Favorite things to do in London

[cruisegirl]

We're going to have about 2 1/2 days in London in May. I'm curious. What are your favorite things to do in London? We're staying near the Charing Cross station so things in that area would be the easiest obviously but hey we can get other places too!

[Nickwolf]

The things I would do (in no particular order) are:

 

1) A west end show

2) Changing of the guard

3) Churchills War Rooms

4) Eat a chinese meal in Chinatown

5) Visit the Tower of London

6) Take a hop on/off tour to see most of the famous sights.

 

I was going to do a list of things I wouldn't bother with but I could only come up with the London Eye and since thousands of people (an hour judging by the lines) disagree with me I am probably wrong.

 

There is so much to do in London that the best you can do in a couple of days is see the iconic sights and do a couple of places in detail. I know because that is how I get to see London, on long weekend breaks. It can be quite exhausting if you try to do too much.

 

Nick.

[cruisegirl]

Nick,

Thanks for the list. The only one I'd thought of was the Tower of London so you gave me several others to consider. I just thought it'd be fun to find out other people's favorite spots.

 

Ann

[Compass Rose Monica]

Here are more suggestions:

 

St Pauls Cathedral

The British Museum

Westminster Abbey

Royal Horse Guards

Stroll around Covent Garden, Soho, Chinatown

Harrods' - visit their food section!

London Eye

 

Of course, with 2 days, you'll have to narrow down to the sights you feel is most important to see.

 

Monica :)

[threecats]

- See a performance of "The Mouse Trap", an Agatha Christie play that has been showing in the same theatre since the 1960s. If you're interested, you might try to get tickets in advance, as it's often sold out.

- Stroll through Soho and Covent Garden. Lots of atmosphere with unique little shops.

- Market on Portobello Road on a Saturday morning. Big crowd, but definitely worth seeing.

- Walk in Hyde park. If you're there on a Sunday morning, go to Speaker's corner. You'll be able to observe/listen to some real characters.

- Boat ride to Cutty Sark in Greenwich. Will give you a nice view of the city from the river. The Meridian (geographic 0 degrees latitude) is there as well.

 

It has been mentioned before, but my all-time favorite is the Tower. I've been to London more than 10 times, but I always go back there.

 

Enjoy your trip:)

[Globaliser]

When you arrive in London, buy a copy of Time Out. It's London's listings magazine, and is pretty much the bible to going out in London. It's published on Tuesday lunchtimes (sometimes available slightly earlier) and covers the week from Wednesday to Wednesday. You can get it from just about newsagent or newspaper stand.

 

A couple of other things to suggest:-

 

When you're over at the Tower of London, it's worth walking to St Katherine Docks (walk along the river and under Tower Bridge, and then past the front of the hideous hotel that's just the other side of the bridge). There's lots of good gawping at expensive floating gin palaces and other more historic and interesting vessels. There's also at least one good restaurant there - Aquarium, which is at the other end of a small bridge that's near the Starbucks in the rotunda (you'll see exactly what I mean when you get there). Avoid the Dickens Inn - it's a modern building and is more tourist trap than anything else.

 

See if you can get a reservation at Vertigo, the champagne and oyster bar at the top of Tower 42 (the old NatWest Tower, for people with long memories). You must have a reservation before you can get past security on the ground floor.

[cruisegirl]

Thanks to each of you. You've given me some great ideas and you've mentioned things I would never have thought of. Wish we could have more time but it comes at the end of a transatlantic cruise and is the best we can do. We were in London 30 years ago but frankly don't even remember now what we did so everything will be new. :)

[uptheboro]

Some great suggestions here. The boat ride down the Thames to the Cutty Sark is a great way to see a different side of London. You board at Westminster Bridge. It takes you past the Tower of London (with a great view of Traitors Gate.) The trip has full commentary which is interesting. You can see the meridian line at Greenwich.

Also if you're interested (and can get hold of tickets) a live football match is an excellent outing. Much as it irks me to say so, Arsenal and Chelsea who are both at the top of the Premiership, would be a good choice. You would have more chance of getting tickets to see Tottenham, Charlton or Fulham. But if you want real class, jump on a plane from London to Durham Tees Valley and watch The Boro at The Riverside!!!!!

[Nickwolf]

But if you want real class, jump on a plane from London to Durham Tees Valley and watch The Boro at The Riverside!!!!!

 

But Wolves aren't going to be playing there this season :confused: :confused: :p

[uptheboro]

But Wolves aren't going to be playing there this season :confused: :confused: :p

Nor next!!!!!

[Nickwolf]

Nor next!!!!!

 

Harsh but fair :(

 

We might get you in one of the cups though :)

[uptheboro]

Hi Nickwolf

Did you watch the England match last night? Dire or what?? Been to Wolves a few times, but not for a few years!!! We always seemed to win! Remember getting promoted there, and another time when the match was almost called off because they found some sort of explosives buried in the pitch. We were sat on a supporters bus in a lay-by on the A19, waiting to hear if the game would go ahead.

Pity you couldn't hammer the mackems last week- we were supporting you on the telly!!

[June Bug]

or one of the many! was the Florence Nightingale Museum. since I'm a nurse, it was really nice seeing this and getting some great souveniers. Also, you must go see a "Broadway" play in london. We saw Phantom of the Opera and it was FABULOUS...the old Opera House was just beautiful! I think it was called Her Majesty's royal opera house (or something like that!)

 

have fun!

June

[Nickwolf]

Hi Nickwolf

Did you watch the England match last night? Dire or what??

 

Uptheboro, I don't think it is fair for us to hyjack this thread. I am not sure if it will be of interest to other posters for us to have a "soccer" discussion here ( I will talk football, particularly related to England/Wolves, all day ).

 

Can I suggest we start a new thread on this forum which will give other posters the chance to ignore us should they so wish.

 

Kindest regards

Nick.

[uptheboro]

Nickwolf, sounds a great idea- will be interested to see it.

Fran

[halj]

How hard would it be to include a side trip to Duxford for the air museum on a 3 day pre-cruise stay in London:confused:

[Globaliser]

How hard would it be to include a side trip to Duxford for the air museum on a 3 day pre-cruise stay in London:confused:

Not hard at all, if you're prepared to spend a day doing it. By public transport, I think it's basically a day trip to Cambridge, getting to Duxford by bus from there. Have a look at this page and this page for information.

[EXBRIT]

I would suggest take the hop on/off bus tour. this will take you all over london showing you the different thing you can see, make your decision from that.

 

I do have to say though Westminster Abbey is my absolute favourite place in the world. Don't tour it by yourself you miss so much info, rent one of the audio tours it's definatley worth it. I go every year and every year i'm in awe.

[winterstar]

A couple of years ago we spent 5 days on our own in London before a Globus coach tour. We loved London!! It is very easy to get around on the tube. Here are some of the things that we did that we really enjoyed:

 

1). Got tickets to a Southampton/Fulham soccer match (I'm a fan so it was a thrill to see a premier league match).

2) Went to see the LION KING . Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well worth the huge price tag (the exchange rate to the Cdn dollar was about 2.5). We booked online through www.whatsonstage.com and got tickets in the fifth row centre. Would do it again in a minute. They also have tickets for many many other shows.

3) The London museum. WOW. We spent a whole day there and didn't see it all. I will definately return to that some day also. If you have an interest in history, this is definately the place to go!

4) The London Zoo. This was fun. It is very large and we got to see a lot of animals that we had never seen before (i.e. penguins, giraffes, flamingos...)

5) The Tower of London. We really enjoyed this also. We did this in about 3 hours. Saw the crown jewels. Wanted to walk across the Tower bridge but didn't have enough time....My husband set off an alarm for touching something he shouldn't have :D

6) We booked a day trip--the Stones and Bones tour with Astral Travels. They took us to Stonehenge (unbelievable. If you can go, go go go.), then to Salisbury to see the Cathedral and town, and to a cool circle of stones ...and a really nice pub lunch. Check them out. They have other day tours also. We would use them again in a minute.

 

We also visited the London Aquarium. It was nice. I don't think I'd bother with it again. We took a boat down the Thames to Greenwich. The boat tour was nice, and the Cutty Sark was cool, but i found Greenwich really creepy and was happy to come back into London.

 

Things we really wanted to do but couldn't fit in: Warwick castle (the train got delayed that day due to a blocking of the tracks and we couldn't go), Leeds castle, Harrods, the London Eye (I was too wussy), Midevil Banquet...and oh so much more. You will have an awesome time. There is tons to do in London!

 

(We also had an awesome dinner in a little family ownded Italian restraunt. I can't remember what the name was, but it is across the street and down a little from Hammersmith station)

[halj]

Again, I have to say thanks Globaliser. You "are" the source for information on London and England too.:cool: