Here I go again asking about London travel, but this time in January

[LibraryLover]

Ok update in post 6. :)

I took this to pm

 

 

Edited October 18, 2013 by LibraryLover

[lailasmum]

Museums or go see a Pantomime if you've never seen one. Or Ice skating at Somerset house.

[Beth S]

But using pming means that we can't vicariously help you plan your trip! :tongue_smilie:

 

Seriously, you will have an amazing time, whether or not it is freezing cold.

 

It was 10 deg C when we landed there in mid-May last year . . . but I think that's unusual! Most of the tourist attractions will take you indoors, and there will be fewer tourists to deal with. Most natives wear scarves and boots as fashion statements--which would help in the cold.

 

Another word of caution is that the Olympics will be approaching, so there will be lots of construction and scaffolding. (Even in May 2010 they were cleaning the Tower of London facade specifically for the Olympics!)

Edited October 12, 2011 by Beth S

[Parrothead]

Oh, I was hoping to get some ideas for when we go in a couple years.

[Laura Corin]

The river breeze gets very cold in winter.

 

There aren't usually performances in the Globe in winter, but you can still take the tour. I've done it twice and recommend it.

 

I always recommend the Tower of London and the British Museum.

 

Laura

[LibraryLover]

We can still chat about it here, if people would like to. I just didn't want to be boring and obnoxious about bringing this up again. Our Fall plans fell through.

I do want to hear where folks have stayed that aren't too too costly-- but I know it is London, so I'm not asking for miracles there. :) we were going to rent something through VRBO for our longer trip, but we will be 4 or 5 days in London and 3 or 4 days in Paris, so now we are simply looking for safe and comfortable- enough.

So yes, please, feel free to add your experiences.

Edited October 16, 2013 by LibraryLover

[Stacia]

The British Museum!

 

And, be sure to buy chestnuts roasted over an open fire from a street vendor. :drool5:

[Beth S]

We stayed at "Easy Hotel Victoria", usiing EasyHotel.com, asking for the cheapest room for two.

 

We received a very new, clean, white double bed with orange walls which completely surrounded the bed on all sides. Yes, the bed WAS the room, plus a small bathroom with shower. Very clean, new, quiet, but small basement room. $67!

 

We were on a tight budget, and needed to be safe. Staff was VERY friendly and helpful and allowed us to store our bags with them during the day. I believe we paid for computer usage in the lobby.

 

Great neighborhood, and within walking distance of Buckingham Palace.

 

But it may not meet with the average American expectation of a hotel room, but we were very content with the conditions, location and cost.

[Negin]

Definitely try to see a play. London plays are the absolute best.

London is one of my absolute favorite cities in the world. I'm envious, even though we were just there in the summer.

The museums are great - depends what you're looking for. Many are free.

But again, if I were to pick just one thing to do there - a play. :)

If you need more specific tips - let me know.

Rick Steves London book is quite good.

[lailasmum]

Its panto and christmas show time that is probably why there is no Shakespeare. You could see Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker at Sadler's Wells or Royal Ballet Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House

 

I would recommend staying somewhere central because we have had minging winters the last few years and the transport system is not set up to cope, it would be a shame if you spent your holiday snowed in. At least if you are central you can walk most places.

 

You could try a premier inn lodge they are clean, fairly spacious and usually have a double and a sofa bed in the rooms.

Edited October 13, 2011 by lailasmum

[MBM]

:iagree:

 

Yes! See a play. Les Mis is my favorite. I don't think you can get a discount, but we felt the London production was worth every penny. Just. Fantastic. Study a seating chart and comments and buy the tix maybe a few days in advance.

The museums are fantastic, too.

Go deep into Holland Park and see if the peacocks are strutting about. Gorgeous area. I am going to live there someday. ;)

We stayed at one of the Premier Inns (remember? I'm saving to live in Holland Park). The only drawback is that they don't have room safes, so keep that in mind should you stay there. The best location I felt was the one not too far from the Globe on the South Bank (we did not stay there). That whole area is cool. Well, all of London is cool.

I enjoyed exploring neighborhoods, too.

Restaurants, eating places:

Tas Cafe for amazing Turkish food. Their feta was the best I've ever had, and I've had a lot of feta. A few locations.

Konditor and Cook, more of a bakery, but they sell other things, too. My favorites were the Curly Whirly cake and lemon cake. Several locations.

http://www.konditorandcook.com/

Whole Foods is located in what appears to be an old warehouse on Kensington High Street (I believe). The upper floor has a lot of seating and huge windows -- a really lovely feel to it -- where you can buy premade food and eat. There is a cheese cave (not a real cave, of course) on the first floor. How can you say no to a cheese cave?

Patisserie Valerie -- good for coffee, quiche, pastries. Nice atmosphere. Chain.

We did not care for Harrod's food. Meh.

Three helpful, little books we liked:

24 Great Walks in London. The walks are easy-to-do and point out little hideaways and interesting landmarks that you might miss. You could begin reading one walking tour per day before you leave and then decide which ones you want to do.

Savoir Fare London: Stylish Dining for Under $25 by Elaine Louie

The Little Black Book of London: The Quintessential Guide to the Royal Capital

[Scarymelon]

The British Museum was amazing. Despite my initial indifference, I really liked the Tower of London. Notting Hill neighborhood for walking around.

[Laura Corin]

Its panto and christmas show time that is probably why there is no Shakespeare.

 

They don't have performances in winter. There may well be Shakespeare playing elsewhere in the city though.

 

Laura

[Twolittleboys]

We stayed at the Premier Inn right next to the London eye. The location was great and I would highly recommend it.

 

We didn't go in the winter but some of the things we did would work any time of the year. I was very impressed with the children's activities at the museums: British Museum (did the Egypt backpack for the kids), Museum of Natural History (did another backpack for younger children but I believe they also have something for bigger kids), Science Museum (awesome interactive show about rockets). Especially my then 5 year old loved the kids audio guides at the National Galleries. The Tower was great as well but that might depend a bit on the weather.

 

Have fun.

[lailasmum]

Yeah I agree Holland park is lovely. I worked Holland park opera one year and it was a lovely environment to work in. All the animals popping up around the park feels a bit surreal for central London.

[Hedgehog]

If you want a little "local neighbourhood" experience, have a wander through the Camden Market, and/or the market on Portobello Road. Very eclectic.

[Sandra in FL]

Have you seen the London Pass - looks like a great deal - free transportation (with Travelcard option) + entry into most of the major attractions (skipping lines) - not the British Museum though (which is definitely a must see).

 

http://www.londonpass.com/

[saw]

I've stayed at the Hotel Russell fairly often. You can often get a good deal. Location is great and it's really fancy for the price, so I always felt like I was getting a really really good deal.

My favorite thing is to hear Evensong at the Abbey (ds is in the choir, so I can recommend only the Abbey and not St Paul's, although their Evensong is nice too). If you get there very early (30 to 45 minutes early) you may be able to get seated in the choir. If you're going right after Christmas the boys won't be singing as they have holidays. I think they go back the 9th.

I also like London Walks. Not pricy and quite fun. All of the big museums are fun of course. I don't know if anyone's mentioned the Imperial War Museum, but it's really good (and free). The Florence Nightingale Museum and Sherlock Holmes Museums are small and interesting if that's your thing. The Geffrye Museum also does fun exhibits of Christmas past. Also Hampton Court Palace, very nice.

My aunt and uncle have recommended the Hotel des Carmes in Paris. They've stayed there nearly ten times, I think, so it must be okay. I don't have much experience of hotels there since we lived there, but one time we stayed at Citadines (convenient but can be pricy). Last year there was a small ice skating rink set up on the first floor (I think it was first) of the Eiffel Tower during Christmas holidays. The skating wasn't great and it was lots of people who clearly had never skated, but the idea of skating on the Eiffel Tower made it entirely worthwhile. There are also other skating rinks around the city (same goes for London, I'm going to go for skating at the Tower this winter, could be interesting).

[GoVanGogh]

I do want to hear where folks have stayed that aren't too too costly-- but I know it is London, so I'm not asking for miracles there. :) we were going to rent something through VRBO for our longer trip, but we will be 4 or 5 days in London and 3 or 4 days in Paris, so now we are simply looking for safe and comfortable- enough.

We were just in Paris for a week and had a lovely time. It was our first time in Europe, so we went with location over expense for lodging. DH is the one that booked our hotel so I don't know how the price compares, but it was a wonderful hotel and within walking distance of the Louvre. We bought metro/train passes and a week-long art/museum pass, so got around easily and was able to bypass some of the awful lines at the museums.

Feel free to PM me, if you want.

[Mrs Mungo]

The Tower of London is one of my favorite tours, it is amazing.

 

I agree with touring The Globe even if you can't see a production.

 

Find out what special exhibits will be going on at the British Museum. The first time we there the Rosetta Stone was on special exhibit and you had to pay extra to see it.

 

About Paris-in addition to the normal stuff, people love the sewers tour.

Edited October 13, 2011 by Mrs Mungo
Iphone

[GoVanGogh]

About Paris-in addition to the normal stuff, people love the sewers tour.

:lol:

We went because it was highly recommended - and the Orsay had to delay their opening that morning so we had some free time.

It was no where near as "odor free" as we were led to believe. Not terrible. But we were still anxious to get above ground and smell some good ole car exhaust fumes afterward. :tongue_smilie:

DS says the sewer tour was the highlight of his trip. Imagine - a sewer tour over Monet's garden? Crazy child.

The signage at the sewer tour/museum was in French and English. Guided tours were only in French. Interesting to listen to, but the tour guide spoke too fast for my DH to keep up with.

If you chose to go up the Eiffel Tower and there is a long line, you can walk up to the second platform and catch a quick elevator to the top. It is quite the hike, but not as bad as it sounds or looks.

[Laura Corin]

Have you seen the London Pass - looks like a great deal - free transportation (with Travelcard option) + entry into most of the major attractions (skipping lines) - not the British Museum though (which is definitely a must see).

 

http://www.londonpass.com/

 

They ask for a donation, but there's no queue for that. There will be a charge for special exhibitions, but there's so much to see even without that. We spent ages in the (free) Elgin/Parthenon marbles room last time.

 

Laura

Edited October 13, 2011 by Laura Corin

[Sandra in FL]

They ask for a donation, but there's no queue for that. There will be a charge for special exhibitions, but there's so much to see even without that. We spent ages in the (free) Elgin/Parthenon marbles room last time.

 

Laura

 

Has it been so long (pre-kids) that I've forgotten that it's free? Really, really wish we could go again - would love to go for our 25th anniversary, but 2 dc will be in college then.

[ButterfliesandBooks]

Depending on when you're in London there is this - http://www.thelionspart.co.uk/twelfthnight/

 

There are so many places we love, but one of my favourites is the British Library. Lots to see from pages of Leonardo da Vinci's notebook to original Beatles lyrics. The cafe there also does good cakes! lol.

 

We also like the tour at the Globe. We spent hours there on our visit.

 

There are some really nice smaller museums like the Foundling museum

- which has a great park (Coram's fields) just around the corner. We have also enjoyed the Museum of Docklands and the Museum of London. London Zoo is great. The Golden Hinde is small, but we had a great time visiting about a year ago. The guy doing our tour was fantastic.

 

Hope that gives you some ideas! :)

[LibraryLover]

Thanks. :)

 

Edited October 16, 2013 by LibraryLover

[LibraryLover]

They ask for a donation, but there's no queue for that. There will be a charge for special exhibitions, but there's so much to see even without that. We spent ages in the (free) Elgin/Parthenon marbles room last time.

 

Laura

 

 

Yes, I remember that. Amazing.

[LibraryLover]

Thank you! Twelfth Night. :)
 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2013 by LibraryLover

[Melinda in VT]

The War Rooms were really interesting. (Not sure I have the name right--it's been 13 years since I visited--but the underground rooms that were command central during WWII.)

[MBM]

Some more fun places in London:

 

Borough Market, a large food market between London Bridge and the Tate Modern and south of the Clink Prison, has two excellent eating spots (food stalls, really) amidst the food market: Roast to Go which sells an amazing roast pork crackling sandwich and another spot that sells raclette. Not pricey.

 

http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/

 

After visiting a nearby museum or before a play, you could go to St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square for lunch and possibly a concert if a performance falls on a date you're there.

 

http://www.smitf.org/page/home/home.html

 

The Crypt is a unique, cozy cafeteria-style restaurant below the church which sells affordable food that is freshly-prepared daily -- really good. I love the atmosphere there. You can just go down for a cup of coffee or tea, too.

 

http://www.smitf.org/page/cafe2010/cafe.html

 

Another good point about staying at a Premier Inn -- if any of your party likes big breakfasts, they offer a full English, self-serve, eat-as-much-as-you-like breakfast that will keep even a teen boy full until late afternoon. I thought the food was good. We paid 8.50 pounds per person last year, and kids under a certain age ate for free.