London for a first Timer.

I am older than you I guess - I remember when Covent Garden was a wholesale fruit and veg market with the flower market in the middle in front of the Royal Opera House. One of the great sights was to see the toffs in full fig, mixing with the porters and market vendors. At about 4am it all came to a stop and the pubs were still open.

My Fair Lady!

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Oh, and for a fun and different lunch near Victoria, check in the Victoria Arcade for Aetna Coffee (http://www.etnacoffee.net/). While it says "coffee", the REAL stars of the show are the Arancini, Sicilian rice/cheese/filling balls coated in breadcrumbs and fried. They were incredible. And the owners were so very welcoming and great to our kids. One thing that caught me is that we were the only people in the shop _not_ speaking Italian, including the customers. Big thumbs up from our whole crew.

 

 

 

(Looks like they now have a second location in Marylebone, too; we've only been to the Victoria Arcade location)

Looks great thanks for sharing

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We are very excited to be spending a few days in London pre cruise. We have booked a food tour that begins at London Bridge at 11:00 a.m. We land in London at 7:40, have hired a car and plan to drop our bags at the hotel in Marble Arch area before having the car take us to the meeting point near London Bridge. Is it reasonable to make this time schedule?

My apologies. I knew it will come out as an odd comment. What I meant was I heard that London is a mecca for Indian Restaurants. I am just not fond of Indian food. Just asking for recommendations for other food place If all else fails, pretty sure there is a MacDonalds around the corner.

Try Pret A Manger instead of MacDonalds....great fast food option instead we thought.

We are very excited to be spending a few days in London pre cruise. We have booked a food tour that begins at London Bridge at 11:00 a.m. We land in London at 7:40, have hired a car and plan to drop our bags at the hotel in Marble Arch area before having the car take us to the meeting point near London Bridge. Is it reasonable to make this time schedule?

That sounds pretty tight, but some clarification needed:

- crucially what day of the week? You’ll be in rush hour traffic on a working day - current Google map estimate of LHR T3 to Marble Arch is 1 hour 10 minutes (7-50 am on Wednesday), for example.

- by “hired a car” I assume you mean a car service with driver (“hire car” often means “rental car” in British English usage)

In any case, are you coming off an overnight flight? You seem to have no time to freshen up, get changed etc.

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Yes, I agree that it will be tight but I scheduled the food tour and later found out it is non refundable, so we either rush like crazy to get there or lose our $$. Originally I tried to book the afternoon tour but it was full. Maybe I’ll check back to see if they’ve had some drop outs.It is an overnight flight, so I plan to have some Melatonin along so we can catch some zzz’s. We arrive on a Tuesday, so I guess we will be dealing with morning rush hour. As for hiring a car, yes, we have a driver, so I hope he knows how to navigate the city to get us where we need to be.

Being from Montana, a very slightly populated state, I was amazed to find out how long it will take to get from the airport into the city!

Thanks for your quick reply!!

The two legs of your journey, using generic Marble Arch and London Bridge locations, are currently showing at 45 and 30 minutes (at about the time you’d be doing them) on Google with real time traffic, but very hard to predict. Getting out of the airport should take around an hour at most, assuming no snags, so you have just about enough time if all goes well!

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Thank you for looking into it for me, your answer is reassuring!

I need a recomendation about an afternoon tea in london

 

Everyone says claridges, but we r doing the Sherlock Holmes tea at the st James court, it just looks so cool. But the savoy and the ritz are also supposed to be wonderful, also the tea at st James is only 40 others are far more expensive.

 

How did you book the Sherlock Holmes tea? Could not find an option to book on the hotel website just a description. Looks fun and tasty.

https://www.taj51buckinghamgate.co.uk/Fine-dining/Afternoon-tea/

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Depending on the time of year that you go, a trip to see the state carriages at buckingham palace makes for a good afternoon. They are stunning up close.

The two legs of your journey, using generic Marble Arch and London Bridge locations, are currently showing at 45 and 30 minutes (at about the time you’d be doing them) on Google with real time traffic, but very hard to predict.

In fact, I've just tried a Google Maps estimate for tomorrow morning, leaving Heathrow at 8.30 am. This suggests that it could take between 50 and 100 minutes, which is more the sort of bracket that I would have said.

In most circumstances, Marble Arch to London Bridge is much better done by Tube: Central Line to Bond Street, Jubilee Line to London Bridge. But that assumes that "London Bridge" as the starting location is at or near London Bridge station rather than somewhere else that could plausibly use "London Bridge" as a description.

https://www.taj51buckinghamgate.co.uk/Fine-dining/Afternoon-tea/

 

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Thank you. Plan to be there in June. Never have been able to get my other half interested in tea but he liked the look of this one.

Google is usually a bit pessimistic with time estimates, but I would have thought that these two estimates were on the optimistic side for that time of the day, the first more so than the second.

 

In fact, I've just tried a Google Maps estimate for tomorrow morning, leaving Heathrow at 8.30 am. This suggests that it could take between 50 and 100 minutes, which is more the sort of bracket that I would have said.

 

In most circumstances, Marble Arch to London Bridge is much better done by Tube: Central Line to Bond Street, Jubilee Line to London Bridge. But that assumes that "London Bridge" as the starting location is at or near London Bridge station rather than somewhere else that could plausibly use "London Bridge" as a description.

Well thank you so much for another perspective! I’m crossing my fingers that we will make to the tour on time!

Google is usually a bit pessimistic with time estimates, but I would have thought that these two estimates were on the optimistic side for that time of the day, the first more so than the second.

 

 

 

In fact, I've just tried a Google Maps estimate for tomorrow morning, leaving Heathrow at 8.30 am. This suggests that it could take between 50 and 100 minutes, which is more the sort of bracket that I would have said.

 

 

 

I agree, and looking again ‘real time’ it is currently showing at 70 minutes with the usual areas of congestion on the M4 and A4. I have a horrible feeling I may have had the route reversed to get a 40 minute estimate, which essentially implies free flowing traffic all the way.

But it seems there is little the OP can do to change the plan, and it has a reasonable likelihood of success!

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I see that london have several Michelin restaurant...

Do you have any favorite?

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I see that london have several Michelin restaurant...

 

Do you have any favorite?

 

 

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If you like Indian, you should try Atul Kochhar restaurant.

https://www.benaresrestaurant.com/

We always visit when in London.

Galvin La Chapelle - for a combination of food, service, location and easy parking.

Great advice

Thanks for sharing

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If you like Indian, you should try Atul Kochhar restaurant.

 

 

 

https://www.benaresrestaurant.com/

 

 

 

We always visit when in London.

[emoji1] thsnks

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If you like Indian, you should try Atul Kochhar restaurant.

 

https://www.benaresrestaurant.com/

 

We always visit when in London.

Have you eaten at The Punjab in Covent Garden? Curious how you'd compare them. Atul Kochhar looks more modern and "cleaner" where Punjab has a "lived-in" feel that's kind of nice. (Staying at the Marriott Parklane in June. LOVE good Indian food, and London has always had good Indian food!)

Have you eaten at The Punjab in Covent Garden? Curious how you'd compare them. Atul Kochhar looks more modern and "cleaner" where Punjab has a "lived-in" feel that's kind of nice. (Staying at the Marriott Parklane in June. LOVE good Indian food, and London has always had good Indian food!)

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Have you eaten at The Punjab in Covent Garden? Curious how you'd compare them. Atul Kochhar looks more modern and "cleaner" where Punjab has a "lived-in" feel that's kind of nice. (Staying at the Marriott Parklane in June. LOVE good Indian food, and London has always had good Indian food!)

If you want really good Indian which does not break the bank..always a line so reserve, try DISHOOM . We go to the one on Upper St. Martins lane.

Before we go too far off josephml1's question, which was about Michelin-starred restaurants, it's worth identifying that Benares (Atul Kochhar's restaurant) falls within that category but none of the others do.

The last time that I went to The Punjab, it was basically doing a local curry house menu to a high standard. The menu on its website suggests that it's sticking to that formula.

Dishoom is a chain, and one of a breed of what one might call "modern Indian" - trendy twists on standard dishes.

FWIW, somewhere in between these would be Cafe Spice Namaste, within striking distance of the Tower of London, which is a non-chain restaurant of another noted Indian chef.

However, Benares is simply in a different league from any of these - both in cooking and in price (£25-£40 for a main course, as you will see from its website) - as one would expect from most Michelin-starred restaurants.