Going to London for 3 days, alone

[LondonAloneAmIOk]

DC (aged 9) will be away for the week with Scouts, so was planning to do the middle 3 days in London. Which is about 250 miles from me.

I was super excited, leisurely train down there, wander around once I’ve dropped my bag at the hotel, eat wherever I want at whatever time I want. I can have the spicest food or fish if I want it (neither of which my DC eats).

Then back to the hotel to watch Netflix on my laptop and have a long leisurely shower. Sleep.

Have breakfast in the hotel, head to some museums and art galleries, eat wherever I want again. Maybe catch a matinee or evening show. Back for a shower and a sleep before heading back home again after breakfast the next morning.

But my parents keep telling me it’s unsafe to do it alone, and I should take a friend or one of them. But that means changing dates or compromising what I do. They keep saying it's unsafe to be a lone female in such a big city and I should consider a hotel closer to home or going down by bus because someone will know I'm there and I'm missing if I go missing.

If I want to spend 3 days not talking to anyone but hotel staff I can or if I want to stroll back to the hotel at 10pm (I probably won’t) I can, or if I want to sleep in until 10am I can. If I want to forget to brush my teeth or wear the same clothes as the day before I can, because I won’t have a 9yo watching me.

I very rarely get so long away from my DC. Last time I got this amount of time away from them I was still with their dad and they went away together for 3 days/2 nights.

I am happy to share my hotel details with them, and I will turn location settings on on my phone which my sibling knows how to use and track, but I really want to go alone but now I'm doubting myself and thinking I might be better off not going.

London is wonderful at the moment. I’m so jealous. You’ll be grand.

Count me in for the pass the mumsnetter parcel. I'll take you swimming in the lido or ladies pond on Hampstead Heath!

You don't even need to buy a ticket for getting around on the underground. Just beep your bank card, it figures out the charge and it goes out of your bank account the next day.
I'll do Mumsnet pass the parcel from Paddington if you like

Sounds perfect to me!
Enjoy every minute
Perhaps DP's are being protective as it's not something they'd ever do, but don't let them put you off

What? Unsafe? I live here and wander all the time. Your parents have nothing to worry about.

Have a fantastic time !

No concerns about visiting alone

Go! I went to Rome on my own several times.

I'm going down to London alone for four days in August. It's a fab city for solo visits as there is so much to do and see and the choice of restaurants is amazing. I love wandering round all the brilliant museums and galleries and going to see a show in the evening. I really love going to the historic Royal palaces. You're going to have an amazing trip.

Well it's all been said, but yes, I'd point out to your parents that the population of London is 9 million, and a large proportion of them are women who live there and go about their business without a chaperone every day.
Add to that the number that commute in for work or are visiting as tourists, and...well they're being ridiculous

Have your parents been to London? Do they live near any big cities or are they like Kaleb Cooper never more than 5 miles from home?

Another single female Londoner who wanders round alone.

Incase you aren’t aware of it todaystix is great if you can do last minute theatre - often get a great deal. Or Friday rush at the national theatre has cheap ( and other tickets) for shows the following week ( as does the royal opera house) if you go on the website the Friday morning.

But my parents keep telling me it’s unsafe to do it alone, and I should take a friend or one of them

If your parents are so scared of London what's the point of one of them coming with you? you'll spend all the time cowering in your room.

Incidentally - have just come back from a morning in the British Museum, then a wander through Bloomsbury, lunch in a pub in Drury Lane and back. The only danger was a couple of kamikaze delivery bikers. Central London is packed with people and plenty of them would help you if you needed it.

Good Lord, not unsafe at all I used to frequently be in London alone for work and it was great. The National portrait gallery has just reopened and is getting rave reviews.

Even Kaleb did go to London when called to!

Go and have a wonderful time. I lived alone in London for years! Despite my parents thinking it was full of thieves/pickpockets and ne'r do wells! (I don't know if I've spelt that right!) there are loads of places to wander around, I'd be going to the Natural History museum, the Science Museum, the V&A. Enjoy yourself 🤗

People travel all over the world alone