In April, I Went Back to London for the 1st Time Since Covid. What Was it Like?

April 15, 2023 — I’m in England for the first time since the pandemic, but it’s at least my 30^th trip here, so friends have asked me to tell you what’s most different or surprising.

Here's the first surprise: Just three weeks before the ceremonial welcome of King Charles III to the British throne, I’m not sensing any "coronation fever" here in London. The newspapers are spinning about how King Charles is opening up the coronation to a wider and broader audience, but I think people still remember him as the guy who transported his own toilet seat when he stayed at other people's palaces. I've talked to a variety of people—younger, older, royalists, and people too young (under 40) to care what a royalist is—and pretty much everyone says the same thing: They'll support the King because he's King, but they don't appreciate his checkered past (translation: Diana vs Camilla).

Second, my old London haunts are more crowded than I remember—and the pandemic has left me more eager to avoid such crowds. Super-touristy places like Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus, and major museums like the Victoria & Albert and the National Gallery, are clogged. Iconic shops like Fortnum & Mason and Harrods—that attract tourists as much as shoppers—are claustrophobic. Even pretty Chelsea, my once-favorite neighborhood where I used to rent apartments, is so packed it no longer has the same appeal. I’ve actually changed neighborhoods this time; and have adored getting to know Fulham and Parson’s Green.

But there are plenty of ways to escape the masses.  I’ve discovered London’s Design Museum and the Kyoto Gardens (pictured above), both in Holland Park.  I’ve rented a flat in a residential neighborhood (Fulham/Parsons Green) with a homier feel.  And I spent a weekend on the pastoral Isle of Wight, off England’s southern coast.

Look, despite the occasional throngs, I loved my time in England and longed to extend my stay. Like Dr. Johnson, I find it impossible to run out of interesting experiences here. At the same time, I think my need to discover out of the way places either in marquee cities or in touristy sections in those cities is a clear outcome of surviving the pandemic. I’ve never like crowds; now I can’t tolerate them.

One of the trends in travel I’m finding incredibly appealing is visiting places during winter months. This year I’ve had wonderful experiences in off-season trips Helsinki and Zurich during snowstorms and cruise lines are increasing itineraries, in places like Norway and the Mediterranean to winter seasons.

I won’t travel this way exclusively, but boy, it’s a nice change.