen at the end of January. As if that wasn’t enough, Valentine’s Day is coming up in the middle of February. This is the best time of year to enjoy the romantic restaurants and cozy theatres in the center of London.
London Spring
Spring brings the first of many bank holidays, the sun back, and London’s green spaces coming back to life. Even though the weather is getting warmer, the saying “April showers” isn’t made up. Grab your umbrella and head to Perivale Woods, where you can walk through a sea of bluebells or enjoy one of the many craft and food fairs that pop up in the spring. St. Patrick’s Day is a great time to visit some of London’s traditional pubs and try their world-famous lagers. There’s no need to hide inside, but since the night is still longer than the day, there’s no better time to spend the evenings in a four or 5-star hotel room.
London Summer
When summer officially starts in London, people can enjoy the warm weather and all the city’s green spaces. The Chelsea Flower Show will have just been on the streets of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and you can probably still see beautiful window displays in the area. Many rooftop bars in London offer the best place to enjoy the long days and watch the sunset over the city. Finding a city with better festivals and plenty of places to dance all day and night would be hard. Take the streets for the Notting Hill Carnival or the British Summer Time festival in beautiful Hyde Park.
Autumn
Even though summer is over, there’s no reason to be sad in London because autumn is one of the most beautiful times of the year. Grab your favorite boots and head to Hampstead Heath to see the golden leaves. After that, you can warm up in one of the many pubs in the area that have fires going. Halloween is full of fun parties and chances to dress up. The Diwali Festival comes right after, followed by Bonfire Night, which is every marshmallow and fireworks lover’s dream. From our Tower Suites, you can see the Tower of London better than anywhere else. If you’re lucky, you might even see one of the ghosts that are said to haunt the building on Halloween night.
Read Also: 32 Best Weekend Getaways in Ontario
Festival Of Orchids At Kew Gardens
Think you have to wait another month to see London in all its springtime glory? Don’t give up. This year, from February 8 to March 8, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew are holding an orchid festival to mark its 25th anniversary.
The Royal Botanical Gardens’ Orchid Festival celebrates over 5,000 kinds of orchids found on Indonesia’s islands. This is a large number of the 20,000–30,000 species of orchids that can be found all over the world. Kew Gardens are the biggest botanical gardens in the world, so there’s a lot to see once you get there. It’s a great place to spend a whole day!
People from all over the world visit Kew Gardens:
- The name Paphiopedilum comes from the Greek word “Paphos,” which was the name of the temple where the goddess of love, Aphrodite, was worshipped.
- Orchids were first found on every continent except Antarctica.
- The orchid plant lives because it lives with other plants in a relationship called symbiosis. This means that orchids often grow on trees. The orchid gets its food from both the air and the tree. This means that it doesn’t hurt the tree it grows on.
- London people in Ancient Greece thought eating orchid tubers would tell them what gender their baby would be. If the father ate a bigger tuber, the baby would be a boy. If the mother ate a smaller, thinner tuber, the baby would be a girl.
- Vanilla is a type of orchid. The Aztecs mixed it with chocolate to make a drink they thought would give people strength. Vanilla extract is still used a lot in cooking.
- Orchids can also be used as medicine. In China, for example, they have been used for thousands of years to treat lung, kidney, and stomach diseases.
- Since orchids were so rare, Victorians often collected them to show that they had good taste when given as a gift; the rarer the orchid’s color and genus, the deeper the love for the person who received it.
- As with many other flowers, the colors of the petals of an orchid represent different feelings. Purple orchids mean royalty, and people often give them as a sign of respect. Yellow orchids mean new beginnings, and friends often give them to each other to celebrate success.
- When a couple has been married for 30 years, the orchid is the traditional flower to give them.