London tourist tips?

[bsj1701]

I've noticed there are quite a few members from the U.K. I may be visiting in late March, and I'd love some tips! Links to websites or any general thoughts concerning tours, hotels, bed and breakfasts, etc.

Thanks-

Brian

 

[EnsignYoshi]

something went wrong when posting this, so see below for the actual post

 

[Crusher Disciple]

Don't look anyone over there in the eye. And ask them if they speak English. If they look at you all confused, yell, DO YOU SPEAK ANY ENGLISH at the top of your lungs.

Yelling is the only way to get people to listen to you over there.

Have a good trip.

 

[EnsignYoshi]

I can recommend:

- Maritime Greenwich (where amongst others you can stand on the prime meridian line at the royal observatory). Reachable in a short time from london by DLR (kind of tramservice). Especially interesting if you're into science. (a world heritage site)

- Tower of London (world heritage site)

- Westminster Abbey & the Houses of Parliament (world heritage site)

- Kew gardens (+/- 35 minutes by underground from london) (world heritage site)

- There's a doctor who police box at earl's court tube station (if I recall), if you're into that sort of thing

- Harrods

- National Gallery at trafalgar square

- Madame Tussauds

- Hamleys (toystore)

I believe stonehenge is also pretty reachable from london (with train or tourbus) but I still have to try that one myself .

 

[Bacl]

London is the best place in the entire planet to get Indian food, and that includes India.

Those who go to London and never get a curry really end up missing on the city's signature cuisine.

 

[Holdfast]

Always take the Tube if needing to travel between Charing Cross and Embankment stations.

 

[WillsBabe]

Bring lots of money. Apparently London is scandalously expensive to visit if you are coming from overseas, although when I was last in our fair capital it seemed less expensive to eat and drink than in my home town. Stll, given the way Sterling has been performing against others of the world's currencies over recent weeks you'll probably be able to do a week for $5 and change.

Seriously, though. If you are looking for somewhere cheap to stay, check out Easy Hotels (from the people who bring you Easy Jet). They are seriously no-frills (you get a bed). I stayed in the one in Victoria recently because I needed to save my pennies. We had breakfast at Victoria Station - full English for a reasonable amount.

London Eye is great to visit. If you are not on a budget you can have a bottle of champagne while you admire the city.

Houses of Parliament are always worth a visit as is the V&A and the British Museum. Hyde Park is great and they have a lovely cafe in there to watch the birds on the late - partiulalry good if the weather is nasty.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Go the extra dozen miles or so and visit beautiful Chelmsford!


But seriously, London has a lot of things to see. Travelling by Tube will get you to most places. Best thing to do is to go topside and hop on one of many Tour Buses and take in whatever you fancy.

And take money. Lots of it.

 

[Roger Wilco]

London is the best place in the entire planet to get Indian food, and that includes India.

Those who go to London and never get a curry really end up missing on the city's signature cuisine.

Besides it's the only food that's halfway affordable in London.

 

[Santaman]

HMS Belfast, you really need to see this ship.

http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk/

Entrance is cheap and you can literally spend hours and hours touring the ship.

 

[Hermiod]

Here's a tip. If you stand on the left hand side on a Tube escalator or walk slowly down one of the narrow connecting corridors between platforms, I will feed you to the rats that infest the tunnels.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

You can walk from Hyde Park over Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben.... then take a turn and follow the Thames to the Tower. It's one hell of a walk, but you'll have covered all the (tourist) basics and seen a lot more than you would should you stick to the Tube.

That's what I do when I'm in London- there's a lot of nice hotels in Westminster, close to Hyde Park (Victoria Station would be the closest one), not too expensive.... worth checking out.

Hyde Park rocks. Pity you can't visit right now, I think the German Christmas Market is still open.

 

[blaXXer]

Don't. Get. Stabbed.

 

[Goliath]

Always take the Tube if needing to travel between Charing Cross and Embankment stations.

In addition to the sights which people have already mentioned, I would recommend:

--the Tate Modern (a huge gallery of modern art housed in a converted power plant);

--the Tate Britain (a smaller but still impressive gallery devoted to British art specifically);

--and the British Museum (an enormous museum with especially strong holdings in the ancient and classical worlds, including the actual Rosetta Stone).

 

[SPOCKED]

Bed & Breakfasts, pub crawls, and the tube. Also be sure to bring your darts

 

[cultcross]

I believe stonehenge is also pretty reachable from london (with train or tourbus) but I still have to try that one myself .

I love the differing concept of distance on both sides of the pond, it's always fascinated me. To the average Brit, Stonehenge is absolutely miles from London. We'd never go to London and think 'hey, let's hit Stonehenge!'
But to an American used to a much more scaled up country, you're right, it's perfectly accessible. I've gained an American concept of distance from travellnig over there a lot, so I tend to refer to things beign 'close' which make other Brits give me looks.
However, I would warn that it's extremely boring. It's fenced off at about a 100ft radius, the visitor centre is awful, and its very overpriced. You get little or nothing from the experience that you don't get from a good photo of it, so unless you have some other things to see in the West Country at the same time, don't bother with the trip. If you're looking for something else to do, I'd recommend Salisbury which is 15 minutes down the road from Stonehenge, it's a lovely quaint city with a stunning cathedral which has a brilliant visitor centre/museum attached.


In London itself, taking a boat on the Thames is always something I recommend. Or take a guided walking tour if you don't like boats. They're the best ways to get a great feel for the city in a fairly short space of time, and the commentaries are interesting and informative.

The Tube is the best way to get around in London, a number of options exist for payment, do not buy single fares for each journey, you'll pay about 5 times what you needed to overall. Travelcards for the day are good, especially if you don't really know where you're going to go, as you pay once and you can use the Tube as much as you like for the day- even the Oyster system charges you every time, and are designed more for commuters who make the same planned journey daily.
btw, Hermiod is right about standing on the left of the escalators. You will be executed at dawn, especially if you do it during rush hour. Actually, if you can avoid the Tube entirely during rush hour, I'd reccommend you do. It's not fun.

 

[Jono]

Has anyone here been to Duxford museum? That's the place I'd really like to go when I'm next in England. I've done the usual stuff, the Tower, Churchill's bunker, the national art gallery, natural history museum, Imperial War Museum, wandering around Hyde park at midnight when I was 15 trying to figure out how to get to our hostel that was connected to the park. I know that Duxford isn't in London but it's the top of my list of places to visit next time I'm in the country.

Plus I have to try and go when the Wallabies are touring through Europe and catch a game in either, England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland. My bro went to Millenium Stadium in 2006 and said it was fantastic.

 

[cultcross]

^ Duxford is excellent, I'd certainly recommend a visit.

 

[Crusher Disciple]

Bed & Breakfasts, pub crawls, and the tube. Also be sure to bring your darts

Oh yeah- Homeland Security is going to love that.

 

[Goliath]

I believe stonehenge is also pretty reachable from london (with train or tourbus) but I still have to try that one myself .

I love the differing concept of distance on both sides of the pond, it's always fascinated me. To the average Brit, Stonehenge is absolutely miles from London. We'd never go to London and think 'hey, let's hit Stonehenge!'
But to an American used to a much more scaled up country, you're right, it's perfectly accessible. I've gained an American concept of distance from travellnig over there a lot, so I tend to refer to things beign 'close' which make other Brits give me looks.

It's even worse if you're Canadian.

Area of Europe(including European Russia): 3,930,000 sq km
Area of Canada: 3,854,085 sq km

Area of Great Britain: 209,331 sq km
Area of province of Ontario: 1,076,395 sq km

Distance from London to Stonehenge: 120-150 km, depending on who you ask
Distance from my Toronto to my location (Sudbury): 311 km

Actually, if you can avoid the Tube entirely during rush hour, I'd reccommend you do. It's not fun.

Avoid the Piccadilly Line in particular.

From where I stay, near Russell Square, I've found it's worthwhile to walk north to King's Cross/St. Pancras and take the Circle Line, just to avoid those horrible, cramped, crowded Piccadilly Line trains at rush hour.