Any tips on our London vacation?

i like that statement red_pope.. that's funny! :))

never thought about it that way..

cheers,

paul

What I hate the most of those English Soldiers, that are always wearing those strange hats and guarding the Bukigham palace.

They look like Dildos covered in fur. In other words they are standing still like dic% heads. They most be British....

“Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful,”

we stayed here for 5 days in nov 2007 :

http://www.comfortinnvictoria.co.uk/

Room is clean and good enough for us. And they have alot of hotels around europe. It is a wellknown budget hotel chain.

Why don't you try priceline.com.

You can name your price and get a great hotel room to boot.

...it is our first time,anyway :D and we're just maximizing a business meeting that hubby has to go to. So of course, budget is still an issue.

Novita77, it's just me and hubby traveling. :)

thanks for suggesting thistle. guys. looks promising since the locations are almost perfect! one is very near Oxford street, where shopping is, I heard! :)

But the 119 a night comes out to 280 for 2 days including tax. Can I get a tax refund for this? heheheh

Maybe you guys can recommend a trusted B&B near the city? thanks a lot! your tips are really helpful :)

***lucky*wifey***

What a strange person you must be. Spent too much time hanging out at King's Cross me thinks...

Poor London being called "vile". Whilst it may not be everyone's cup of tea, one will not know until they have made their first visit.

I'd say turn around and don't even go there......UK is in a recession so hope you have loads of money! As MrP says, go up north, more to see, London is a truly vile place.....although the nightlife is great!

119 pound a night for thistle

go to www.thistle.com

Personally, I would stay in London to maximize your two days of sightseeing, shopping etc....

The hotel rates are coming down at the moment.... Search for the Thistle Hotel which if I remember is near marble arch. Stayed there once and the rooms are Gulf size. Location is great and the price was not 150 pounds a night....

go online to find the gatwick express to double check the travel costs into London. Weigh out the time you will loose and put all that up against the extra cost of a hotel in London.

The B&B's.....always best to have one recommended by someone I believe.

bring some light weight rain coat or foldable umbrealla, you will need that with unpredictable british weather.

remember in the winter the weather is short, it will get dark about 4 pm ish.So you will have to plan your sigh seeing carefully.

starry eyed ... how many people travelling? i am not sure where is Mercure gatwick. But dont forget to add the travelling cost about (when we use Gatwick to go to Lapland in december 2007) at least 10 pound (maybe more now) per person one way to commuting gatwick - london.

The rate is getting better by the day ;)

A fool and his money are soon parted.

-Thomas Tusser

thanks for all your inputs -- we're now super excited for our trip to UK!

Just one more thing which I would like to ask advise from you guys of -- our sched is like this, day 1 and day 2 are our free days to roam around the city centre for the tours. Day 3 we need to be at Gatwick for my husband's business meetings, then afterwards some relatives will be oicking us up to stay with them till day 5. Day 6 we head back to Doha.

Naturally, it would be ideal to stay at a hotel within the city centre for day 1 and 2 since those 2 days will be spent roaming around the city. But as I checked, the hotel rates are so high compared to other hotels in the outskirts or outside London proper. I saw a reasonably priced one 5 mins from Gatwick Airport, the Grand Mercure at Gatwick,which is only about 70GBP per room/night. Grand mercure in London proper costs 4x as much! There are some smaller B&B which costs around 60-70GBP but doesnt seem to be that nice and also still 14 to 20 mins away from the city.

Do you think if we take the mercure Gatwick hotel, the savings will be worth the commute morning and night for 2 days going to and back from the city? Anyway day 3 we need to be in Gatwick too.

Any other suggestions? We're leaving soon and I need to book soon too :) thanks a lot!

***lucky*wifey***

johnjo liveing and loveing life Going to london just QUALITY you will have a great time am sure as samya said all them places and sooooooooooooooooooooooooo many more to vist tower of london, london bridge, covent garden for lunch Buckinham palace etc

we stayed in Comfort Inn king cross ...

http://www.comfortinnkingscross.co.uk/

Or comfort inn in Victoria ... walking distance to Gatwick express. And not too far to walk to Buckingham palace.

Those hotels are very handy to go anywhere. Walking distance to saint pancras station.

Get a double decker bus tour, that way you got to see most London Landmark.

Dont forget to go to London Eye. If you never take a ride with British Airways, this time British Airways will take you for a ride (cost a fortune !!!).

starry eyed, have been to london for exactly 1 weeks some time back. its too short a time to do so much that is interesting there. dont bother with any of the museums. not that they r not beautiful, they just too too huge for u to look at anything seriously in such a short time frame. a must & i say absolute must is The Lion King - theater performance. its a once in a lifetime thing u just dont miss.that show is running for something like 6 yrs if i am not mistaken & housefull at that. u wont regret it believe me. all the rest of london u can do withen a day or 2 if u take a days pass on any of the hop on hop off busses that ply thru the streets of london past most touristic attractions. what u should look for is a days trip just outside london to places like Bath, Cotsworld etc. breathtakingly out of this world. u will find brouchures for these trips in any hotel lobby. pm me is u need more details.hope u have a great time.

The double decker bus tours are definitely a good option - you can buy tickets from various places around london. If you are into sports then seeing a football game is great - but good luck getting tickets to any premiership game that doesn't cost a fortune! London zoo is nice - but if you don't have kids I wouldn't put it at the top of any to do list. There are so many things to do in London - if you are there for a Saturday morning catch the tube to London Bridge and go to Borough food market - it is amazing and something different. From there you can walk up or down the river. The National History Museum, Science Museum and British Museum are all free entry and all really good...

Once you have done your bus tour and found your way around the city - get a map and walk! London is deceiving - a lot of things are closer than you think and London is such a great city to walk around. Enjoy - if it the weather isn't too flash it is a great city! And if you want to feel like you are out of a big city - go down to Richmond - beautiful part of south west London on the river - possibly also a good place to find a hotel as it is between London and Gatwick. Travel safe.

Go to Heathrow and buy a flight to a warmer climate! It will be wet and cold.

Sorry had to say that plenty to see as the posters have listed above best just go and make your own plans as you go.

once I had 10 hours layover in London and I took 1 day pass for the underground from the airport and it took me everywhere. and it was fun and adventure.

I also recommend the double deck bus for sightseeing.

I've heard that the London eye is great and Hyde Park. and what SamyaUK suggested.

I've heard is sooo cold there so take worm cloths.

In the Cookies of Life, FRIENDS are the Chocolate Chips

www.bastook.com

http://www.freewebs.com/alayam/

is something I would definitely suggest this time of year.

Also be aware that London is very expensive food wise. It cost our family double the usual cost. Even to go to McDonalds. It's a fun place however.

Changing of the guards--very crowded, somewhat over rated.

Tower of London- MUST SEE!!!!

West End show. I saw Les Miserables in London and it was as good as the Broadway version.

Take one of the bus tours. They do an over view of London and then you can decide what peaks your interest and can go from there.

Have fun!

There is so much to see and do, - depending on what sort of thing you enjoy. I like to walk in Regents Park, see the changing of the Guard, and walk around pall Mall and Horseguards parade. I like to get down to the river to see the Houses of Parliament, HMS Belfast (old battle cruiser moored on the river) maybe have lunch in the Dickens pub in St Katherines Dock, see Tower Bridge and the Tower, and then pop down to river to Greenwich. There you can see the National Maritime Musuem (the old Royal Naval College) and in Greenwich Park adjacent thereto you can see the Observatory and the Zero line. I think the Cutty Sark clipper has been rebuilt since the fire last year. Just South of Greenwich, if you walk though Greenwich Park you will come to Blackheath, and you can have lunch in the Hare and Billet pub there. Blackheath is supposedly where the first game of golf was played in England (by King James I). (I think its called Blackheath because there was an enormous grave there to burry all the people who died in the Plage in 1664. The grave stretched all the way to Gravesend in Kent.)

buckingham palace,take plenty of money

Take a direct train from gatwick to victoria station (30min). Buy a london map and outside the station you'll find open top buses which you will take you round the city. Visit London Dungeon, London Eye (highly recommended), boat ride on the thames, Visit Wembley stadium, Catch a chelsea game, Go to edgware road and smoke shisha, visit Buckingham palace, Parliament building and Leicester Square.

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HE WHO DARES WINS

I'm not sure what your budget is but you should be able to get a decent room in London for 150 pounds a night or less, it should help offset the travel costs and time in and out of London. Try some of the smaller family run hotels rather than the big chains, they are much more friendly.

I would:

- Buy and Oyster card, you can top it up when needed and works on all regular tubes and busses and is quicker & much cheaper than buying travelcards daily.

- Walk through Hyde Park & regents Park

- See London Zoon

- Take Half a day around the Tower of London

- Catch a boat down to Greenwich (You can get a tour pass) & see the Royal Observatory

- Walk along the South Bank of the Thames during the day and especially in the evening (V. Romantic)

- See Stomp or another West End show, last minute tickets are available from a stone booth in Leicester Square

- Only shop in Oxford Street & Regent Street if you are an absolute shopaholic, they are pricey, busy and difficult to find stuff.

- Go on the London Eye, again during the day, or the evening if you can.

- Take good shoes, theres a lot to walk and see, or catch an open top tour bus.

As a Londoner my self I would disagree with Mr Paul. If you want to see hills and Sheep then go up north and yes there are few places of interest also.

However in London there is plenty to do.

Regards the Travelling to and from Central London I would recommend you visit the www.tfl.gov.uk website it will give you all the information that you require.

Staying wise I would suggest that as you are not familiar with London it would be a good idea to stay near Gatwick, one it is cheaper and you will get a decent room compared to staying in Central London. If your not a Qatari with lots of money then stay away from Central London.

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HE WHO DARES WINS

Go see "Stomp"! Best show I've ever seen.

You can get the Gawtick Express to Victoria which takes about 30 mins and I believe is about 10 pounds one way these days. You could also stay in Crawley which is next to Gatwick and take a train from Three Bridges or Crawley station. Those trains take about 40 mins and go into Victoria, London Bridge or Blackfriars. (Get the most direct train though, some stop at many stations and can take an hour) You can get a one day travelcard for about 15 pounds and that gets you acccess to the tube all over London as well.

I used to commute to London each day for work and back and its not that bad. The trains also run all night so if you come back late its not a problem. (Only once an hour from 1am though)

I think its around 20 minutes or even less.. Non stop from London to Gatwick...

Whatever... London is the best!

how much approx is one way train ride to the city from Gatwick?

Mr.Paul >> London sucks huh :D but I don't think there's much to see in Gatwick... how about Kent? we only have a few days o long drives may be out of the itenerary :(

***lucky*wifey***

Get outta London, if ya get time, try going up country, to the North of England, or down to the south or west coasts...

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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM

Hmmmm London ....!!!

Take me Along Plz....:(

London Zoo..

Chesington Theme Park...

Thorpe Park...

London Dungeon...

Tower of London...

Harrods...

Maddame Tausauds..(cant spell it)

National Parks...

Shopping in Oxford street and Bond Street

There is a shuttle train which goes from Gatwick to i think Waterloo or Kings cross and its so quick like 15/20 minutes...

Wooo i miss London :(