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spol
Citizen
Username: Spol
Post Number: 37
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 9:32 am: | 
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I suddenly got the opportunity to join two college friends on a trip to London at the end of August. We'll be flying in to Heathrow on Saturday night and back to Newark on Thursday, so we'll have four full days. One of us will be there on business, and the other two have never been there before so we will be doing the touristy stuff. What do you recommend as a "must-see" and what can we skip? Also, we're trying to be somewhat budget-conscious (and we know that London is crazy expensive).
Any tips or suggestions?
Thanks! |
mlj
Citizen
Username: Mlj
Post Number: 360
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 10:08 am: |
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Tower of London tour highly recommended. |
Arsenal
Citizen
Username: Arsenal
Post Number: 103
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 10:33 am: |
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Sounds corny but the double decker bus tour is a great way to get a feel for the city and learn some of the history. I think they allow you to hope on and off at certain locations to do some more indepth touring.
Some of the walking tours are also great. If its just a couple of friends the Jack the Ripper walking tour takes place at night and is apparently quite entertaining.
I always enjoy Hampton Court and the Tower of London. There is so much to do and see its difficult to narrow it down. |
eliz
Supporter
Username: Eliz
Post Number: 1634
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 11:48 am: |
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Tower of London is the best. We did 4 days in London this past winter (with our 7 year old) and had a blast. The Tower was the most fun - the tour guides are fantastic. Also agree on the double decker bus tours - saves you some money on transport as you can hop on and off. Could take or leave the London Eye. We were there low season so there was no wait but I wouldn't wait on line for it.
Kensington Castle tour was fun and changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.
The city is absolutely ridiculously expensive.... |
Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 1360
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 3:40 pm: |
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Covent Garden, The Victoria and Albert Museum, a night at the theater, a boat ride up the Thames to Greenwich. Riding the train from the airport early in the morning with Londoners on their way to work. Dinner at the "biggest Chinese restaurant in Europe" (I forget where--native Londoners would know). The British Museum Library. Lunch at a pub. |
Miss L Toe
Citizen
Username: Miss_l_toe
Post Number: 571
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 5:02 pm: |
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Sorry - don't know what your interests are or your age group - but these websites will give you some good ideas:
http://www.visitlondon.com/
http://www.londontown.com/
http://www.timeout.com/london/ (best to buy a copy of Time Out when you arrive).
Do visit trendy Notting Hill - there is the huge Notting Hill Carnival on the last weekend in August so it sounds like your visit will coincide with it. Don't stand out as a tourist though - pickpockets will be around so watch your cash and cameras.
http://www.mynottinghill.co.uk/nottinghilltv/carnival1.htm
http://www.nottinghillcarnival.org.uk/
Don't miss going to a pub - especially one with a beer garden....
http://www.fancyapint.com/ ( no you don't tip the barstaff - read the UK Visitor's guide!)
you might enjoy going to lovely Richmond Upon Thames (on the District Line tube) and have a ploughman's lunch at a riverside pub...or perhaps go and see a live band in one of the pubs all over the capital (really miss doing that).
http://www.visitrichmond.co.uk/
Go and have a curry in Brick Lane - just behind Liverpool Street station....lots of interesting shops in the vicinity there as well as Spitalfields market and Brick Lane is the mecca for curry lovers with restaurants from Bangladesh which are very inexpensive
http://www.londontourist.org/time2.html |
John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 433
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 8:24 pm: |
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Tower of London. Also, go to the Maplewood library and get a couple of books on London. One of them should have information on how to get free tickets for the Tower of London Key ceremony, 9:30 p.m. every night. It is the closest you will ever get to imaginaing what the kingdom was like 400 years ago.
Stonehenge... leaves from Victoria and the bus depot. Bus is cheaper and is 1 block from Victoria.
Imperial War Museum. If you studied about the trenches of WW I and the London Blitz of 1939, run, don't walk to this museum. Alright, you can take the underground.
Westminster Abby and Parliament -- if open.
Begin your preparations by logging on now to www.walks.com
This is the site of the "Origional London Walks."
They are licensed tour guides and you can find a walk around any interest you might have.
DO NOT and I repeat, DO NOT (sorry I get emotional) miss their Jack the Ripper walk..
If in doubt after checking the morning weather, bring gortex rain gear in a backpack. It saved me many a drenching. Yeh, the locals will immediately pick you out as a Yank, but so what?
And I will repeat a warning on an earlier post -- keep your money, passport and cameras and stuff secure. If you are in a crowd and have a backpack. turn it around with the straps in back and the pack in front. Males may have a dummy wallet in their back pocket and keep the real stuff in a front pocket. Leave photocopies of your passport and tickets at home so they can more easily be replaced if lost or stolen. Ladies, watch your purse.
On two separate trips, I have had stuff stolen from me. They are fast.
I wish I was going with you. |
John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 434
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 8:29 pm: |
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An earlier poster mentioned West End theaters. Go to Leicester Square about 12:30 p.m. and get half price tix for shows on the same night. Joyce and I saw several of our favorite BBC stars this way. |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 2194
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 8:38 pm: |
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Go out to Oxford, walk through the university, go to Blackwell's, go to the Needle back in London. |
Hiraeth
Citizen
Username: Hiraeth
Post Number: 24
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 8:54 pm: |
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Don't forget that all the National Museums in Britain now have free entry - many of these are in London e.g. National History Museum, Museum of London, Science Museum, Tate Modern, Victoria & Albert, British Museum etc. etc.... |
spol
Citizen
Username: Spol
Post Number: 38
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 10:43 am: |
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Wow, you guys, this is great. I want to do each and every thing you all have mentioned!!!!
There are three of us (all women, all late 20s) who are going- I definitely want to hit a pub at some point, but could absolutely pass on a nightclub....really not my scene. The Tower of London sounds fun and the Jack the Ripper walk sounds great too!
Miss L Toe - thanks for the great links. I probably won't get any work done today! |
composerjohn
Citizen
Username: Composerjohn
Post Number: 970
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 11:16 am: |
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I went to London last year for four days. I had a great time! Here's the link to my thread with more info:
/discus/messages/99059/61273.html?1108825930 |
John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 440
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 12:35 pm: |
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Now that I know your gender, probably skip the Imperial War Museum and add Windsor or Kensington Castle.
On the London Walks website, check the Dickens walk and some of the other walks.
You won't have trouble finding a pub. |
Miss L Toe
Citizen
Username: Miss_l_toe
Post Number: 572
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 4:15 pm: |
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Just remembered: the last Monday in August is the traditional Bank Holiday weekend - the last public holiday before Christmas.
Many shops will be closed (although probably not in the tourist areas) and museums and theatres may have reduced or different hours - some may even be closed for the day. On the other hand there will be lots of other festivals and attractions taking place. Do buy a Time Out to check
Don't even think about trying to travel far on Bank Holiday Monday; roads will be crowded (I've spent many hours stuck on the M25 London Orbital motorway on bank holiday weekends as well as on the M3 and M4) as people will be driving to and from the coast and on the Monday evening everyone will be heading back to London if they've been away for the weekend.
The trains will be on a reduced timetable, so I certainly wouldn't bother going to Oxford - the colleges will probably be closed and so will many of the shops but the pubs will be open (Oxford is approx 50 miles from London) nor Stonehenge (even further away). Go to those places on another occasion.
If I was in London on August Bank Holiday Monday I would definitely go to the Notting Hill Carnival; Monday is the main day of the carnival weekend.
Feeling homesick now...  |
akb
Citizen
Username: Akb
Post Number: 439
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 4:34 pm: |
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Check out the London pass with travelcard option. If you want to visit the places on it (which include the Tower of London), you can save a lot and it is easy to budget for as you buy in advance. www.londontown.com is usually cheapest |
John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 441
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 6:30 pm: |
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You mentioned wanting to visit a pub. On Sundays, many pubs offer an inexpensive traditional English roast beef dinner starting around noon. Any London taxi driver can take you to such a pub. I don't know if it still so but booze wasn't allowed to be served during the time of the Sunday dinners. Since I was last there, the liquor laws have been changed so maybe you can get alcohol with your meal.
When you get to Victoria station from the airport, there is a booth that sells a weekly underground pass for tourists. It is a good bargain. |
spol
Citizen
Username: Spol
Post Number: 39
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 11:02 am: |
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I was looking at the LondonPass and it seems like a pretty good option. I believe we're staying in Harrow, which is in the greater London area (I think Zone 6). According to the website, it seems that if you get the travelcard option, you can travel from zones 1-6 for free?
Seems like a great deal. |
John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 455
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 - 12:40 pm: |
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Just know that the pass says it is not to be used during rush hour(s). |
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