Fun Stuff > CHATTER

London trip-report

<< < (2/5) > >>

Ben:
London hotels are pretty infamous, with good reason. They also aren't cheap. If you want to be central, you could try around the Lancaster Gate area. But "stay outside the centre" gets my vote, too.

Most tourists over-extend themselves, getting around Central London isn't quick. Hyde Park, St James' Park and Green Park are the main open spaces in the centre and a good place for open-air lunch if the weather is good. Look for Pret-a-Manger, a sandwich chain which seems to be on every street corner and cheap, by London standards anyway. Tesco Express are a good source of sandwiches and drinks, too. J D Wetherspoon's are a chain pub that serves passable beer and pub food at reasonable prices. Starbucks and Costa are what you would expect, as are McDonalds. Remember that it isn't usual to tip in the UK and table service in pubs is largely unknown.

"Fries" are the things you get in MacDonalds, crisps are what Americans call "chips" and are sold in pubs, with beer. "Chips" are big, greasy fried potato slices eaten with fried fish, battered sausages, or on their own, usually doused in salt and vinegar. Brits love them, Americans usually find them revolting and the Dutch smother them in mayonnaise.

I always recommend St Paul's Cathedral. Go to the Whispering Gallery while you are there. London Eye is spectacular but you MUST book in advance. Do the American Tourist thing and walk across to Westminster, it's only a few minutes walk from the Eye. Those open-top buses are fun, so is a trip on the river - book this near Westminster Bridge. Depending on your tastes, the best museums are the Science Museum, Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert - all these are close together. British Museum is good, that's in Bloomsbury, near Kings Cross

Coventry Garden and Trafalgar Square are close and popular with tourists.

Avoid the Tower of London, Madame Tussaud's and London Dungeon. The Tower is a magnet fir every bus party and tour group in London, the other two are over-priced disappointments.

The Underground is THE way to get about. It has the great advantage of actually going to useful places, unlike the Heathrow Express which leaves you stranded on an outlying suburban platform at Paddington.

As I don't know your nationality some of this May be superfluous.

Have fun

Metope:
It isn't usual to tip here? I've always tipped and so does everyone I know  :?

Also, Tate Modern is having an amazing Matisse exhibition, with only his cut outs. I really wish I'd make it to London this summer to see it, but that seems unlikely. Anyway, you should go if you're into that sort of stuff! It looks incredible!

Mlle Germain:
I don't know how fancy you want your accomodation to be, but when I was in London I stayed in the following hostel (Careful: Hostel, not hotel. So if you want an actual hotel, this is probably not for you):
http://www.palmerslodges.com/home/
They have two hostels in London. I stayed in the one near the Swiss Cottage Tube Station (like, not even 5 mins from the tube station) which is very central. While the rooms don't have huge comfort, it's cheap and rather nice for a hostel (actually very nice, I think) and they have rooms for two on top of the hostel-typical larger dorms. When I go to London again, I'd totally go back. Maybe at least have a look even if you've only considered hotels up to now!

About activities and things to visit, I have two tips that are somewhat outside the classical tourist canon (but not secrets either):
- The Borough Market in Southwark on the southern bank of the Thames (sort of near this weird skyscraper, The Shard). You can look it up on Wikipedia and most tourist guides probably have it as well. This is a really good place to go for food; there is one stall that sells very good kangaroo burgers (if you're into that). Basically, there is all other kind of food you can imagine, too.
- Brick Lane and the surrounding area in East London. Go on a Sunday, then there are several markets (vintage clothes, more food from all over the world; when I was there they also had one for second-hand books) filled with lots of actual Londoners. There is a flower/plant market somewhere near the north end of Brick Lane in Columbia Road (it's a bit of a walk) and lots of the houses are full of interesting Street Art - I liked it a lot. Brick Lane and the Columbia Road Flower Market took us roughly from a late morning to four o' clock in the afternoon, but we also went very slowly looking at all the shops, buying things, getting food...

One more food/drinks recommendation: Gordon's Wine Bar, which is near Charing Cross Station. It's usually very crowded, but nice if you manage to get a table outside.

-- Metope posted faster than me --
OHHH YES, I second Tate Modern! The permanent exhibition is worth seeing as well! And it's free.

Edit: Fixed typo.

Barmymoo:
I tip at restaurants, usually, and I often but not always tip taxi drivers. In the USA it seemed like it was usual to tip more, like the person who packs your shopping bags or whatever, but that isn't done here. Oh and I tip hairdressers, or I did when I got my hair cut!

BeoPuppy:
See the Tates!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page