London (The Real One!) Travel Tips and Advice

[IceAlisa]

Shopping on King's Road in Chelsea is fun. You can find stores favored by the Duchess of Cambridge, like the Warehouse.

[victoriajh]

Don’t forget the British Museum and/or The Victoria & Albert museums. If you go to the Tower, get there early. We did by happenstance and just about had the place to ourselves. The guards at the Crown Jewels even let us go past twice (you move by them on a people mover). Hop on/Off bus is a very good way to survey London. Ticket’s good for 24 hours.

yes or go later- we did the same thing rigth before closing time! no cue at all- otherwise when you see a cue outside and if it is down the road you have A LONG wait-once in the building it is like 20 min or so more from there-

[kylet3]

Oh No this is all Excellent, keep up with as much as you all can think of! I appreciate it all.

So far I think I'm going to do (if I can) Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Tower of London, Tower Bridge (for pictures) Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Harrods, Camden Markets, what's the other tourist stuff I'm missing? but I think that about covers it for now. Picadailly Circus! Doing that my first night. SoHo?

[Christina]

Hampton Court is nice, but a bit of a train ride. I second getting to the Tower early - it's much less crowded. St. Martin in the Fields is off of Trafalgar Square and has a nice evensong service. The cafe in the crypt had yummy apple crumble with custard!

If you go to Harrods, run across the way to Harvey Nichols and check out the foodstuffs on the 4th(?) floor - neat stuff there.

I'll second the British museum, and Covent Garden is a short walk from there.

[JasperBoy]

I just spent a week at Camden Town and saw a lot of the market and Regent's Canal. It is very unusual. The Stables Market and Horse Tunnel Market are in an huge old building formerly used as a horse barn. There are bronze statues of horses everywhere. We went at 8 AM before anything opened and were able to see the details. Once the market opens it is wall to wall people.
You can have any part of your body "modified" in any way you wish at on Camden High Street.

Nice of Liz to head out of town so you will be able to see the Palace!

[BrokenAnkle]

When we were in London some years ago, we really were fascinated by the Cabinet War Rooms. It's like stepping back into the past. Given a choice of all the museums, I would choose the National Gallery, The British Library (the Magna Carta and other amazing manuscripts and print materials) and perhaps the Tate Modern. Loved Hampton Court but it does take a while to get there.

[allezfred]

Shopping on King's Road in Chelsea is fun. You can find stores favored by the Duchess of Cambridge, like the Warehouse.

Nobody says "the Warehouse". It's just "Warehouse".

[Tinami Amori]

I'm going to be heading to London (and Paris) on a Contiki Tour. I have about three (or so) days in London.

I plan to tour Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, The Tower of London, Big Ben, Harrods, Maybe Hyde Park? There's also a side trip to Stonehenge but I think I'll skip that and go to Windsor Castle instead.

Does anythone think this can all be done in that time frame?

3 days is tight. But can be done. You will need to bundle the attractions you want to see by districts in London.

Here is the attractions map of London.
http://www.londonpass.com/london-tourist-map/index.php

From your list + few more:

A) Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament – 3 hrs.
Westminster Abbey is not always open to public for walk in visits. Check times for casual visits and services. http://www.westminster-abbey.org/

Big Ben/Clock Tower is NOT open to public for visits. Enjoy the view from the side walk.
Parliament – check website if you want to sit in on a session for “pro-forma”
http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/vi...rseasvisitors/

B) Tower of London, Tower Bridge – 3-5 hrs – buy tickets in advance.
http://www.hrp.org.uk/

C) Buckingham Palace – buy ticks in advance. Allocate 3 hours to visit.
http://www.viator.com/London-attract...ckets/d737-a84

D) Harrods, Hyde Park/Kensington Park – Park 2-3 hours, Harrods….. who knows.
There is also Kensington Palace in the Park, with Royal Dress collection – 2 hrs.
Harrods is on Brompton Road, 4 blocks from the park, walk north east to Knightsbridge road, turn left, walk 6 blocks, cross the street going north: entrance into the Park.

E) Windsor Castle – realistically, takes full day including travel there and back to London.
Can be done in 4-6 hours. Check the site.
http://www.windsor.gov.uk/site/thing...urs-and-trails

Now you’re “up to your neck” with tours for the 3 days you plan to be there.

Few recommendations:
- British Museum - http://www.britishmuseum.org/
- St. Paul’s Cathedral: http://www.stpauls.co.uk/
- Hampton Court (instead of Windsor Castle, because it has more history we know from literature and movies, fully accessible in all rooms and sections, unlike Windsor Palace, which is currently a functioning Royal residence, and most of it is blocked off to public, and if you take a boat ex London centre to Hampton Court, you get to see the river banks of Thames). http://www.londonpass.com/london-att...rt-palace.html

Bob's your Uncle……..And if you’re not a useless knob and can manage all this without going off your trolley …… here is the map of London Tube…….. that IS your friend.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...d-tube-map.pdf
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modalpages/2625.aspx

[Bev Johnston]

I see no one's mentioned Kensington Gardens. I have to say this was one of my favorite things when I visited London. We toured the palace and saw Diana's dress collection, had tea at The Orangery, and ran around the park, enjoying the weather on a very nice day. It took a long time, but we found the Peter Pan statue and left scraps of paper with wishes.

Awww... I want to go back!

ETA: Oops! I see that Tinami DID mention Kensington! Don't know how I missed that.

[Bev Johnston]

Bob's your Uncle……..And if you’re not a useless knob and can manage all this without going off your trolley …… here is the map of London Tube…….. that IS your friend.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...d-tube-map.pdf
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modalpages/2625.aspx

I also want to add that I found it almost virtually impossible to get lost, having a good map of the city that showed all of the tube stops. Definitely get one/print one out.

[kylet3]

Hi All,

This is awesome and I've decided to add a little 2 day extension on to my trip! That way i'll have close to 5 days and I really won't be rushed to get EVERYTHING in, so this way I know I'll have the time I want to do everything I want, get it all done and then be on to the lights and the glitz of Paris. Thanks again and keep up! I love this thread!

Kyle

[pollyanna]

Big Ben/Clock Tower is NOT open to public for visits. Enjoy the view from the side walk.

Not always, but now and then they make an exception.

[UMBS Go Blue]

I see no one's mentioned Kensington Gardens.

Just a little note: I went to Kensington Palace in March and it's under renovation until 2012. There's a much-downscaled "mystery house"/scavenger hunt exhibit inside that's generally unrelated to Diana if Diana is the only purpose of your visit.

Kensington Gardens and adjacent Hyde Park, as well as nearby St. James's Park, are very lovely parks though. There's a Diana memorial fountain in the middle of Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park just northwest of the Serpentine Restaurant.

Since we're on the subject of Diana, there's the Egyptian escalator staircase in the middle of Harrods, at the bottom of which is a shrine to Diana and Dodi al Fayed. It crystallizes the lipstick-smeared champagne glasses they shared over dinner just before that fateful car ride in Paris, and it also crystallizes the engagement ring Dodi supposedly was to have given Diana that week. More tacky than touching, but there is sometimes a live singer singing "Aida" arias from a balcony up above, and of course it's a trip to see random old ladies weeping inconsolably over the Diana/Dodi memorial even after all these years.

[Nan]

There's a Diana memorial fountain in the middle of Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park just northwest of the Serpentine Restaurant.

And the food at the Serpentine (eaten out on the patio) is quite good.

[*Jen*]

Not always, but now and then they make an exception.

Which I wouldn't rely on in a 3 day visit

[kylet3]

I don't want to go in Big Ben, I know it's not open to the public, but more for the photo opportunities. I may tour parliament if I'm feeling geeky enough lol.

[kylet3]

Wow... Does that sound as bad as I think it does???

[JumpinBug]

And I third, when going to the Tower of London, be there right for opening, and boot it to the crown jewels. It's lovely being able to take your time, go around twice, or walk backwards on the moving platforms.

And a second to a London Walk... loved almost all of them that I took.

Instead of the London Eye, consider The Monument. 3 pounds, tiny spiral staircase, and a lovely, lovely view. My favourite picture from all of my trips is the view towards Tower Bridge. Lovely!

My top list... British Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, V&A, Cabinet Rooms and Churchill Museum, and seeing a play at the Globe. Be warned, even groundling tickets can sell out WELL in advance.

Other enjoys... eating lunch in Trafalgar Square, walking along the Thames, browsing the myriad of charity shops, buying dinner at Simply Food (cheap, mmm!), buying tea at the Twinings shop, and seeing a play every night.

[Reuven]

Just wanted to second Bev Johnston’s Orangery recommendation. We did high tea there, very lovely. And adding the National Gallery. Besides the art, the building is amazing!

[UMBS Go Blue]

Oh, and check out Time Out London for all the latest event/nightlife listings - many of which are free if cost is a concern.