London Must-Sees

[NewEnglandLady]

My husband has been taking a break from his career for the past six months to enjoy his life, take some classes and travel. He''s taken a bunch of domestic trips but decided yesterday that since this is his last trip (he''s going back to work next week), he wanted to take an international trip. He found a cheap flight to London last night and I drove him to the airport this morning (at 3 a.m.!), so he''s on his way. I''d love to have a list of fun things that he should do/see when he gets off the plane. For those of you who''ve visited/lived in London, do you have some "must see" locations on your list? I''ve love to hear about them!

 

[Pandora II]

I'll have a think - what kinds of things does he like to do?

It is incredibly cold here at the moment - and raining - so that rules out quite a lot.

First thing he should do though is to get an Oyster card - get a travel card for the length of time he is there and that will give unlimited travel on all buses, Tube and trains in the zones you buy for. My zone 1-2 card costs £24 GBP a week - which is a HUGE saving from paying for individual journeys.

If he wants to eat well without spending a fortune, he should book through www.toptable.co.uk. Use the specials section and you can save a ton. I often book an hour in advance, so it's not like you need to know days before that you want to eat somewhere.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Ooo, thanks for the tip, Pandora!

He''s very, very outdoorsy and more of the "off the beaten path" kind of guy. I have no doubt that he''ll love all the museums, but wouldn''t be surprised if he ended up taking an overnight train to Italy or something. Very energetic, needs very little sleep and super adventurous.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 1/12/2009 9:39:50 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Ooo, thanks for the tip, Pandora!

He''s very, very outdoorsy and more of the ''off the beaten path'' kind of guy. I have no doubt that he''ll love all the museums, but wouldn''t be surprised if he ended up taking an overnight train to Italy or something. Very energetic, needs very little sleep and super adventurous.

I wouldn''t think London is that great for outdoors stuff right now - although there are lots of parks to go and freeze in!

How long is he here for?

 

[Deelight]

I enjoyed the tour in the Tower of London, the man that did our tour was fantastic and very informative and entertaining . Feeding the squirrels in St James Park also amusing especially since we don''t have squirrels here.

We were only there for a 2 days and just took it easy and just did some sight seeing.

How exciting for your husband .

 

[NewEnglandLady]

He''s only there until Friday...

We like to ice climb, maybe I should have had him bring his ice axe and crampons

I just looked at the weather and it''s going to be in the 40s all week, which is much, much warmer than it''s been here in New England. It''s going to feel like summer to him!

 

[AmberGretchen]

I second the Tower of London - its really fantastic, and the history is just so interesting.

Maybe he should see about taking the train outside of town too if he''s outdoorsy - I know its pretty easy to get to such places as Brighton, Oxford, Cambridge, etc...which might be fun to wander around in and explore. I''d also look into going up to Hampstead Heath - its GORGEOUS up there, and lots of fun hikes and trails.

I''m more of a museum type myself, and I also love going to the theater when I''m there - so much better than what we have here.

Also, I know he''s a more outdoorsy adventurous type, but when DH and I were there one of our favorite ways to see the city was to climb into the top front seats in one of the double-deckers (DEFINITELY get an Oyster card - makes life so much easier), and just take it wherever it was going - lots of fun, and a great way to see the city.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Thanks for the suggestions, all! I appreciate it!

 

[Indira-London]

If he likes the outdoors - he can combine a visit to Kensington gardens and Hyde Park (they run into each other) - Kensington gardens has the Albert Memorial facing the Albert Hall and in the grounds is Kensongton Palace (Lady Diana used to live here) as well as the Serpentine Gallery which has art.
Its ca. 5 miles of walking to walk teh permieter of both parks so that should keep him busy!