I'm going to LONDON!!!!

[Darth_Kitten]

Yeah! I'm getting out of the country!!!

P.S. never book online when your bloody computer is a piece of @#$@#$@##@. It takes forever. :eyes:

anyhoo......yeah for me! first holiday in YEARS!!!!! :)

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

1. Can I go too? I love London!

[Darth_Kitten]

14. Sure.......you're driving though.

;)

[kay1864]

2. First time there?

What made you decide on London?

[Darth_Kitten]

5. Always wanted to go to Europe......

love museums, etc, and just thought it would be neat. Could stroll around on my own and still ask for directions in my own language. ;)

Anywhere else I would need to get a guide. :)

[kay1864]

6. I would still recommend a guidebook...

Rick Steves' London. It will save you lots of valuable vacation time.

After the usual must-see sights (Tower of London, St. Paul's, British Museum), might I suggest two others: Museum of London, and the London Cabinet War Rooms. Outstanding both.

Don't bother with a rental car. The Tube goes everywhere.

Whatever you do, DON'T carry a purse. Pickpockets are everywhere, and they're very skilled. Wear a money belt.

Have fun! When are you leaving?



Edit: Fixed the name

[Darth_Kitten]

12. I'll have to carry a purse........

I'm careful with it.......

I've booked 2 weeks in September. :)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

36. Agree on two points, disagree on another

1. Yes, the Rick Steves guidebook is great for first-time visitors. He tells you what bus to take to get places, etc.

2. Don't drive in London. They have congestion pricing, and there's a hefty daily fee for private cars to drive in the center of the city. Only buses, taxis, and commercial vehicles are exempt, and the traffic is still nightmarish. Kay1864 is right; the Tube goes everywhere, and the buses go even more places.

However,

I took a purse and had no problems. The one precaution I did take was to wear a neck pouch with my passport and credit/ATM cards in it.

By the way, check with your bank to see if they'll let you use your ATM card in London. I had to notify my bank so they wouldn't think it was some traveling con artist using my card. If you can use your card, it's easy and convenient.

[Darth_Kitten]

39. I've got a few travel books.....

One is really great, tells you of good deals, what to avoid (like overpriced, overrated attractions, etc) plus good places that are underrated and should be more popular.

I intend to take the Tube and/or walk. Don't mind walking. :)

Not TOO worried about my purse. Will contact my bank/credit card people before I travel to not worry about international purchases (yes, it's me!!)

I can't believe I'm doing this. I feel like a little kid. :)

[judaspriestess]

3. woohoo

Have fun!! I love Englishmen, I wish I was going. :)

[edbermac]

4. Was there in Oct 1992

And Paris the next week , reading the Herald Tribune before I flew home on Bill Clinton's election as our new President.

The good old days...

[Initech]

7. Can you take me with you?

I've always wanted to get out of the States... just cant afford to!

[Darth_Kitten]

15. It took me years.......I've never been out of Canada.....

:)

[CottonBear]

8. Get "London A-Z" at a bookstore before going. It's a required book of street maps for the city.

You'll need it. London streets, especially in the very oldest areas, change names each block. There are very few streets that have the same name for any distance.

That said, you're going to have a blast! London is one of my favorite cities in the world! Riding the Tube is great (Mind the Gap!) The city is huge but intimate at the same time. The British museum and the national gallery (art) are awesome and FREE!

Don't miss the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels. The glitter is unbelievable!

At certain times of year, Buckingham Palace is open for tours of the state rooms and the grounds. When the Queen goes on holiday in the summer to another royal residence, the palace opens to tourists.

There is a great pub right across from the British Museum. Karl Marx used to go there to drink and write!

[Darth_Kitten]

9. I'm staying near the British Museum...........

got my passport, booked the flight, booked the place I'm staying.....it's so overwhelming....

I haven't been on a real vacation in way over a dozen years. :)

[CottonBear]

11. Oh! You're going to have a wonderful time!

When I went to the pub across from the museum, some very nice men in suits who worked for the British Governnment (accounting) bought me and my friends a round of drinks and asked how we were enjoying our visit! I asked them what I should have and they said "Oh! You must have a Yorkshire bitter!" They were from Yorkshire! There is so much to do and see! Please have a good and safe time and post pictures.

PS: Can I come with you? Please!!!! ;)

edit: I added some more info to to my previous post.

[Darth_Kitten]

16. I'll check that pub out. LOL.........

I'll get plenty of pictures. :)

Sure, come along. :)

[GumboYaYa]

19. Okay, ignore my post asking where you are staying.

You are staying in one of the very coolest areas in all of London.

[Darth_Kitten]

21. Cool.

;) I'm staying at a bed and breakfast. :) Good prices, good reputation....in Bloomsbury.

[Zywiec]

10. Sounds great

I wish the dollar were doing a little better for you.

Cheers, mate.

[DS1]

13. bring a bathing suit

[T_i_B]

27. LOL!

Good one

[Darth_Kitten]

31. Floods are devastating?

?

[tjwmason]

17. Hope that you have a great time

London is the world's greatest city - not that I'm biased at all...

[GumboYaYa]

18. That is awesome, I love London.

We were there in March and I may be there in September also. I am shooting a film over there.

Definitely take the tubes. The London subway is very easy to get around.

Have you picked a place to stay yet? I like the Earls Court/South Kensington area. Prices are good and it is very eclectic. You may want to look at renting a small apartment instead of a hotel room. The prices are close to the same and you get a kitchen and laundry with the apartment. There are places that will rent them for two weeks.

My one extravangance would be to arrange a car for pick up at Heathrow when you get in. You are so tired then; having a driver waiting for you is really nice (and the cost is almost the same as a cab).

Get ready to spend some money on food also. The dollar is very weak against the pound and London is expensive to boot.

Have a great time. If I am going to be there shooting when you are there, I will get you tickets to the concert we are filming.

[Darth_Kitten]

22. That would be awesome!

You are going to be in a film? or directing one?

Please dish..... ;)

[GumboYaYa]

26. I make documentaries.

I am filming a concert in London that is being performed by several New Orleans jazz musicians. It is part of a concert series put together by musicians to help other musicains displaced by the storm and to keep the New Orleans musical culture alive. The series is the subject of my next film.

My last film (Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? www.mrsmithmovie.com) is coming out on Netflix next month, so keep an eye out for it.

[Darth_Kitten]

30. Wow, I'll check it out.

:)

[pink-o]

20. I spent 5 years living in London in the 70s

..it's changed a lot, but still really awesome. The other posters have given you great advice--I would add you gotta go to Covent Garden's markets, a short walk from Leicester Square or Trafalgar Square or Charing Cross Rd (the street with all the bookstores).

The only thing that's staggeringly hard to take is how bloody EXPENSIVE it is!!! Honestly, even tho I'm not a tourist, I still seem to spend more money there even than in Rome or Paris! So if you are in a position to not worry about the expense you'll have a great time. Even if you spend more than you want, you're gonna find it's totally worth it!

[Darth_Kitten]

23. I'm going to try to stick to a budget.....

so far budget airline, really good price for the bed and breakfast, and I'm not going to go over there to buy tons of stuff (though of course I will buy souvenirs, etc)

I'll be careful. :D

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. If you're on a budget, the advice about getting a cab above ain't great

It's fairly expensive. From Heathrow, you can get the Tube in - long, and probably tiring (but since Heathrow is the end of the line, you're guaranteed a seat, at least), but it's the Piccadilly line, so you can go all the way to Bloomsbury on it (eg the Russell Square station). The Heathrow Express train is faster, costs a little more, but you'd have to change onto the Tube at Paddington - or get a cab from there (depends on how awkward your luggage is, perhaps).

If you fly into Gatwick, or Stansted, the train is the only reasonable way in, then Tube/cab/bus from the terminus.

[Darth_Kitten]

29. I'm flying into Gatwick.....

I'll take the train into town, then take the Tube.

:)

[pitohui]

43. a tip to save money on the train from gatwick

they heavily advertise the gatwick express, however, instead ask for the regular or slow train to victoria station, where you can catch the tube or the bus to wherever you are going VERY easily -- travel time is only 10 minutes longer than the "express"

the great thing about this is that the "slow train" ticket is not only much cheaper than gatwick express but it includes a day pass for the zone 1 tube/bus which is all you are going to need to get to the russell square area but you could go to your hotel or hostel, drop off your bags, and still have your day pass to wander about all day if you like (i'm assuming your plane at gatwick lands, as many do, in the morning)

remember every time you save 5 pounds in london it's like saving $10 in u.s. dollars

:-)

as someone else said if you WERE landing at heathrow then train service is to paddington rather than victoria but this is also a good area where it is easy to catch many tube lines or many buses

[Darth_Kitten]

46. Cool.......all these tips are very helpful!!

:D

[Lydia Leftcoast]

49. The Tube works fine

especially if you get a seat, and you can buy your Oyster card right at the Heathrow Tube station.

It wasn't ideal for me, since I had to immediately take a train from Paddington to Bath in order to make my conference on time. This meant transferring at Earl's Court, up and down stairs, with my luggage. However, the price was right, far less than the approximately US$26 ONE WAY for the 15-minute Heathrow Express ride into Paddington.

Cabs in general are really, really expensive.

[CottonBear]

33. I stayed a t a youth hotel with a kitchen near Hyde Park. I went to the local grocery

and bought food for lunch and dinner. I took yogurt, snacks, fruit and little sandwiches and bottled water with me in my backpack when I left the hotel for a day of touring. I disn't eat out at any restaurants however I did get fish and chips to go when I was headed out to Dover via coach from Victoria Station to catch the ferry to Belgium.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

24. I love London.

Even tho' it's been 32 years since I've been there- I'd really enjoy going back some day.

[Patiod]

28. I am so jealous

I always feel more alive when I'm on the road (I'm lucky I travel some for business).

I'm a huge fan of deep research before a trip, and found the Knopf guides to be amazing resources for building in-depth knowledge. The Eye-Witness guides are so beautiful, and serve as a sort of professional scrapbook once you've returned home. Then add something like Rick Steves for practical advice on how to do it all on the cheap.

[BarenakedLady]

32. Lucky you!

I'd love to go back someday.

Have a great vacation!

:)

[huskerlaw]

34. Me too!

Next Tuesday, actually. I´m currently on my first ever trip out of the US. Belgium first, then London, then the Netherlands.

I´m having a great time!

Congrats on your trip!

[Darth_Kitten]

38. Congrats on yours!!!!

Keep us posted how it was. :D

Be safe. :)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. My advice:

1. Take money. Due to the exchange rate, everything costs about twice as much as it does here.

2. This is even more true for laundromats. Take enough clothes to last for the whole trip or stuff that you can wash in the sink.

3. If your hotel includes breakfast, eat hearty. If you do, you can get by with a Cornish pasty, tea and a pastry, or a Pret a Manger sandwich for lunch.

4. The museums are FREE! Almost nothing else is. The British Museum is a must, of course, but I also enjoyed the National Gallery.

5. Due to maintenance costs and loss of taxpayers' assistance, cathedrals charge admission...unless you're attending a service. The famous ones have evensong (a 30-40 minute sung service, usually with boys' choir) somewhere between 4:00 and 5:00 PM on weekdays. (It will be posted.)

6. Buy an Oyster card. This is a debit card that works on the Tube and the buses. Without an Oyster card, a ride on the Tube, even from one station to the next, costs £4. (That's $8.00) With an Oyster card, it costs £1.50, and no matter how many times you ride each day, it only charges a certain maximum amount. You can see my point.

7. Don't mail stuff home. Parcel post is even more amazingly expensive than the laundromats.

8. Be aware that British airports allow outgoing passengers to have only ONE carry-on, and that includes purses and laptops.

9. Try the local ales and the Indian food.

10. If you haven't seen the English countryside, take a daytrip to some place like Cambridge, Salisbury, or Canterbury. But buy your ticket as far in advance as possible, because British trains are priced like airlines: same day tickets cost an arm and a leg, while advance purchase tickets are quite cheap.

[Darth_Kitten]

41. Some good reminders and new things here......

thanks!!

I was wondering about the Oyster card, whether it was worth it or not. I guess it is.
The place I'm staying apparently has an awesome breakfast that can carry you through a good portion of the day.

That's weird about the carry-on. The airline I'm going on from Canada allows a carry-on plus a purse. (what do they expect women to do with their purses? weird)

Not much into beer (really don't like it) but maybe I'll grab a pint when I'm there.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

45. I have a lot of LeSportSac purses, which fold up into almost nothing

When it came time to fly home, I simply put my wallet and miscellaneous things in the carry-on along with the folded up purse, plus my passport, ticket, and credit cards in the neck pouch.

You're allowed to carry a purse INSIDE a carry-on. :wtf:

I know; it doesn't make sense.

[pitohui]

47. one of my friends rants that the oyster card is the best deal in london

in my humble opinion the multitude of world class parks and museums are the best deal but certainly the oyster card is also worth the having

there are a LOT of free parks/museums in london, not just the obvious like the british museum, be sure to check out tate modern, london museum, the south kensington area with many wonderful parks like the science museum, the natural history museum, v&a

many people don't think of the natural history museum, as uniquely british, but many of the great fossil hunters, including the first of the female fossil hunters, was british, and you can spend whole days just wandering around that place and trying to photograph the various dinosaurs, great sea monsters of the dinosaur era, and so on -- or at least i can -- maybe this makes me a dweeb

the british museum pub, can't think of the name of it right now, but i know what you're talking bout -- it is indeed terrific, in fact, since it is free to go in and out of the museum and the prices are so high (in my opinion) in the museum cafeteria, we find it advisable to go to the pub when we're ready to take a break and then return to the museum later, you will never see this entire museum in a day anyway, but don't be embarrassed to wander in and out between glasses of ale :-) on one of my trips i met a gentleman in his 80s who had already spent 10 days there and was determined to stay until he had inspected everything on exhibit

[Lydia Leftcoast]

48. On my NEXT trip

:-)

I will be sure to check out that pub. i got to spend only a day in the British Museum, and it wasn't nearly enough. You're right about that coffee shop, too. It's not only overpriced; it's inefficient.

They had two people behind the counter in addition to the cashier. BOTH of them did everything, which included handing out pre-made sandwiches from behind the glass AND making espresso drinks, so that if you were behind ten people, seven of whom wanted mochas or lattes, while you just wanted a pre-made sandwich and a bottle of juice, you stood there. And stood there.

When I finally got to the cashier, I commented that it would be more efficient if one person just made espresso drinks and the other handed out pre-made items. She looked at me as if I had proposed a startling, possibly dangerous idea.

[Courtesy Flush]

37. Fabulous!

I hope you're younger than me. I waited till I was 47 to take my first overseas trip.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Drink a pint for me.

[Scooter24]

40. Awesome!

I'm going to be there in early October for a few days before going on the Orient Express to Rome. Enjoy your trip!

[DemoTex]

42. One of my favorite places!

I used to travel to London, Manchester, and Prestwick (Scotland) 20-30 times a year.

[Robeson]

44. Cool! Take us with you!.....

...I'll even kiss your ass for a free plane ticket! :D