Questions for anyone who has been to London

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I got such great responses to my questions about travel to Rome . . . now for London. We fly into London and want to stay a few days before heading for Italy. Where do you suggest we stay? What’s best to see? We’re open to staying in hostels, convents and monasteries to save money.

Many thanks!! —KCT
 
I haven’t been there in many, many years so I can’t talk about hotels.

To see? Oh my, where to begin? Westminster Abbey, the Tower, Buckingham Palace, etc. etc.

Enjoy!
 
Skip London, See Scotland instead:thumbsup: 🙂 :cool: :clapping: Seriously, only been to London once so can’t be much help…
 
I recommend getting an all day bus pass. It’s only 2 or 3 pounds. Get their map, it has all the bus routes and sites. It’s really easy and fun to use.

I took my son to England for his 18th birthday in April of 2003. We had 2 free nights in London as part of our British Airway ticket. That meant one full day in London. All the sites are bunched together, so once you get down to where the Parlement building is, you can practically walk to everything, or easily hop on a bus. It’s a cinch.

I highly recommend Westminster Cathedral, which is Roman Catholic and exquisite. I went to confession there. It has incredible mosaics. Here is their website.WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL

I also recommend the Tower of London. It had a wonderful tour, with lots of great history. It really makes you realize the sordid beginnings to the Anglican Church, rooted in the evil sins of Henry VIII.

Westmisnter Abbey charges to enter, so we skipped it. We walked through their courtyard which had plenty of interesting tombs inbedded in the walls. St. Paul Cathedral also charges, but we slipped in behind a school group. It’s interesting, it looked similar to Westminster Abbey, when we peeked in it. The Anglican Cathedrals are interesting, but have museum like atmospheres. On our way to Cornwall, we also saw Exeter Cathedral, which was nice. You can really get a feel for the overwhelming connection of Anglicanism to the Crown by visiting these Cathedrals. All the cathedrals have prominant people buried in the walls

The Methodist Hall is across the street from Westminster Abbey and Parliment. They don’t get a whole lot of tourists, so it was kind of neat. A delightful elderly gentleman gave us a charming personal tour and told us all about John Wesley who “liked to preach in the open air” he told us. So, they make their halls airy and full of light to reflect that tradition.

We had only one full day in London, and didn’t want to overdo it. You can easily play it by ear there, everything is easy to get to and centralized. There was a museum that a female cop recommended, maybe the British Museum, I don’t remember. It’s down there by the Parliment building. Buckingham Palace is near Westminster Cathedral. I’m not a big museum person, but I hear it’s great.
 
I second the suggestion to hop a train to Scotland. See London first, by all means, but a day trip to Edinburgh is great fun. My sister-in-law came to visit us while we were living in Harrogate, England, and she and I took a day trip to Edinburgh. We toured the castle, took a whiskey tour, and enjoyed a few pints of Theakston’s Old Peculiar and some wonderful steak pies in a pub. We had some cider on the ride back to Harrogate and laughed most of the way home. Great fun.

I would also recommend for your consideration Harrogate, which is also just a train ride away from London. It’s a beautiful town with much to offer and plenty to see. If you like fish and chips, Gravely’s is the place to go in Harrogate. Prefer Indian? None better than the Harrogate Tandoori. I’d go back tomorrow to stay if I could.

Enjoy planning your trip! I hope it’s absolutely brilliant!
 
If you like museums, see the National Portrait Gallery. It was my favorite art museum - it’s hard to explain why, but I think it’s because it brought so much of the rich history of Britain to life. It was fascinating to see the people who were involved in all sorts of major, world-shaping events.

The British Museum is fabulous, but be prepared for dissatisfaction if you can only spend a few hours there. It’s big enough to need at least a week to see properly. However, if you go into it knowing that you’ll only see part of it (decide what you want to see before you go), there are some really great exhibits. I loved seeing the Elgin Marbles, partly because I’d studied them in school and didn’t realize they were housed there (it’s a shame, of course, that they can’t be viewed in their original location in Greece, but…). They also have a wonderful collection of Egyptian artifacts, including case after case of mummies. I also remember being impressed that I got to see the Rosetta Stone.

The advice to check out Edinburgh is worth following. If you have time, you should also try and see some of the southwest of England (Devon, Cornwall) or possibly Cardiff in Wales. Of course, I don’t know how long you’ll be there, or how much traveling you want to do. If it’s just a day or two, it might be worth your while to stay in London.

An all day Underground (Tube) pass is also a possibility. You don’t get to see the sights as you travel, of course, but it’s a great way to get around.

Oh - one other thing. If you’re interested in WWII history, check into seeing the Cabinet War Rooms and/or the Imperial War Museum. I was very impressed by both. The Cabinet War Rooms are the actual hidden bunkers from which Churchill and his government ran the country and the war during WWII.

Okay, I’ll shut up now. 🙂
 
If you want to stay in a Monastery, check out Buckfast Abbey. It’s just outside of Exeter, in Devonshire. I have all the information to stay there, as I plan on going back. It’s Benedictine, and was rebuilt on the original site of the ancient one. They rebuilt it around the turn of the century, I believe. They have accomodations for men and women. It has an incredible church on the site. It’s great!!!

Buckfast Abbey Website
 
Buckfast Abbey looks gorgeous! I’ll check it out. Thanks to all for the great information. Keep it coming!

KCT
 
holland court hotel, take the 9 bus into town. love it everytime i go to london.
 
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KCT:
I got such great responses to my questions about travel to Rome . . . now for London. We fly into London and want to stay a few days before heading for Italy. Where do you suggest we stay? What’s best to see? We’re open to staying in hostels, convents and monasteries to save money.

Many thanks!! —KCT
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Take one of the bus tours (you can call and book one through Harrods) which allows you to get a good picture of the city, see some of the famous tourist sites from the bus and get a feel for how the city is laid out and what is in what section of town; as for museums, I wouldn’t miss the Victoria and Albert - not as big as the British museum and you can cover a lot of ground in one day -
don’t miss St. Paul’s Cathedral - it’s even more wonderful than they say. But the bus tour will introduce you to one of the most fabulous cities in the world.

If you can book a trip fron London via daily tour bus to Castle Leeds and you will really enjoy the wonderful grounds, the interior of the castle restored and where Eisenhower spent some time during the war. A very interesting and serene atmosphere. And don’t miss the Tower of London - another good place to see.
 
Looks like you’ve got some great suggestions, but I’ll but in my own :twocents: as a Londoner.

My favorite “tourist attraction” is the Tower of London. Don’t miss it! It’s worth going on a guided tour with one of the Beef Eaters (the guys who work there) and make sure you go see the crown jewels. Incredible!! Diamonds the size of your fist.

The London Eye is one of the world’s largest ferris wheels and gives excellent 360 degree views of the city. It costs £11, but it lasts over half an hour so it’s worth it if you are willing to spend the money. If you’d rather opt for a cheaper option, check out 1 of my favorite bars- which has nice views of the city. It is on the top floor of the Tate Modern (old factory building directly across the river from St. Pauls… take the cool new Millenium Bridge). You can go there, have a drink or a snack or a cuppa (tea that is 😉 ) and get gorgeous views of the river, the city, and St Pauls. It’s free to get in, and you don’t have to look at the art if you’re not into the modern thing. Just take the lift (elavator) up to I think the 5th or 7th? floor. Go during the day, the bar closes early evening most nights. It’s cool, you won’t regret it.

Food… go to any pub, try the fish and chips at least once. Yummy.

You may like to try Maggie Jones, which is a sit down restaurant near High Street Kensington. Go for lunch, it’s cheaper than dinner but the food is great… which is rare for the UK, the food stinks here (says the American in me!). I don’t know if you’re familiar with Rick Steves, the travel show guy who has a tv show and loads of books, but this is one of his fav restaurants and also mine. Not super expensive, but good English food. Go to high street ken tube station, take a right out of station. Walk straight till you see pizza hut and take a left on that street. walk straight for a block or two and Maggie Jones will be on your right. Look for the orange J sign down a little side street.

Go for afternoon tea if you get a chance. There’s a good place at high street ken with afternoon tea for about £5 per person (which is a steal) called the Muffin Man. If you want directions PM me.

Also, I know of a hostel in the Bayswater area (zone 1) that a friend of a friend owns. £15-£18 per person per night, called Qwest. If you want the number PM me.

I’d recommend buying all day tube passes, which are £4.60 for zones 1 and 2. All the tourist attractions are in zone 1 basically. You can also use your tube pass if you feel adventurous and want to take the buses (go up top one of the double deckers! it’s fun, I do it every day on my commute to work. just Hold On Tight!)

Pubs… go to the pubs, even if you don’t drink. They’ve got juice and cokes and stuff. Soak up the local atmosphere. 🙂 Don’t tip though. And in restaurants only 10% is necessary, and sometimes it’s already included in the bill.

I hope you have a GREAT time. Feel free to PM me any specific questions you have, I love talking about London.

Take care
 
Hi KCT,

You’ve already had some great tips, just want to add my :twocents: . If you only have a couple of days, I respectfully suggest you forget the above-recommended trip to Edinboro. If I remember correctly, it is something like 9 hrs. by train. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting London 10 or 11 times, and still feel like there are dozens of major things I haven’t seen yet, so do plan on going back! Keep that in mind, so you don’t get overwhelmed at trying to do everything.

Also want to second White Dove’s recommendation on the Westminster Cathedral! Everyone talks of Westminster Abbey, which*** is*** lovely and full of history, but the Cathedral is Catholic, and absolutely beautiful! (My husband and I, both converts, had our marriage blessed there on the occasion of our 25th anniversary.)It is just a short block from Victoria Station, so very easy to find and get to.

One other recommendation, if you have the time and the money. (London is very, very expensive!) Check out what is playing at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

Have a wonderful trip. Wish we could all go with you!
 
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