London holidays in May..

[ILOVEKRISTA]

Heard it is a public holiday the 1st Monday in May, what is open/closed?Thanks for the info..:eek: :)

[Janet524]

May 1st is "May Day"... It's kind of like the US Labor Day holiday. Don't know about London, but a few years ago we were in France and public offices, banks and post office were closed. Don't recall shops being closed.

[Kindlychap]

May 1st is "May Day"... It's kind of like the US Labor Day holiday. Don't know about London, but a few years ago we were in France and public offices, banks and post office were closed. Don't recall shops being closed.

 

Mayday is a dual observance. There is a lot of ancient stuff including dancing around Maypoles and the like, and in recent years the Labour movement has taken the day as a "worker's day". Not really noticed much any more - with our so called "Labour" government anything remotely left wing has been banned or otherwise squashed.

 

However the day - whatever you want to call it - does not fall on May 1st, but rather the first Monday in May. Which, in 2008, is the 5th May.

 

There is also a later bank holiday in May - May 26th, at least this year. Again this holiday falls on a Monday in every case.

 

Other than official departments, you can expect pretty well everything you want to be open, although there may be reduced hours. Check in each case.

 

Matthew

[Globaliser]

However the day - whatever you want to call it - does not fall on May 1st, but rather the first Monday in May. Which, in 2008, is the 5th May.

 

There is also a later bank holiday in May - May 26th, at least this year. Again this holiday falls on a Monday in every case.

 

Other than official departments, you can expect pretty well everything you want to be open, although there may be reduced hours.

Just to clarify, the two Bank Holidays in May are the first Monday in May and the last Monday in May (thus coinciding with Memorial Day in the US).

 

These two are usually uniform across the whole of the United Kingdom, but there are certain other Bank Holidays that are observed in only one of the countries that make up the UK.

 

Banks will obviously be closed on Bank Holidays, and almost all offices will be closed as well. But shops, restaurants and most tourist attractions will be open.

[Cruisin'cockney]

Everything "touristy" will be open. However, as it also a public holiday in the UK there will be a larger number of home grown tourists. If you are hiring a car you will be pleased to know that the London Congestion Charge (£8) does not apply on Bank Holidays.:)

[pcur]

We were in the UK in 2007 during the first Bank Holiday in May. There is a car show at Stoneleigh that is always that holiday. I went to Warwick Castle. Everything in Warwick, Coventry, and around the area was open. Of course, we didn't need to go into a bank or post office, either!

 

Weather was pretty gorgeous then. We were there mid-April when they were having the best April weather in history, practically. Bank Holiday weekend it was a little rainy, and all hell broke loose weatherwise when we left on 5/8. Turned out to be horrible weather. We were lucky.

 

Take an umbrella and raincoat just in case.