August is a great month to travel to London. It's kind of the last blast of blast of British summer, but you have tinges of autumn. you can have sunny, hot weather, but you can also have cloudy, rainy weather, and we're gonna talk all about that. a quick personal note before we start. I'm actually going to be in London in the month of August myself. this is so this episode comes with a little more firsthand intent because I'll tell you about the things that I'm planning to do when I'll be in London later in the month.

One timely note before you pack. As I record this, England is having an extraordinarily dry summer. They've had three major heat waves, with forecasters saying a fourth can't be ruled out before the summer is properly over. England has only seen about 3% of its normal rainfall in the month of July. And actually, eight areas across southern, central, and eastern England have been declared to be in prolonged dry weather. The

Official stage just before a drought. So there have been hose pipe bans and water usage is starting to be curtailed. so the near-term forecast is hot and dry rather than dangerously extreme. London highs will be building through the high 70s Fahrenheit towards 81. That's about 27 degrees Celsius. so in the next few weeks, you can expect it to be warm and dry and hazy in London.

slightly parched. The the the parks, the grass won't be as green as it normally is. Be a little parched. It won't affect your sight scene, but that's gonna be the backdrop to the whole month. Carry water, respect the hose pipe bands, and don't count on the weather breaking just because the calendar has turned. these are the current conditions as I'm recording this, so that may change. So as always, download the MedOffice app and keep track of the local weather in London.

so here's the plan. First, we're gonna talk ever about everything that's on in August, and August is stuff because culturally it is a very busy month because people want to do these awesome things while the weather is still great. the big the biggest, and which we'll talk about in a minute, is the Notting Hill Carnival, but it's also the month of summer palace openings, festivals, and it's the last month of a whole raft of Blockbuster exhibitions.

Then there then we'll have a practical session where we'll talk about the weather, how to pack, strange, open but empty quality of the city, crowds, what to pack, and my honest take on whether August is your month. So let's get into it. I'll talk as I go along about what I'm gonna do. Because the things that pique my interest. So we'll start with the the strange things about London in August and every

Every guidebook tells you that it's peak season, that it's the busiest, most crowded month of the year. And every guidebook is right because that's when all the foreign tourists come in. A million over a million visitors will visit London in the month of August. And yet at exactly the same time, London kind of empties out. Locals and Londoners, they flee. They go to Cornwall, they go to France, they go to anywhere that isn't a stuffy office and isn't in a heat wave. And whole districts of London can go completely quiet.

so then that's it's really the month of London for tourists, and so things might be a little less crowded than you think simply because the locals are off on holiday. So the biggest thing happening in London in the month of August is the Notting Hill Carnival. and if you're in London for one thing in August, it's this. everything else in the month kind of arranges itself around the Notting Hill Carnival. what is it?

Well, it's a big free thing, so you don't have to pay. it is Europe's largest street festival, and it takes over Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove over the August Bank Holiday Weekend. That's later in the month. So this year is August 30th and 31st. And it is a joyful celebration of of Afro-Caribbean culture in Britain. Many may not be familiar that in in the 50s and 60s there was a huge migration from a Britain's Caribbean colonies to Britain.

And it led to some big cultural changes for Britain and some big structural changes and population changes. And now they kind of celebrate that with the nexus of the Notting Hill Carnival. There'll be steel bands, costume parades, 30-odd sound systems, blaring music, extraordinary Caribbean food, and a well over a million people. It's a big thing. It's a general genuine cultural phenomena, and it's one weekend where London's multicultural and diverse character.

which can feel oddly invisible other times of the year is front and center. It's loud and joyful. Sunday is Children's Day. That's a gentler day. Monday is the main parade with all the costumes and bands and marching through Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove. I have actually not been to Notting Hill Carnival myself, but I have lots of friends who have done it and and say it's a lot of fun. So a couple things if you're if you are gonna go, go early.

the earlier in the weekend you arrive, the more manageable the crowds. come to experience it, not to see everything. Arrive expecting to walk slowly and soak it up. you will not tick off a route map because it's it's gonna be crowded. You're gonna sh have to be strategic and struggle to get through places. follow your nose on the food. Jerk chicken, you gotta have some jerk chicken while you're doing this and wear sunscreen.

Stay hydrated, wear comfortable shoes, and something colorful. one thing to keep in mind the carnival is hot, crowded, and big. And because of that, there there can be, whenever there's a large gathering of people, there will be an element of sometimes crime. So just keep your wits about you. there will be lots of police, and you just stay safe out there.

as with any street festival. one thing to keep also to keep in mind that it's very concentrated in the Notting Hill area. So you can be in other parts of London and not even know that it's happening. So if you want to avoid it altogether, just don't go to Nottinghill that weekend. So next we're gonna talk about festivals and outdoor highlights because

August is going to be a beautiful month weather wise, even if it is going to be a little warm and dry. So there's a lot of festivals going on. So first we have the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival. That's from August 21st to the 6th of September, and it's completely free. It is a leading festival of free outdoor theater and performances taking over Greenwich, Woolwich, and the Docklands, and the two-day Greenwich Fair over August 22nd and 23rd.

next we've got the Fet Family Festival of Caribbean Culture and Woolwich. This kind of feeds onto the Notting Hill Festival. This is the weekend before. And then you've got 120 Years of the Piccadilly Line with Tim Dunn. that's August 22nd at the London Transport Museum. the famous TV railway historian marks the line's 120th birthday. Absolute catnip for anyone who loves the tube.

And a good one to flag for our transport history listeners. So if you love the tube and transport, you'll want to check that out. Happening at the London Transport Museum on August 22nd. it goes without saying that we've got listings on Londontopia for all these things and the list links will be in the show notes so you can find out more information. August is Edinburgh fringe month, but

Technically the fringe takes place in Edinburgh, 400 miles north, but London venues will host previews all month. So check with local venues and South Bank Center and places like that and see who's doing previews before Edinburgh starts properly. there's also outdoor air cinemas, parks host temporary restaurants and bars, riverside venues are packed, and there is a real sense that the city will be squeezing out the last of summer. So

It is a month to be outdoors, eating al fresco. I believe also in Soho they've got al fresco dining set up in the streets. So a lot of fun. All right, now we're gonna talk about Royal London and summer openings. So this is the big one. So many people don't know that Buckingham Palace is only open a couple months of the year, and that that started in July and it runs until September.

And so if you are in London this month, hopefully you will have booked your tickets to Buckingham Palace a few months ago because it will be really hard to get tickets now. so Buckingham Palace did open back in July and it runs to the September 27th and it's open every day. the King is is away on summer holidays doing the the openings in Scotland and doing all the things that the King does. So while the King is away.

the 19 state rooms are open to the public, the throne room, the ballroom, the picture gallery, which has been freshly rehung with 120 iconic works of British art. So it's a real treat to see that this year. you gotta book time tickets, you have to book ahead. There will be lines even if you're booked ahead. but the the ability to go in the palace is such an exciting thing to do. and I have wanted to do it for 20 years, and I'm finally doing it this year. So I will be I have my tickets booked for later in the month.

I'm going to do the stateroom tour. I'm looking forward to seeing the gallery of new pictures at the rehang. And then I also booked, I believe it's the East Wing tour. That has just recently been opened to the public and you can book an exclusive tour of that. So I'll be doing that. I cannot wait. That's gonna take like a whole Saturday. So I can't wait to do that. in addition, the Houses of Parliament have their summer tours going on throughout August because Parliament is out of session right now.

there's been a lot of political excitement. There's a new prime minister, but he took the job and then Parliament promptly went on vacation. So House of Commons will be out of session for most of August. so while it is out of session, you can take the tours of Parliament. you can both houses are on holiday. So it's open for guided tours and self-guided tours. You get to walk through Westminster Hall, you get to walk to the Central Lobby, you get to walk to the Commons and Lord's Chambers. highly recommend doing that. I did it about 10 years ago.

you have to go through airport style security to get in. but it is well worth doing. the building is incredible incredible architecturally. see it while you can if you're in London. you have to book that in advance as well. and then Banqueting House has been opened from August 1st. Inigo Jones's masterpiece on a Whitehall with its Ruben ceiling reopens for the summer. while because again, everybody's in the government's on holiday for August. So it's cause this is normally

A government a government building. So it's the one surviving fragment of the old palace of Whitehall on the spot where Charles I was executed in sixteen forty nine. So it's a lot of history in one place. Well worth seeing. So next is London has a new museum. And this one's really cool. And I actually I'm gonna try and fit this one in. I don't know if I can,

So this one is Trent Park House. Or this one is Trent Park and it's called the House of Secrets. you may have heard this story, but when they captured high-level German officers during World War II, they would they would put them all in one place, they would which in this case was Trent Park. But what the prisoners didn't know was that the entire house was wired with microphones.

And the British Intelligence Services monitored everything that the Germans would say to each other. And it provided a wealth of information because they speaking in German didn't mean they didn't hear you. And so so it just opened literally last week. so if you're coming to London this month, this is your chance to visit one of London's newest museums. and are calling it Trent Park House of Secrets, and it's kind of they're dubbing it the other Bletchley Park.

Bletchley Park being the famous place where the Codebreakers worked with Alan Turing. So, Trent Park is a grand mock Georgian house in North London. And in the 1920s and 30s, it was the glamorous country retreat of the fabulously wealthy Sir Philip Sassoon, who entertained royalty, prime ministers, and film stars. But when war broke out, the government requisitioned it and it became one of Britain's most closely guarded secrets, a secret kept under the Official Secrets Act for over 50 years.

Officially, Trent Park was a comfortable prisoner of war camp for senior German officers. Dozens of captured generals, 59 of them in the park were housed in there in apparent luxury. They had good food, wine, servants, all that good stuff that officers would expect. They thought they landed on their feet and that the British were fools to keep them there. What they didn't know was that the entire house was bugged.

Hidden microphones and the light fittings, the plant pots, even the garden benches, that in a concealed basement, a team of around a hundred secret listeners, many of them German speaking Jewish refugees who'd actually fled the Nazis, were recording and transcribing every careless word. Around 3,000 conversations were captured, and it was the Trent Park listeners who first picked up rumors of Hitler's V 2 rockets, intelligence that led the Allies to strike.

The launch sites and hold back the onslaught by nearly a year. Human intelligence gathered by eavesdropping rather than blushless code breaking, but comparable insignificance. So what can you see at this museum? Because it's just a grand house, right? Well, they've made it an into an experience. So the museum runs over two floors of the house, the state rooms upstairs restored to their glittering 1930s Sassoon era appearance. And the basement below where the secret listeners did their painstaking work. There's a cafe, a gift shop, there's a learning space.

it's a genuinely interesting place. And one of the museum's trustees was the comedian Helen Letterer, who only learned her own grandfather had been l a listener there, and he took the secret to his grave. They never told the family. So the practical details if you want to visit this, and I I I really I think I really want to do this one. Tuesday to Sunday, it's open 10 to 5 p.m. Not open on Mondays.

Last admission is 4 p.m. book online in advance to choose an arrival time. They will be there will be limited walk-up tickets available each day. So don't just show up and think you can get in. My general advice always in London, always book ahead. Tickets are 14 pounds, about $20. Students and children are 12 pounds. Under fives are free. There are family discounts. So you know, under 20 bucks you can get in. Getting there, it's an Enfield which is on the northern edge of London.

the nearest underground stations are Oakwood and Cockfosters. So when you're riding the tube and you snigger at the name Cockfosters, now you can actually go to the station and find out what is actually there in this absurd sounding place. both at the top of the Piccadilly line. and both stations are about a twenty minute walk from the house, although you can probably get a taxi from the station.

A tip, according to my pre-research, while Cockfosters looks closer on the map, Oakwood is actually the easier walk and there are more trains there. So it's a straight minute straightforward 15-minute stroll up up the lane to the station, to the house. if you're driving, there are two free council car parks, and the museum is wheelchair accessible on all floors by lift. So it's quite a trek, it's quite out.

but you're gonna learn some really interesting World War II history.

So, what is opening this month in London? So there's a handful of new shows. The comedy about spies starts August 1st. The Mischevious Team, the people behind the play that goes wrong, which is very popular in the West End, return to the West End with a new farce, this time skewering the spy caper. Should be reliably funny. Jane Eyre, the musical, has its UK premiere at August 28th.

At the Southwark Playhouse Elephant, a new musical staging of Charlotte Bronte's novel getting its UK premiere, one for the literary crowd. And the Bronte's have been in the news this year. And Kimberly Akimbo from August 28th at Hamstead Hampstead Theatre. The Tory Tony Winnie musical about a teenager with a rare aging condition finally reaches London. All right, and let's do a quick run-through of the blockbuster exhibitions that have already been running.

the summer's big shows are in full swing and crucially several close this month. So here are a few of these genuinely now or never things. If you're in London and you're not coming again for a year or two, you're gonna want to see these. we've got Frida Kahlo the Tate Modern, which runs to 2027. an exhibition about the Mexican icon whose unflinching self-portraits turn pain politics and identity into one that's some of the most recognizable images in all of art. Plenty of time left on this one, so go see this one.

Marilyn Monroe at the National at the National Portrait Gallery. That ends in September. So this is your last chance to take a fresh look at one of the most photographed women of the 20th century. At the Hayward Gallery, there's a Anish Kapoor through October. It's a great exhibition on his monumental and celebrated sculptures. That's on the South Bank. It's in that building. It's easy to find.

Skiparelli, Fashion Becomes Art at the VA. That runs to November. The surrealist courtier who collaborated with Dolly and Cocteau, turning high fashion into wearable art. So if you want to see that, it ends in November. So get over there. Richard Dadd at the Royal Academy, the Victorian painter of hauntingly intricate fairy scenes, made while confined to the Bethlem and Broadmoor asylums. One of the strangest, most singular.

Talents of British art carried over from July, but still take a look. The Churchill as an artist exhibition is going on at the Wallace Collection. I will be seeing this after I see Buckingham Palace. I've got my tickets booked since March. I cannot wait to see this. Many people don't know that Winston Churchill as a hobby started painting at the age of 40, and he was actually very good at it, trained by some of Britain's finest contemporary artists at the time.

his style could be described as impressionist. We have a whole podcast about him and this exhibition. It's in the archive. Link will be in the show notes. if you're in London this month, definitely take a look at this exhibition. Even if you're not a fan of Churchill, he was a very talented painter and some of his paintings are very sublime and beautiful. So you may just enjoy the artwork instead of the man. the summer exhibition at the Royal Academy closes August 23rd.

So get over there and see the largest open submission show in the world. This is your last chance. we've also got Jurassic Oceans, Monsters of the Deep at the Natural History Museum, seeing giant marine reptiles that ruled the prehistoric seas. Kids will love that one. And ending in September is the Star Trek at 60 at 60 Trail, the Science Museum. I'm going to see this because I'm a many people don't know that before I loved Britain, I loved Star Trek.

I have seen every episode of Star Trek dozens of times. You can't see over there, but I'm building the Lego Enterprise D model. I love Star Trek. and I'm going to go see this exhibition because it's the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. And while the producers don't seem to want to celebrate it very much, everybody else is. So. All right. what is closing this month?

so a a lot of exhibitions are closing because it's the summer the summer's ending. So first holy pop at Somerset House that closes the 9th. Patrick Caulfield RA at the Royal Academy that closes the 16th of August. the Titanic exhibition that's that was really only around for a few weeks. that's at Olympia, that closes the 16th of August. the Fairy Tales exhibition at the British Library closes the 23rd.

Zuberon at the National Gallery closes the 23rd as well. Hurvin Anderson at the Tate Britain, that closes August 23rd. Noticing a pattern here. August 23rd seems to be the day a lot of things are closing, which is unfortunate because I will be in London after the 23rd. David Hockney, a year in Normandy at the RA also closes August 23rd. And Tracey Emin a second life at Tate Modern, closes the 31st of August. So if you want to see any of those,

Clearly get in there before August 23rd because they're closing all at the end of the month. if you want to see some live music, there are still some big gigs going on. All points east at Victoria Park, East London's biggest music festival across two weekends with headlines including Lorde Tyler the Creator, and 21 Pilots. you've also got the BBC Proms that has been going on since July. That ends September 12th. So

It is the world's largest classical music festival and it runs all month and you can get cut price standing tickets available on the day at the Royal Albert Hall. it is I've not been able to do the proms, so I really want to do this. probably not gonna be able to do it this trip, but and I'd love to do the last night, but that's that's not September. So but if you can go to any of the classical music concerts during the proms, it will be worth it. then the weekend, the

Artist will be at Wembley from the 14th to the 19th. Run a stadium dates. He's one of the biggest pop acts in the world. and then Luke Combs is also at Wembley. at he's at Wembley this weekend. So unless you're gonna be there this weekend, you're gonna miss out on Luke Combs. let's see.

Let's talk some fam family-friendly activities. The August is the month of school holidays. The children are out of school, and I should have mentioned that at the beginning. that means families are going to be flooding attractions. but so here's a few family experiences that you may want to put on your calendar if you're bringing the kids. The official Paddington Bear Experience is having a summer special, an immersive experience for younger children in the world of.

Britain's favorite bear. The big dig, big archaeology adventure through August 21st. hands-on archaeology for the families. You can you can kids actually get to do digging. Boleyn is back at the Tower London through August 14th. Tutor living history at the tower and Boleyn's story told through costume performances.

And then you've got the Young Artist Summer Show also going on at the Royal Academy, which is free, and that's to August 30th. And that is the Royal Academy's free show of work by artists aged 15 to 19th. You can see who's up and coming in Brit in the Britain's arts scene. So that is everything coming and going in August in London. And so quite a bit there. I think I'm definitely gonna do Trent Park.

One other thing I've booked that is not that I didn't talk about is I'm doing the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. So for those who don't know what that is, the Ceremony of the Keys is the ceremony it's considered the world's longest military ceremony. It's been running for they say a thousand years, but I'm skeptical. But at least as long as there's been a Tower of London, the ceremony of the keys has been performed and it's

Essentially it's when they lock up the Tower of London for the night and to to get tickets to this, they release tickets on the first of the previous month that you want to book in. Tickets are only ten pounds, but they're limited. And so I have booked a ticket and for later this month. I woke I woke up early and was able to snag a ticket before they sold out because they do sell out immediately the day they release them.

This is a very popular thing to do. So I'm going to experience London's oldest ceremony at the Tower of London. you have to show up at like nine thirty at night, I believe, and then you basically get to watch a ceremony. Not allowed to take pictures or record it in any way. And then you get ser unceremoniously locked out at the end. So

Yeah, so I'm I'm doing that. What else am I doing while I'm there? probably gonna record September's What's On in London podcast while I'm there. TBD. whether I do it in the hotel or I'm actually not staying in a hotel, whether I do it where I'm staying and or I rent a s a podcast studio. Haven't decided. TBD. I'm not gonna have time for any plays, unfortunately. So I don't think I'm gonna book into any plays.

I do want to go to the National Gallery just because I love it there. def of like I said, I'm going to the Wallace Collection. I might go to the Royal Academy because there seems to be a lot going on there. and I've never been to the Natural History Museum, actually. I've walked by it several times, but I'm always put off by the long lines. If the line isn't too long,

Because it's free, so it's very popular. I might go and see that because if I do the Star Trek at 60 Trail the Science Museum, they're literally right next to each door to each other. So I might do both of those. might do Frida Kahlo as well, because I believe that's the same exhibition that was in Chicago of last year, and I wasn't able to go to that one. So I might make up for that now. Definitely want to do Trent Park, as I've already mentioned several times.

I actually will be in London during the Notting Hill carnival, but that's something I'd rather do with my wife who is not coming. So I think I'll give that a miss. And as a consequence, avoid avoid avoid that part of London 'cause it's gonna be very crowded and busy.

So you can expect articles about all those things I just mentioned. I will keep you all updated on that. So let's quickly talk about August. Let's talk about the weather first. So

August in London is weird because it's it's like a liminal month. It's it's the it's the border between the super busy month of July and the the slower the slowing down of September into the autumn. it's peak tourist season. the month every guidebook calls crowded, and it's absolutely true. There will be millions of visitors to London in August. But at the same time, there's a peculiar quiet as lots of

Londoners go on holiday. as a like I said, it's the school break, so many families wait 'cause cause you cannot you're not legally allowed to pull your kids out of school during the school. You're to go on holiday. So all the families have to do their holidays during this six week period between the the school terms. So but a lot of people go abroad or they go to elsewhere in Britain. So they they tend to avoid London. But that doesn't mean London's empty. That's the attractions could still be pretty crowded. A bank holiday is a bank holiday.

Let's talk about the weather. So like I said earlier at the in the intro, the weather right now is warm, it's dry, but that could change. so you need to kind of pack layers and prepare for all weather. you know, pack to stay warm, and just just in case because you could

land and it'd be really hot and dry but by the end of the week it could be cold and rainy and so you don't want to be caught out or have to go buy a ton of clothing to stay warm. August generally mat usually matches July's weather but the swings can be worse the because you get you get those North Atlantic storms coming in it could be colder it could be wetter it could be very humid London isn't very tropical usually but in

In August the Thames embankments that are in August the Thames can all that moisture gets in the air and it gets sticky and hot. So just be prepared for that. it could not be humid at all. That's the thing. That's London for ya. it rain in August is very rare, but when it does rain, it can be intense. So like and don't let rain ruin your plans either because you know it could rain, it could rain for ten minutes.

And then that's all that rains that day. It just just enough to get everything wet. and then also the days in August are still very long. It doesn't get dark. Like I was we talked in July about how it doesn't get dark till after ten PM. Well, in August it doesn't get it still doesn't get dark till after nine PM. So you've got long days to take advantage of everything London has to offer. W and while most tourist attractions will still only be open from ten AM to five PM, there's still plenty to do in London after

after everything closes. So

One thing I want to mention is the new government, not new government, they've been in government two years, and this was a plan before Andy Burnham took power. they have instituted a massive discount on VAT for tourists who are visiting tourist attractions. So for those who don't know, VAT is basically Britain's sales tax, but it's not a sales tax, so you don't have to leave a comment telling me it's not a sales tax, because I know it's not a sales tax.

It's essentially a sales tax. It's 20% tax on everything. And it adds a lot to the price of things. And so to help spur people to travel and visit tourist attractions this summer, the government instituted a fifteen percent discount off that twenty percent. So this month you will see lower prices at all of London's major tourist attractions. And if you booked tourist attractions in advance, you should be getting a refund.

Least according to the government's documents about this, you should get a refund for the difference. I'm expecting a refund from Buckingham Palace because those tickets are very expensive. So so you can expect admissions to be cheaper, but because those admissions are cheaper, expect things to be just a little bit more crowded. So we talked about what to pack.

Do either or. Should you visit in August? Well, I'm busy in August, so yes, I guess is the answer. But if you hate crowds, if you don't want to get stuck in heat just in case it's really hot, I mean August might not be the month for you. There's a lot going on, there's a lot happening, the weather can be variable. I I don't know.

I like London in August. I'm looking forward to my visit. So I my number one advice would be don't book travel over the last bank holiday weekend in August. I believe there's two bank holidays in August. Don't book over either of them. But I'm breaking my own commandment. I'm going to be there over the bank holiday. simply because that's the way it worked. so I just have to deal with that.

So yeah, I'm I'll be in at the end of the month. I'm looking forward to it. There's a lot I'm gonna see and do. There's some things I haven't even booked yet. I have enough booked already that if I just do those things, I'll be thrilled. but I'm also I like to leave a little bit in my itinerary for serendipity. I'm also gonna be meeting some friends, so we'll see what they want to do. and I I take it back. Maybe I will see a play. I don't know. We'll see.

There's lots of plays. And if you wanna know what plays are going on, go to the Londontopia events calendar. Link is in the show notes. So

So that's your complete guide to August in London. And if you see a slightly sunbirthed Anglophile wandering the food stalls at one of the festivals going on later this later in August, do say hello. It might just be me. for the full, constantly updated program, dozens more exhibitions, walks, talks, and family events. Head to our London events calendar on over on Londontopia, and we will put the link in the show notes if you found this useful.

Subscribe, leave a comment, and tell me what you're most excited to see in London this summer over on YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook. And if you love what we do, please consider joining the Friends of Anglotopia Club for early access to episodes and a brilliant community of fellow Britain enthusiasts. Until next time, Cheerio. And the next one I will be recording in London. So we'll see you there.