If you were going to London England....

[Optimist Prime]

I'd take a day trip to stone henge! And see Austin Powers pad. Yeah baby. I wish I could remember what i was going to say.

[RedRoseSAI]

Ooh, I'm so excited for you - London is one of my favorite cities! There's so much to do and see, and the Tube will take you anywhere you need to go. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend taking along a Rick Steves tour book. I spent a summer in England, took another trip back to London, plus two trips to Paris with Rick at my side, and he has never steered me wrong.

Ok, enough plugging for that. Here are some things I love to do in London (some have already been mentioned):

Westminister Abbey - SO MUCH to see in here. Don't fly through - take the time to talk to the curators...they're very knowledgable and can tell you all sorts of neat stuff you never knew existed. I would especially ask them questions about the room where the Knights of Bath meet (sorry - can't remember the name of the room). They'll tell you all about the carvings on the pews (including some of the naughty ones) and what the different flags mean. I could easily spend two hours at Westminster.

Cabinet War Rooms - If you're into history, this is a really neat place. It was from these rooms that Churchill led his country during WWII.

Imperial War Museum - not as bellicose as it sounds. I loved it, but I was a history major, so this sort of thing is right up my alley. I didn't get a chance to see the Blitz exhibit, but I heard it's very good.

Harrods - Check out the food halls on the bottom level. The quantity and quality of food available will blow your mind. To be honest, I think the rest of the store is over-rated, although the Egyptian atrium is pretty cool from an architectual standpoint.

Fortum & Masons - Beautiful old department store. Can't really comment on it too much, as I just ran in here to buy some tea. The area around it is very posh - great for window shopping.

Harvey Nicholas - Now this store, I like. It's not as touristy as Harrod's and they sell some really unique things. If you really want to buy somethng at a big department store, stop by Harvey Nix.

St Paul's Cathedral - This is where Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married. If you have the time, climb up and walk around the dome. Also, visit the American Cathedral at the back of the church. Find your state flag in the stained glass window.

Piccadilly Circus - What Times Square is to New York, Piccadilly is to London. Stand in the middle and have someone take your picture.

Pubs - You can NOT go to London without going to a pub! Find one that isn't in the middle of tourist central, and order something besides the fish and chips. Above all, do not order American beer! You didn't fly all that way to have a Budweiser! Ask the bartender what his favorite is, and give it a try. If you don't like beer, have a cider.

Covent Gardens - Great for people watching, and even better for theatre. Go to the official ticket theatre ticket booth in Leister (sp?) Square (beware of copy-cats) and score some cheap seats for a show that night.

Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park - Go here on a Sunday afternoon and listen to democracy in action. It's like walking through a market of ideas - people of all ages get up on little ladders (or boxes, or benches) and start telling anyone who will listen what they think. Very, very interesting.

Tower of London - ogle the jewels, see the beefeaters.

Kew Gardens - if you have a green thumb, definitely visit Kew. I'm not really interested in gardening, but I found it enjoyable.

If you're looking for a good restaurant, I like Maggie Jones in Notting Hill. They serve traditional English food, but the staff is really young and slightly crazy. We went there on New Year's Eve and had a blast.

Also, make it a point to have afternoon tea at least once. Don't ask for high tea - that's later in the day, and doesn't come with the yummy meal that afternoon tea has.

If you have some time for day trips, I recommend Oxford and Bath. Both cities have a lot of history and a lot of beautiful buildings. If you go to Oxford, don't ask a local where the university is - they'll look at you like you're crazy. The main part of town is made up of university building mixed with commerical and residential buildings. It's nothing like our universities in the States.

I'm going to stop here...I think that's enough for one posting. Of course, there are many other things to see, like the British Museum, Museum of London, Victoria and Albert Museum ("the V and A"), the London Eye, Trafalger Square, St Martin-in-the-fields, and on and on. Have a wonderful time, and give us a full report when you get back!

[SigmaChiCard]

Oh yeah....if you don't like beer too much then get a grolsch shandy.....it's really good, I think....it was my morning drink....half beer, half lemonade (sprite).....can lift your spirits when you're feeling a bit pekkish.

that resturaunt in Notting Hill is good....there is a ton of cool resturaunts that are holes in the wall.....you should also go to the worlds smallest pub...it's very central london just off of the regents park underground stop.

[Tom Earp]

Go to Sherlock Holelms Pub on N Umberland betwqeen the Thams and Trafilgar! They call it a street ans is just a lane!

Tru a Half pt of Lager for the lady and a full pint for the gent! Scotch Eggs are the best!

Go upstairs and have a Fantastic dining room!

Most have told you the best unless you go to Statford and see where Willie Shaeakspear is laid to rest!

Oh Hell it is all good!

Find a Freemans pub if not look for Wartneys Beer! My best!

[queequek]

Now it is my turn to go to London here in couple days

But anyway, good thread and good suggestions. Questions though: How to get outside London? Should we rent a car? With driving at the left side of the road, it might turn out to be great experience. Or is there any bus going to these country side places? Or tourist bus (I would avoid this if I could).

I really want to go to Cornwall and Scotland, and of course Stonehenge. But since I am a student and I am going with student budget, I want to get as cheap as possible

So any more suggetions, my fellow GCs? Navane, you live there, maybe I should PM you then.

[Lisa Fishman]

qeequec, I heard the best way to get around outside of London is by train.

[lauralaylin]

I must say that I thought the Tower of London (except for the jewels) and Stonehenge were over-rated. I've been to both twice, and neither time I was very impressed. Of course, they are places that you may want to say you've been to.

I loved the Tate. You could spend a few days in there. I also liked the Victoria and Albert Museum.

If you are going anywhere else, I strongely recommend Bath. I'm a big Jane Austen fan, so I loved it there. There's tons to do there too.

[AlphaSigOU]

All these recommendations are good... but one thing I have to make sure I plan to visit is Freemason's Hall, the home of the United Grand Lodge of England. Yes, they do offer tours and if you're a Mason, they'll put you in contact with a nearby lodge so you can visit -- don't forget to wear coat and tie (dress is much more formal). Afterwards, they usually have a 'festive board' where dinner is served and beer and wine (and sometimes mixed drinks) as well (US Masonic lodges for the most part are dry.)

[kstar]

Go to the markets... Like the one's on the streets... You can find unbelieveable items as souvenieers, for WAY cheap.

Get cheap Doc Martens, if you like that kind of stuff at the outlet.

Kew Gardens!!!! The best in the world, they have every type of garden immaginable, from Victorian, to Feng Shui, to just wildlife. It costs to get in, but I spent days there.

Word of advice, you can never take too much film with you. On a 21 day trip, I took 22 rolls of pictures.

[CutiePie2000]

The Jack the Ripper walk is excellent, I went on the one by "Ripping Yarns' which is led by a Tower of London Beefeater.
http://rippingyarns.8m.com/

If you like slinky undergarments, I recommend "Rigby & Peller", who are the corset makers to the Queen. They have beautiful things there! One is on Hans Road, close to Harrods.
http://www.rigbyandpeller.com/

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by queequek
Now it is my turn to go to London here in couple days

But anyway, good thread and good suggestions. Questions though: How to get outside London? Should we rent a car? With driving at the left side of the road, it might turn out to be great experience. Or is there any bus going to these country side places? Or tourist bus (I would avoid this if I could).

While you are in North America, get a few photos taken of yourself in a photo booth. You will need this photo if you get a pass for a week for the commuter train (cuz I did!) and in England, to run around getting the photo can be expensive and a PITA.

[navane]

Originally posted by bcdphie
If you are going elsewhere:
WestCountry (Devon and Cornwall - there you will find Stonehenge and Tintagel)
Isle of Wight
Portsmouth

Not to be nitpicky, but Stonehenge is in Wiltshire and Tintagel is in Cornwall.


If anyone has any questions about The West Country. PLEASE feel free to ask me - after all, if you look to the left under my screenname, it does say that my location is "Southwest England". I, like UKAXO, highly encourage people to try and get out of London at least for a day or two if you can. Yes, see London, but also understand that London is not representative of a "regular" English life.

.....Kelly

[queequek]

Originally posted by Lisa Fishman
qeequec, I heard the best way to get around outside of London is by train.

LOL thanks for the recommendation, Lisa Fishman. By the way, it's queequek
But if I really want to see the countryside, can I still do it by riding a train?

And thanks a bunch with What-To-See in London. But still my questions unaswered, HOW to get outside London? By plane? By car? By boat? Which one is the cheapest one (except by walking around, yee-haw)

CutiePie2000, thanks for the recommendation. It surely is helpful.

Like, how to get to the Kew Garden? Or Stonehenge? Or Cornwall?

[mu_agd]

i lived there for two months and just took the tube everywhere. it's very convenient, you can get pretty much everywhere on it. i think you can get weekly passes for it.

[navane]

Hey queequek,

Getting outside of London is normally fairly easy. The trains are pretty good, though people complain about them not being on time. With that said, I've never really had a problem myself. They can get kinda busy during commute hours and they cost a fair bit of money. London to Bristol is about 1hr 45mins and costs about £60 (~US$90) return.

Currently we're having a bit of trouble with the trains. They closed down Paddington Station over Easter for some signal repairs and it took them forever to re-open the station. Since Paddington is one of the main terminals and THE station for travelling out west, that was a real nightmare for everyone. So, if you're taking the train, you'll need to beware of that kind of situation.

The "bus" I hear is a pretty good choice. There is a coach company called National Express (http://www.nationalexpress.com/) which has loads of coaches going to and from lots of destinations. To give you an example, a coach from London to Bristol will take 2hrs 30mins and cost about £20 (~US$30). I'm pretty sure that you can get them most anywhere in the UK.

I must admit that I'm a travel snob - I always take the train even if it costs more. I simply don't like riding a bus for that long. Either way, you'll get really nice views of the countryside.

Hiring a car is probably not the best idea. Yes, it offers freedom, but it'll be expensive and you may find it difficult to drive on the opposite side of the road (especially in rainy weather). If you're going with a few friends to split the cost, it may be worth it.

Getting to Cornwall is not an easy task. I mean, just look at the map and you'll see why! Train, bus or car, that'll be one LONG journey from London! If you really want to go there, let me know where in more specific detail and my boyfriend and I might be able to help you put together a game plan.

Also, Stonehenge is a bunch of stones in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere. Therefore, it's not exactly easy to get to. However, since it's a tourist attraction, there are firms which offer day trips to Stonehenge, Avebury stone circles, Silbury Hill, Wiltshire White horses, Castle Coombe village, and Lacock village. These are normally with 12 people on a mini-bus and shouldn't really cost more than £20, but it depends on the company. Most of them depart from Bath and I think a few leave from Bristol.

Finally, Kew Gardens is fairly easy to get to as it's on the outskirts of London in Richmond. Take the Underground (subway) District Line and get out at Kew Gardens Station. I believe Richmond is in "Zone 3", so you'll need to be sure to get the correct ticket. Sometimes people get tickets for Zones 1-2 and then didn't realize that they need to get somewhere in zone 3. Simply look at the colour-coded map in the station to check.

Hope this helps!

.....Kelly