To not want to go to London?

[MoonlightFancy]

Day trip booked for London for a special occasion this week. I don't want to go with cases rising. Husband and I are double jabbed but I'm still really concerned. Friends say it's fine and we should all go and stop panicking. AIBU to feel so anxious?

YABU.

I was super-cautious before my vaccinations. I’m now double jabbed, and I recently went to London for the first time in 18 months. It was fine.

Covid is never going away. We have to live with it for the rest of our lives and our children’s lives. Being double jabbed means you are as protected as you will ever be. If you’re not going to start getting on with actually living your life now, then when?

Yanbu to feel anxious, but remember the reason we are all double jabbed is so we can start living a normal life again.

Be sensible, carry a hand sanitizer, wear a mask, social distance where you can and have a lovely time.

I live in London and where I am it's very busy and on the occasions I've had to get the tube it's been busy with at least a third of people not wearing masks. Having said that I haven't caught it.

Risk is up to you - being double jabbed you've got a good level of protection and if you avoid public transport you should be fine. Depends if you think it'll be a good way to get used to being out again or if your anxiety will mean it's not fun for you/other people. It's up to you.

I think walking could be the way to go. It would take about 40 minutes so I'll see what my teen thinks about that!

OP, I have been in London several times during the pandemic and felt very safe (I'm double jabbed).

@Myplantsare

With a beggar?! Jeez wtaf?

I'd guess it was the sense of being trapped alone in a carriage with somebody wanting money for [random/false set of circumstances]. It's a thing on the Underground.

@carcarbinks

I think walking could be the way to go. It would take about 40 minutes so I'll see what my teen thinks about that!

OP, I have been in London several times during the pandemic and felt very safe (I'm double jabbed).

Oh definitely. I walked from Oxford Circus to Victoria on Weds. took 40 mins, tube would have been 10 mins, but it was a really nice walk. (Obviously I’m old, my teen would have got the tube).

Walking through central London is lovely, regardless of covid. Much nicer than the tube.

Thanks for the input, all. We're going to the Tower of London. I know it's not entirely reasonable, I just feel so anxious! Some of my family have bad asthma and it makes me worry more I suppose! The news doesn't help, that's for sure.

Can you take an Uber instead of the tube? Masks are still compulsory in Ubers and you can open the windows. They aren't expensive. It can actually work out cheaper than the tube in a group.

What activities do you have planned? The weather should be good, you could book outside tables at restaurants - there are extra tables/street closures. There are lots of things to do outside in London, if you don't have a specific activity in mind.

i go to town quite a lot and went friday and yesterday, friday was dead I got off at Charing cross and there was literally only me a three others getting off! It was so weird.

Still yesterday was ultra busy in tourist areas.

There are lots of wooden elephants in Green Park which are worth a look at btw!

@MoonlightFancy

Thanks for the input, all. We're going to the Tower of London. I know it's not entirely reasonable, I just feel so anxious! Some of my family have bad asthma and it makes me worry more I suppose! The news doesn't help, that's for sure.

DP, who detests busy places, walks there from London Bridge when I'm at hospital appointments - it's a lot more open and relaxed and there's good airflow off the water, so you can breathe far easier there than, for example, trying to get around in Central, central London.

@Myplantsare

With a beggar?! Jeez wtaf?

Yes, people beg on the tubes, and it can be unpleasant/scary if you are on your own

What is the occasion, is it in The Tower or outside, will you need to travel.

people beg everywhere in London now, literally beg bent over in a prayer

I went around the city on friday it was v quiet, really nice (for me prob not for businesses!)

We are visiting London next weekend. Can't wait.

I also live in London: agree that it very much depends what you're planning to do. If you're going to be outdoors and avoiding public transport (easier said than done) it shouldn't be any more dangerous than anywhere else and certainly the cases aren't any worse than in the north atm. I'd definitely avoid pubs if I were you at the moment. But appreciate its not that straightforward to avoid crowded places.

You should go, I say that as someone who has recently spent a lovely weekend in London. We used the tube a lot and to be honest I was pleasently surprised to see how everyone was wearing masks at the stations and on the trains. There are hand sanitizer dispensers at all stations as well.
Tbh in London people seem to be respecting the rules much more than where I live in the NW. Recently I took a train for a relatively short journey, some people wore no masks, others wore them covering their mouth's only, some were hanging off one ear. Guard comes along and challenges no one, I was shocked.

The river boat goes to the Tower, could you sit outdoors on deck, I wonder if London will be busy next week with the holidays coming up.

I would go if it’s booked.

We went a couple of Saturdays ago. Walked everywhere. Went to Madame Tussauds, which was busy but I never felt at any more risk than walking through a packed-to-the-rafters Oxford Street and Covent Garden. The only impact on my health was sore feet. As many have said, Covid is not something we can completely avoid. I'd rather try and have some semblance of a life with risk than live in a cage. Might find myself under a bus tomorrow, can never know for sure.

I think they still have prebooked time slot tickets, reduced numbers, a one way system, extra cleaning, hand sanitiser stations, masks and social distancing rules at the Tower of London. If you are worried, could you get there for opening so you are one of the first people through?

You could take an Uber there, or take one to the river and use the TFL Thames Clipper river bus (now called Uber boats) for part of the journey and sit on the deck outside (it's a nice trip past lots of riverside tourist sites). Alternatively, you could use the tourist hop on, hop off open top buses and take a sightseeing tour on the way but they aren't cheap.

There are lots of great restaurants at Butlers Wharf on the opposite side of the river, just across Tower Bridge, with huge outside seating areas.

Went to London last week. Firstly, the station car park was only a third full - easy parking. Train was okay, and was fuller on way (11 o’clock train) but empty on way back. I walked to my destination so can’t comment on tubes. However, the general concensus is that without foreign tourists, London is a lot quieter than usual.

Everyone in central London has gone on holiday. It's v quiet here at the moment.

You should be fine at the Tower

• visitor numbers are down because no tourists from overseas
• even pre-covid, only a couple of parts of it ever felt crowded (Crown Jewels display area, and the Bloody Tower where the rooms are very small)
• most of it has huge rooms with high ceilings - plenty of space to move around

I haven't been recently, but they are used to managing the queue for the Crown Jewels outside (they've always had to do it that way, simply because of numbers) and I expect they'll be using the same queue arrangements to keep the numbers inside at any one time down to a reasonable level. In theory from Monday they could just let everyone swarm in - in case they do, perhaps you could get some of the more protective masks (N95, FFP2 or 3) for those bits? They might be more reassuring for public transport as well