UK/Londoners...

[Lill_The_Thrill]

So a a girlfriend and I are planning a trip to London in early December, we'll be staying (in the Piccadilly Circus area) for 4-5 days. I know there are a few UK/Londoners around here, so I thought I'd ask you if there are any places in particular that you recommend? Restaurants? Cheap/quality shopping? Must sees? Etc.

I appreciate ANY input or advice.

Thanks

 

[fieryred33143]

Date: 10/28/2008 11:02:59 AM
Author:Lill_The_Thrill
So a a girlfriend and I are planning a trip to London in early December, we''ll be staying (in the Piccadilly Circus area) for 4-5 days. I know there are a few UK/Londoners around here, so I thought I''d ask you if there are any places in particular that you recommend? Restaurants? Cheap/quality shopping? Must sees? Etc.

I appreciate ANY input or advice.

Thanks

I just posted some pics from my London trip!

We took the Piccadilly line into town to take a tour. It was 22 pounds and so worth it. We did a bus tour that took us to all major stops and it also gave you access to a ferry tour. It''s called the Original London Tour lines and I recommend taking a morning/afternoon to do the tour because it packs everything in for you really nicely!

Link

I can''t recommend any food places because unfortunately we only had our AMEX and dollars with us so not many choices. If going, I highly recommend exchanging money (a big Doh! for me). If you visit the London Eye there is a small Chinese Buffet in the plaza which was 7.99 pounds (came out to $35 for us, the only place that accepted dollars) and very delicious.

 

[Deelight]

Not a Londoner I just got back from a RTW trip where we spent a couple of days in London, however we were buggered after a non stop tour so we took it easy .

St James Park (Pandora gave me this suggestion) you can feed the squirrels nuts ( I bought some mixed ones at Tesco) they come up onto your lap to eat and it is really cute one of my highlights, we don't have squirrels in Australia.

Eat a curry, some of the worlds best curries can be found in London.

Tour of London tour was great really enjoyed that, the tour guide was fantastic very funny man .

We didn't do this in London but we did one in Berlin and part of one in Munich but the free walking tours are FANTASTIC New London Walking Tours they have them in most capitals. The tour guides are not paid and work on a tips only basis and as such they actually really work for their money the guy we had in Berlin was AMAZING, really entertaining and informative. No pressure to tip or how much you pay the value you thought the tour had for you so very much worth it IMO .

I think that is it

 

[Lill_The_Thrill]

Date: 10/28/2008 11:11:12 AM
Author: fieryred33143

Date: 10/28/2008 11:02:59 AM
Author:Lill_The_Thrill
So a a girlfriend and I are planning a trip to London in early December, we''ll be staying (in the Piccadilly Circus area) for 4-5 days. I know there are a few UK/Londoners around here, so I thought I''d ask you if there are any places in particular that you recommend? Restaurants? Cheap/quality shopping? Must sees? Etc.

I appreciate ANY input or advice.

Thanks

I just posted some pics from my London trip!

We took the Piccadilly line into town to take a tour. It was 22 pounds and so worth it. We did a bus tour that took us to all major stops and it also gave you access to a ferry tour. It''s called the Original London Tour lines and I recommend taking a morning/afternoon to do the tour because it packs everything in for you really nicely!

Link

I can''t recommend any food places because unfortunately we only had our AMEX and dollars with us so not many choices. If going, I highly recommend exchanging money (a big Doh! for me). If you visit the London Eye there is a small Chinese Buffet in the plaza which was 7.99 pounds (came out to $35 for us, the only place that accepted dollars) and very delicious.

Great! Thanks I''m gonna put the link in my favorites. I''d like to sit on the 2nd floor, hope it doesn''t rain

. lol.

We will be exchanging money here (in Sweden) to take with us, as the Swedish crowns don''t really have much of a value outside of Sweden

.
The dollar isn''t really accepted in Europe. Couldn''t you have exchanged your dollars for sterling pounds at an exchange office in London?

Thanks again for the link!

 

[Lill_The_Thrill]

Date: 10/28/2008 11:25:59 AM
Author: Deelight
Not a Londoner I just got back from a RTW trip where we spent a couple of days in London, however we were buggered after a non stop tour so we took it easy .

St James Park (Pandora gave me this suggestion) you can feed the squirrels nuts ( I bought some mixed ones at Tesco) they come up onto your lap to eat and it is really cute one of my highlights, we don''t have squirrels in Australia.

Eat a curry, some of the worlds best curries can be found in London.

Tour of London tour was great really enjoyed that, the tour guide was fantastic very funny man .

We didn''t do this in London but we did one in Berlin and part of one in Munich but the free walking tours are FANTASTIC New London Walking Tours they have them in most capitals. The tour guides are not paid and work on a tips only basis and as such they actually really work for their money the guy we had in Berlin was AMAZING, really entertaining and informative. No pressure to tip or how much you pay the value you thought the tour had for you so very much worth it IMO .

I think that is it

Sounds fun! I''m gonna look up where that is.

I''m def looking forward to the food...

We will probably do a lot of walking, I''m thinking we should get 3-day tickets for the tube, tram and bus, did any of you travel by tube?

 

[fieryred33143]

Date: 10/28/2008 11:45:19 AM
Author: Lill_The_Thrill

Great! Thanks I''m gonna put the link in my favorites. I''d like to sit on the 2nd floor, hope it doesn''t rain

. lol.

We will be exchanging money here (in Sweden) to take with us, as the Swedish crowns don''t really have much of a value outside of Sweden

.
The dollar isn''t really accepted in Europe. Couldn''t you have exchanged your dollars for sterling pounds at an exchange office in London?

Thanks again for the link!

Yes we could have but we ended up not doing that. We spent all of Sunday away from the room so that we can have a good night''s rest and didn''t stop much to eat. We had a huge breakfast on the plane over, then lunch at the buffet, and then fell asleep. The next day we had breakfast at the hotel, skipped lunch, and had dinner with local coworkers so they picked up the tab (well the company did).

We did exchange for Euros though in Spain. We are just used to traveling around Latin America so much where they accept dollars everywhere, that we completely forgot it isn''t like that everywhere.

Oh and if it rains, they do have a front covered part upstairs!!

 

[elrohwen]

Lucky you! I was just there for work (my first time) so I can''t really give much advice ... The only thing I would say is if you want to eat in Soho, get reservations. I found myself wandering around at 7am on a Friday night and every place had lines out the door. I figured people wouldn''t be eating that early, but I guess they went straight from work. I did manage to find some nice restaurants in the Paddington area (near my hotel) just north of Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park. Asking the hotel for recommendations works out well for me.

I took a tour bus like Fiery (it was The Big Bus tour, I think) and it was pretty good. I would recommend doing something like that your first day so that you kind of know where everything is and figure out what you want to come back and see later. I''m not sure if the Original Tour has tour guides or just headphones that you plug in, but mine didn''t have live tour guides ... I found that the pre-recorded stuff was not very informative and often wasn''t synced up to the tour at all. It would talk about something we passed 1/4 mile ago. So if possible I would try to find something with a human tour guide who can give you a little more information. The boat tour that was free with my bus tour pass had a guide (I think he was just a crew member, but he did give us a running commentary on what we were passing) and it was soooo much better to have a real person giving the tour.

One of the best things I did was grab a free map when I arrived in Heathrow. They had a wall full of little map booklets and it was so helpful in figuring out where things were and how I could get there on the underground.

If you want to do some shopping, check out Harrods. It seems to be a status symbol to walk around with one of their green bags (I guess like people in NYC are always carrying around Tiffany and Bloomingdales bags).

I''m sure you''ll have a blast!

 

[Deelight]

Date: 10/28/2008 11:48:27 AM
Author: Lill_The_Thrill

Date: 10/28/2008 11:25:59 AM

Author: Deelight

Not a Londoner I just got back from a RTW trip where we spent a couple of days in London, however we were buggered after a non stop tour so we took it easy .


St James Park (Pandora gave me this suggestion) you can feed the squirrels nuts ( I bought some mixed ones at Tesco) they come up onto your lap to eat and it is really cute one of my highlights, we don''t have squirrels in Australia.


Eat a curry, some of the worlds best curries can be found in London.


Tour of London tour was great really enjoyed that, the tour guide was fantastic very funny man .


We didn''t do this in London but we did one in Berlin and part of one in Munich but the free walking tours are FANTASTIC New London Walking Tours they have them in most capitals. The tour guides are not paid and work on a tips only basis and as such they actually really work for their money the guy we had in Berlin was AMAZING, really entertaining and informative. No pressure to tip or how much you pay the value you thought the tour had for you so very much worth it IMO .


I think that is it

Sounds fun! I''m gonna look up where that is.


I''m def looking forward to the food...

We will probably do a lot of walking, I''m thinking we should get 3-day tickets for the tube, tram and bus, did any of you travel by tube?

The tube is easy to use, I have used a fair few metro systems around Europe and NY and the tube and they are all much the same a great way to get around quickly though we personally both preferred walking . It honestly looks more scary then it really is , cheapest way to get from Heathrow to your hotel.

You definitly if you get the chance want to go to Harrods so much fun and HUGE (I bought a book there for the little green bag LOL) it is massive. The Tiffany''s in there as well has some of the nicest SA''s I have met in a Tiff''s store (especially Debbie).

 

[Rhea]

Leicester Square is where Chinatown is located. My favorite place to eat is there, H K Diner (or maybe the sign actually says Hong Kong Diner). It's inexpensive (for London).

I'm trying to think where else we eat in London but I'm drawing a blank right now.

Selfidges is the place to window shop. It's a million times better than Harrods, but like most department stores, it's not cheap. Harvey Nics is also nice.

 

[Rhea]

Just remembered, Time Out is a magazine that's published weekly and can be picked up at any newsagents. It does resturant reviews, deals, listings for shows, information on just about anything you'd need as a tourist - it's aimmed for people who actually live in London though. You might want to pick it up for the week that you're visiting.

I have a couple of Time Out's books - London for Londoners, Cheap Eats in London, and London Walks 2. They seem to do fairly good stuff. Time Out's website

 

[Deia]

Shopping :

- Selfridges is really great - its got expensive and average priced items...

- I also love John Lewis (another dpt store) average prices

- Harvey Nichols is great, but well it''s Harvey Nichols, unfortunately not a place I can shop at every day

- An area called Angel (Nothern line subway stop with the same name) its very cute/trendy with lots of shops and restaurants/bars, I love it there!!! Great to go out etc

Dining :

Cheap Eats

Lunch

- Pret a Manger - good for a quick lunch (sandwiches, wraps etc), as is a place called Eat (I like Eat better personally - their soups are really nice)

- Wasabi - asian (japanese and chinese) food (sushi and nice hot dishes ) - they are all over London

Dinner

- Nando''s - its a chain of "chicken" restaurants - really really tasty and very cheap for the quantity/quality (about 17 pounds for 2 people) - also all over London

- Tayyab''s in East London - a small restaurant that scored 8th best restaurant in the UK - its traditional pakistani/indian food (not many curries) - seriously good and very cheap but be prepared to wait in line for a bit (any day of the week)

- If you go to Brick Lane (which you shoudl!) - famous street known for having 90% of the curry houses in London - I have tested quite a few, but the best is Preem ... very nice food and their butter chicken is to die for!

Non-cheap Eats

- Nobu - yup just like the one in New York - I love it ! Plus you get alot of famous people going there, it''s fun!

- Roka - asian fusion - really nice but also pricey

- Green and Red (or maybe its red and green I always get it mixed up!) - Mexican restaurant - but you won''t find any fajitas and quesadillas here... traditional mexican - really tasty and not very expensive and great margaritas!


As far as touristy stuff goes...

Take the bus and tour London its the easiest way to see all of it. Hop on and off throughout the day etc...

The Tower of London tour is nice and you get to see the Queen''s jewels ... (the ticket is expensive though I think - something like 25/30 pounds)

The London Eye is a great experience!!! I booked in advance the only time I went.. There are ALOT of restaurants around the London Eye restaurant namely a dim sum place called Ping Pong - soooo good and quite cheap.

There is also a mexican/texmex place right next to teh dim sum place which is really nice also...

really alot of restaurants in that area....

anyhoo... If I think of more stuff I''ll post it It''s early here and my brain isn''t working properly yet!

hope this helps!

 

[Lill_The_Thrill]

I''m a bit late to reply, but THANK you guys! I will most certainly write down the names of all the places you have mentioned...

Deia, I lovvvvvve sushi, so I''ll def be going to Wasabi then...

Thanks again!!!

 

[Gailey]

I''m only just seeing this thread - sorry!

You may have your trip all planned out by now, but just reading through the thread I noticed that someone mentioned an area called "Angel". It''s actually referred to as "The Angel" locally, or "The Angel Islington". A nice location if you want to shop for antiques.

My husband is born & bred in London and our son lives there now.

If you give me some sort of ideas about the things you would like to do and what interests you I''d be happy to help further.

As far as shops go, Selfridges on Oxford St is a must, especially at this time of year. The Christmas windows will be fantastic - you''d never guess there''s a global financial melt down going on!

If you are going with small children then a visit to Father Christmas at Harrrods is also a must! Unless you''ve got gazillions of ''wedge'' Harrods is not for shopping! Another shop that''s lovely to visit for fairly unique things is Liberty http://www.liberty.co.uk/

John Lewis, is also a good department store for shopping: http://www.johnlewis.com/Shops/DSRegion.aspx?Id=4 A bit confusing because there are two in central London, one is called John Lewis (Oxford St) and the other is called Peter Jones (Kensington)

Covent Garden is also nice for shopping: http://www.coventgardenlife.com/

Of course you will want to a bit of Jewellery gazing, so head for the diamond and jewellery district Hatton Garden, http://www.hatton-garden.net/

I''ll need to consult my son about the best food to eat - I''ll get back to you on that.

One other neat thing to do is to go and see Mamma Mia at the Prince of Wales Theatre: https://tickets.delfont-mackintosh.com/ShowDatesCombo.aspx We''ve just returned from this year''s trip and we went to see Mamma Mia, it was great and my husband doesn''t like musicals!!

If you let me know where you are staying, I can try and source things within walking distance for you.

There''s so much more that I could tell you, but you need to narrow down your interests a bit for me!

Have a great trip!

 

[Gailey]

Lill

I can''t help myself for blurting this out, but my son is having tea next week with Prince Charles and the Duchesss of Cornwall (Camilla). His company has made a substantial donation to the Princes Trust, a charity set up by Prince Charles, so both Jim and his Boss have been invited to afternoon tea at Clarence House.

I''m such a proud Mum and I just had to tell someone!

One other place I wanted to mention to you is Patisserie Valerie. If you have a sweet tooth and like cakes, then this place is to die for!
http://www.patisserie-valerie.co.uk/location/soho.html There are quite a few of them in London, but this one is close to Picadilly in Soho and I believe it may be the original.

I noticed in your thread that you mentioned cheap eating places. We had a really good traditionally English meal in a little restaurant in Soho, which you probably wouldn''t even notice if you didn''t know about it. I can''t remember the name, but I will phone Jim tomorrow and get the details for you.

The travel system is a complete anathema to me these days. Long gone are the days when you could just jump on a bus and pay per stop. It''s been 11 years since we lived in the UK! Again I will ask Jim what is the best fare/travel card to get and where to get it.

A quick security note for you. Londoners are full of "Tea Leaves". That''s cockney rhyming slang for "Thieves". Skilled Pick-pockets hang around looking for gullible tourists especially at tourist attractions. If you wear a shoulder purse make sure it looped across you diagonally and not just hanging on your shoulder and preferably keep your hand on it. Avoid buying anything from dodgy looking street traders.

I now live in a place where pedestrians have right of way. London drivers are completely manic, so be extra careful crossing roads. I know this sounds crazy but when I was there a few weeks ago I found myself looking the wrong way first and I very nearly stepped out in front of a bus! And the day before our trip to Mamma Mia a woman was killed in the theatre district just crossing the road.

I agree with the poster that said that the underground is easy to use. However, if you can master the bus system then you will get a much greater appreciation of where things are in relation to each other. Walking is even better of course, but some places, such as "The Angel" are not really within walking distance to where you are.

One touristy thing I can certainly recommend is a trip on the London Eye: http://www.londoneye.com/ I complained to my husband that when we lived in the UK and used to travel into London regularly to visit his family all I ever got to see of my nation''s capital was the inside of his mother''s living room. So trip before last one of the things we did was go on the London Eye - fantastic! I would urge you to book ahead of time and queue''s can be lengthy and you don''t want to waste a minute. Having said that, it''s December when you are going to be there, so I doubt they will be as lengthy as August! There will almost certainly be queue''s for the Jewell House at the Tower of London, so if you do want to go and see Her Majesty''s baubles then book on-line ahead of time.

More tomorrow .....

 

[Gailey]

Oh gosh, you''ll be sick of me before long!

A hugely underrated activity in London is to visit a museum. All museums are free entry, and there is no better place to learn about the place you are visiting. That being said, museums do make a charge for special exhibitions. Unfortunately, I think you''ve missed King Tut. However, the Imperial War Museum has a James Bond exhibition! http://london.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.207

Here''s a link to the major museums: http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/guide/about/museums.html

And here''s a link to special exhibitions: http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/guide/about/art.html

I missed the Anne Liebovitz exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, but Jim went and said it was fantastic.

The Natural History Museum has a very nice gem and mineral collection (although I doubt it rivals the Smithsonian): http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/galleries/green-zone/minerals/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/nov/11/artnews.art

Another good place to see fine jewllery is the Victoria and Albert museum: http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/features/jewellery/index.html

I don''t know if Princess Diana''s dresses are of any interest to you, if so they can be seen at Kensington Palace:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/stories/dianasdresses.aspx

That being said, I see that 15 of them are in Florida on loan to the Lakeland Centre, so I would ask the concierge at your hotel to check exactly what is on display at the Palace before you head over there.

OK, now I''m off to bed!

 

[Pandora II]

Oyster cards are great here and make travel MUCH cheaper - you can get them at any Tube station. I pay £24 a week for unlimited travel in zones 1 & 2 on bus/tube/train.

TopTable is an online restaurant booking service. DH and I rarely eat out without booking one of their 2 for 1 or 50% off offers - also means we eat at places we don''t know.

If you have any questions, post them up and I''ll have a think...

 

[Krissie]

I lived in Angel for 1.5 yrs, so I highly recommend a Sunday there and a walk up Upper Street. Some really nice gastropubs there - Draper''s Arms is my favorite but it''s a little far from the Tube stop; The Angelic is also really good for Sunday lunch, and just up Liverpool St from the Tube. Opens at 12.30 on Sundays, and if you get there just then, you can snag a soft leather sofa, a paper and some fabulous roast.

My favorite store in London is Liberty. Their top floor always has a Christmas boutique which is fun to look through. You''re also about a 20-25 minute walk from Covent Garden, with great shops and restaurants (Belgo Centraal is my favorite for mussels and fries, but they have wonderful Belgian beers, chicken, steak etc. and all the servers dress like monks!)

Kensington Palace is a good indoor activity if it''s cold. The area around KensingAton is so nice, too. My favorite restaurant around there is Maggie Jones - small and intimate, yummy wholesome food.

As for "cheap" eats - I second the Nando''s recommendation. I also like Masala Zone for quick, relatively inexpensive curry. My favorite Italian place is Porchetta - there are two around Angel, and several throughout the city. Pizza Express is another quick restaurant with relatively inexpensive food. Their dough balls and sloppy giuseppe pizza are quite filling!

Finally, if you are staying around the Piccadilly area and looking for nice Indian, Veeraswamay is my favorite. I think it was the original curry house in London - it''s very elegant with delicious food, but not cheap.

Have fun!

 

[Deia]

Date: 11/16/2008 3:10:56 PM
Author: Krissie
I lived in Angel for 1.5 yrs, so I highly recommend a Sunday there and a walk up Upper Street. Some really nice gastropubs there - Draper''s Arms is my favorite but it''s a little far from the Tube stop; The Angelic is also really good for Sunday lunch, and just up Liverpool St from the Tube. Opens at 12.30 on Sundays, and if you get there just then, you can snag a soft leather sofa, a paper and some fabulous roast.

My favorite store in London is Liberty. Their top floor always has a Christmas boutique which is fun to look through. You''re also about a 20-25 minute walk from Covent Garden, with great shops and restaurants (Belgo Centraal is my favorite for mussels and fries, but they have wonderful Belgian beers, chicken, steak etc. and all the servers dress like monks!)

Kensington Palace is a good indoor activity if it''s cold. The area around KensingAton is so nice, too. My favorite restaurant around there is Maggie Jones - small and intimate, yummy wholesome food.

As for ''cheap'' eats - I second the Nando''s recommendation. I also like Masala Zone for quick, relatively inexpensive curry. My favorite Italian place is Porchetta - there are two around Angel, and several throughout the city. Pizza Express is another quick restaurant with relatively inexpensive food. Their dough balls and sloppy giuseppe pizza are quite filling!

Finally, if you are staying around the Piccadilly area and looking for nice Indian, Veeraswamay is my favorite. I think it was the original curry house in London - it''s very elegant with delicious food, but not cheap.

Have fun!

I forgot to mention Covent Garden!! Really fun area, not to miss! And yes if you want belgian beer then Belgo Centraal is the place to go hehe!



Ive never personally heard Angel being called "The Angel" or The Angel Islington", don''t think it matters either way. As long as you know that the tube stop is called Angel you should be able to get there without any problems

 

[Lill_The_Thrill]

Date: 11/15/2008 11:57:38 PM
Author: Gailey
I''m only just seeing this thread - sorry!

You may have your trip all planned out by now, but just reading through the thread I noticed that someone mentioned an area called ''Angel''. It''s actually referred to as ''The Angel'' locally, or ''The Angel Islington''. A nice location if you want to shop for antiques.

My husband is born & bred in London and our son lives there now.

If you give me some sort of ideas about the things you would like to do and what interests you I''d be happy to help further.

As far as shops go, Selfridges on Oxford St is a must, especially at this time of year. The Christmas windows will be fantastic - you''d never guess there''s a global financial melt down going on!

If you are going with small children then a visit to Father Christmas at Harrrods is also a must! Unless you''ve got gazillions of ''wedge'' Harrods is not for shopping! Another shop that''s lovely to visit for fairly unique things is Liberty http://www.liberty.co.uk/

John Lewis, is also a good department store for shopping: http://www.johnlewis.com/Shops/DSRegion.aspx?Id=4 A bit confusing because there are two in central London, one is called John Lewis (Oxford St) and the other is called Peter Jones (Kensington)

Covent Garden is also nice for shopping: http://www.coventgardenlife.com/

Of course you will want to a bit of Jewellery gazing, so head for the diamond and jewellery district Hatton Garden, http://www.hatton-garden.net/

I''ll need to consult my son about the best food to eat - I''ll get back to you on that.

One other neat thing to do is to go and see Mamma Mia at the Prince of Wales Theatre: https://tickets.delfont-mackintosh.com/ShowDatesCombo.aspx We''ve just returned from this year''s trip and we went to see Mamma Mia, it was great and my husband doesn''t like musicals!!

If you let me know where you are staying, I can try and source things within walking distance for you.

There''s so much more that I could tell you, but you need to narrow down your interests a bit for me!

Have a great trip!

THanks for all the ideas! I''d love to visit Covent Garden as well as Hatton Garden, I''ve heard that there is a diamond district in the London-area is the Hatton Garden the one? I checked out the link, Sweet jesus, I''ll go mad. Soooooooooo many stores. I''m actually going with two close girlfriends, and I''ve made them promise me 5 visits to different jewelry stores, Tiffany''s and Cartier are so far first on the list, so I have three left. haha. I''m now sadened by the discovery of Hatton Garden.

I''ve heard that there''s a great sushi place called Japan sushi? or something of the like, it''s supposed to be located in/by Piccadilly Circus, have you by any chance heard of it?

I''ve actually already seen Mamma Mia (the Swedish version), but I wouldn''t mind seeing it again, I lhad gotten dinner tickets to the musical and literally had to *dragg* my BF to see it, and he absolutely *loved* it. One of the best really.

I''m actually staying in Piccadily Circus, It''s pretty central from what I''ve understood?

Thanks again for all the ideas! I really appreciate it.

 

[Lill_The_Thrill]

Date: 11/16/2008 12:34:41 AM
Author: Gailey
Lill

I can''t help myself for blurting this out, but my son is having tea next week with Prince Charles and the Duchesss of Cornwall (Camilla). His company has made a substantial donation to the Princes Trust, a charity set up by Prince Charles, so both Jim and his Boss have been invited to afternoon tea at Clarence House.

I''m such a proud Mum and I just had to tell someone!

One other place I wanted to mention to you is Patisserie Valerie. If you have a sweet tooth and like cakes, then this place is to die for!
http://www.patisserie-valerie.co.uk/location/soho.html There are quite a few of them in London, but this one is close to Picadilly in Soho and I believe it may be the original.

I noticed in your thread that you mentioned cheap eating places. We had a really good traditionally English meal in a little restaurant in Soho, which you probably wouldn''t even notice if you didn''t know about it. I can''t remember the name, but I will phone Jim tomorrow and get the details for you.

The travel system is a complete anathema to me these days. Long gone are the days when you could just jump on a bus and pay per stop. It''s been 11 years since we lived in the UK! Again I will ask Jim what is the best fare/travel card to get and where to get it.

A quick security note for you. Londoners are full of ''Tea Leaves''. That''s cockney rhyming slang for ''Thieves''. Skilled Pick-pockets hang around looking for gullible tourists especially at tourist attractions. If you wear a shoulder purse make sure it looped across you diagonally and not just hanging on your shoulder and preferably keep your hand on it. Avoid buying anything from dodgy looking street traders.

I now live in a place where pedestrians have right of way. London drivers are completely manic, so be extra careful crossing roads. I know this sounds crazy but when I was there a few weeks ago I found myself looking the wrong way first and I very nearly stepped out in front of a bus! And the day before our trip to Mamma Mia a woman was killed in the theatre district just crossing the road.

I agree with the poster that said that the underground is easy to use. However, if you can master the bus system then you will get a much greater appreciation of where things are in relation to each other. Walking is even better of course, but some places, such as ''The Angel'' are not really within walking distance to where you are.

One touristy thing I can certainly recommend is a trip on the London Eye: http://www.londoneye.com/ I complained to my husband that when we lived in the UK and used to travel into London regularly to visit his family all I ever got to see of my nation''s capital was the inside of his mother''s living room. So trip before last one of the things we did was go on the London Eye - fantastic! I would urge you to book ahead of time and queue''s can be lengthy and you don''t want to waste a minute. Having said that, it''s December when you are going to be there, so I doubt they will be as lengthy as August! There will almost certainly be queue''s for the Jewell House at the Tower of London, so if you do want to go and see Her Majesty''s baubles then book on-line ahead of time.

More tomorrow .....

WOOOOW! That is something to be very very proud of!! What a sweet and proud moment for you as his mom.

About the crazy drivers, I''ve regularly been to parts of the world where the drivers are c r a z y, the don''t care about traffic lights etc. But it''s good to know beforehand, so I''ll be on my watch.

Thankkk You for the link to Pattiserie Valerie, My both friends and I share a sweet tooth, so we''re def saving that link.

The security note is very valuable, I tend to forget that London is a huge metropolitan, and that thieves may naturally flock there, I''m usually very naive when it comes to things like that.

London Eye is also going to my favourite links folder!!

I''ve heard about most of the places that you mentioned, but they just wouldn''t cross my mind if you hadn''t mentioned them to me. So I really appreciate you taking your time.

 

[Lill_The_Thrill]

Date: 11/16/2008 1:20:31 AM
Author: Gailey
Oh gosh, you''ll be sick of me before long!

A hugely underrated activity in London is to visit a museum. All museums are free entry, and there is no better place to learn about the place you are visiting. That being said, museums do make a charge for special exhibitions. Unfortunately, I think you''ve missed King Tut. However, the Imperial War Museum has a James Bond exhibition! http://london.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.207

Here''s a link to the major museums: http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/guide/about/museums.html

And here''s a link to special exhibitions: http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/guide/about/art.html

I missed the Anne Liebovitz exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, but Jim went and said it was fantastic.

The Natural History Museum has a very nice gem and mineral collection (although I doubt it rivals the Smithsonian): http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/galleries/green-zone/minerals/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/nov/11/artnews.art

Another good place to see fine jewllery is the Victoria and Albert museum: http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/features/jewellery/index.html

I don''t know if Princess Diana''s dresses are of any interest to you, if so they can be seen at Kensington Palace:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/stories/dianasdresses.aspx

That being said, I see that 15 of them are in Florida on loan to the Lakeland Centre, so I would ask the concierge at your hotel to check exactly what is on display at the Palace before you head over there.

OK, now I''m off to bed!

Hm, Iäm not sure this will be a "museum-trip", since we only have a few days in London. I would LOVE to come back at some point, which i def will, and I''ll go with my sister to meet up my cousin who is from Cardiff (and still lives there) or my uncle, and visit historical museums and such and maybe travel around the country a bit.

I would like to visit a museum about the royal family on this trip though, and I''m checking out the link to the major museums. Thanks!

 

[Lill_The_Thrill]

Date: 11/16/2008 1:51:16 PM
Author: Pandora II
Oyster cards are great here and make travel MUCH cheaper - you can get them at any Tube station. I pay £24 a week for unlimited travel in zones 1 & 2 on bus/tube/train.

TopTable is an online restaurant booking service. DH and I rarely eat out without booking one of their 2 for 1 or 50% off offers - also means we eat at places we don''t know.

If you have any questions, post them up and I''ll have a think...

I did check out their website before, and we''ll for sure get Oyster cards.

Wow, I''m going to check out TopTable. Thanks

 

[Krissie]

Popping in with some more food recommendations.

If you''re looking for places in Soho, I would highly recommend Yauatcha, which is a trendy, yummy, slightly scene-y Japanese place. It''s a gorgeous interior. If you make a booking, make sure you are requesting the lower ground floor rather than the upstairs (which has more of a tea room feel). After a late night show, you can also head to Balans nearby, which is one of the few GOOD late-night dinner places in the theatre district. I believe they serve alcohol til 3 am or sometime around there. There may be a queue to get in, but the food is delicious and it''s always a fun, bustling place to end the night.

Another recommendation is to eat at the Oxo Tower, which is on the South Bank but has a great view of St. Paul''s and the Thames (it''s right by the Tate). There are a few really nice restaurants there, but my favorite is actually Bincho Yakitori, which isn''t at the top of the tower, but if you request a window seat you''ll still get a great view of the river. It''s another Japanese place (surprise) but on a cold December night, some warm sake and amazing egg-fried rice ... yum!

A chain that is also quite good and relatively inexpensive is Med Kitchen. There are several throughout the city and, I believe, at least 1 in Covent Garden. Their fries are awesome - thin and crispy! They also have a great Greek starter plate with hummous and taramasalata that is T.D.F.

I know I mentioned Liberty for shopping earlier - but as you''re staying in Piccadilly area I''ll recommend it again! You''ll hit it on your way to Oxford Street for the other big shops.

 

[Gailey]

Date: 11/17/2008 9:25:29 AM
Author: Lill_The_Thrill

Date: 11/15/2008 11:57:38 PM
Author: Gailey
I''m only just seeing this thread - sorry!

You may have your trip all planned out by now, but just reading through the thread I noticed that someone mentioned an area called ''Angel''. It''s actually referred to as ''The Angel'' locally, or ''The Angel Islington''. A nice location if you want to shop for antiques.

My husband is born & bred in London and our son lives there now.

If you give me some sort of ideas about the things you would like to do and what interests you I''d be happy to help further.

As far as shops go, Selfridges on Oxford St is a must, especially at this time of year. The Christmas windows will be fantastic - you''d never guess there''s a global financial melt down going on!

If you are going with small children then a visit to Father Christmas at Harrrods is also a must! Unless you''ve got gazillions of ''wedge'' Harrods is not for shopping! Another shop that''s lovely to visit for fairly unique things is Liberty http://www.liberty.co.uk/

John Lewis, is also a good department store for shopping: http://www.johnlewis.com/Shops/DSRegion.aspx?Id=4 A bit confusing because there are two in central London, one is called John Lewis (Oxford St) and the other is called Peter Jones (Kensington)

Covent Garden is also nice for shopping: http://www.coventgardenlife.com/

Of course you will want to a bit of Jewellery gazing, so head for the diamond and jewellery district Hatton Garden, http://www.hatton-garden.net/

I''ll need to consult my son about the best food to eat - I''ll get back to you on that.

One other neat thing to do is to go and see Mamma Mia at the Prince of Wales Theatre: https://tickets.delfont-mackintosh.com/ShowDatesCombo.aspx We''ve just returned from this year''s trip and we went to see Mamma Mia, it was great and my husband doesn''t like musicals!!

If you let me know where you are staying, I can try and source things within walking distance for you.

There''s so much more that I could tell you, but you need to narrow down your interests a bit for me!

Have a great trip!

THanks for all the ideas! I''d love to visit Covent Garden as well as Hatton Garden, I''ve heard that there is a diamond district in the London-area is the Hatton Garden the one? I checked out the link, Sweet jesus, I''ll go mad. Soooooooooo many stores. I''m actually going with two close girlfriends, and I''ve made them promise me 5 visits to different jewelry stores, Tiffany''s and Cartier are so far first on the list, so I have three left. haha. I''m now sadened by the discovery of Hatton Garden.

I''ve heard that there''s a great sushi place called Japan sushi? or something of the like, it''s supposed to be located in/by Piccadilly Circus, have you by any chance heard of it?

I''ve actually already seen Mamma Mia (the Swedish version), but I wouldn''t mind seeing it again, I lhad gotten dinner tickets to the musical and literally had to *dragg* my BF to see it, and he absolutely *loved* it. One of the best really.

I''m actually staying in Piccadily Circus, It''s pretty central from what I''ve understood?

Thanks again for all the ideas! I really appreciate it.

Yes Lill, Hatton Garden is the place.

If you are planning on visiting Jewellers, I would consider adding in Garrard, who have a royal warrant which means they supply jewels to the royal family: http://www.garrard.com/contact/?storeID=1

Here''s a link to all the major jewellers in central London: http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/whatson/jewellers-in-london-recommended-London-53.html

I''ve fired off an e-mail to Jim about places to eat. Watch this space .....

 

[Gailey]

Date: 11/17/2008 5:53:20 AM
Author: Deia

Date: 11/16/2008 3:10:56 PM
Author: Krissie
I lived in Angel for 1.5 yrs, so I highly recommend a Sunday there and a walk up Upper Street. Some really nice gastropubs there - Draper''s Arms is my favorite but it''s a little far from the Tube stop; The Angelic is also really good for Sunday lunch, and just up Liverpool St from the Tube. Opens at 12.30 on Sundays, and if you get there just then, you can snag a soft leather sofa, a paper and some fabulous roast.

My favorite store in London is Liberty. Their top floor always has a Christmas boutique which is fun to look through. You''re also about a 20-25 minute walk from Covent Garden, with great shops and restaurants (Belgo Centraal is my favorite for mussels and fries, but they have wonderful Belgian beers, chicken, steak etc. and all the servers dress like monks!)

Kensington Palace is a good indoor activity if it''s cold. The area around KensingAton is so nice, too. My favorite restaurant around there is Maggie Jones - small and intimate, yummy wholesome food.

As for ''cheap'' eats - I second the Nando''s recommendation. I also like Masala Zone for quick, relatively inexpensive curry. My favorite Italian place is Porchetta - there are two around Angel, and several throughout the city. Pizza Express is another quick restaurant with relatively inexpensive food. Their dough balls and sloppy giuseppe pizza are quite filling!

Finally, if you are staying around the Piccadilly area and looking for nice Indian, Veeraswamay is my favorite. I think it was the original curry house in London - it''s very elegant with delicious food, but not cheap.

Have fun!

I forgot to mention Covent Garden!! Really fun area, not to miss! And yes if you want belgian beer then Belgo Centraal is the place to go hehe!



Ive never personally heard Angel being called ''The Angel'' or The Angel Islington'', don''t think it matters either way. As long as you know that the tube stop is called Angel you should be able to get there without any problems

Hey Krissie, I think you''re right about Angel! I''m just going by how my husband refers to it. It''s all part of the Eastend culture, they even have their own language! Took me a while to catch on what was being said around the dining table sometimes!

I seem to remember that there is a really good Sausage & Mash chain. I can''t remember if the one I went to is near Liverpool St Station or is it at the Angel? Any clues?

 

[Gailey]

Date: 11/17/2008 9:47:28 AM
Author: Lill_The_Thrill

Date: 11/16/2008 1:20:31 AM
Author: Gailey
Oh gosh, you''ll be sick of me before long!

A hugely underrated activity in London is to visit a museum. All museums are free entry, and there is no better place to learn about the place you are visiting. That being said, museums do make a charge for special exhibitions. Unfortunately, I think you''ve missed King Tut. However, the Imperial War Museum has a James Bond exhibition! http://london.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.207

Here''s a link to the major museums: http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/guide/about/museums.html

And here''s a link to special exhibitions: http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/guide/about/art.html

I missed the Anne Liebovitz exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, but Jim went and said it was fantastic.

The Natural History Museum has a very nice gem and mineral collection (although I doubt it rivals the Smithsonian): http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/galleries/green-zone/minerals/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/nov/11/artnews.art

Another good place to see fine jewllery is the Victoria and Albert museum: http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/features/jewellery/index.html

I don''t know if Princess Diana''s dresses are of any interest to you, if so they can be seen at Kensington Palace:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/stories/dianasdresses.aspx

That being said, I see that 15 of them are in Florida on loan to the Lakeland Centre, so I would ask the concierge at your hotel to check exactly what is on display at the Palace before you head over there.

OK, now I''m off to bed!

Hm, Iäm not sure this will be a ''museum-trip'', since we only have a few days in London. I would LOVE to come back at some point, which i def will, and I''ll go with my sister to meet up my cousin who is from Cardiff (and still lives there) or my uncle, and visit historical museums and such and maybe travel around the country a bit.

I would like to visit a museum about the royal family on this trip though, and I''m checking out the link to the major museums. Thanks!

Lill

I''m not sure that the museum link will help you with specifics on today''s royal family. I think you will have more luck visiting the royal palaces that are open at this time of year: http://www.hrp.org.uk/

 

[Gailey]

Lill

Just heard from Jim about restaurants. Here''s the list he recommends and he says he''s eaten at all of them! Oh when will that boy learn to cook!

http://golondon.about.com/od/eatingdrinking/p/kulukulu.htm Good taste and well priced but very basic

http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1h61q6y/donzoko Service here is not very good but very fresh and great Sashimi

http://www.zumarestaurant.com/zuma_uk.html A touch on the pricey but not too much, great interior and black cod to die for

http://www.pingpongdimsum.com/ Quick simple and cheap DimSum chain

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/reviews/12519.html Cha Cha Moon is the best new Chinese in town, cheap and tasty

http://www.wasabi.uk.com/ Big chain but mostly take away

http://www.hakkasan.com/ Super luxury and lovely but Chinese

http://www.rokarestaurant.com/roka/roka.html?roka_london another trendy and nice place for wide array of Japanese food

http://www.noburestaurants.com/berkeley/index.html#home this is the very, very trendy one POSH Spice eats here


The restaurant that we ate at before going to see Mamma Mia in Soho is called "Cafe Emm". Its fairly traditional British Fare. Again it was another one of Jim''s haunts, tiny place, but lovely grub! http://www.cafeemm.com/

 

[Krissie]

Date: 11/17/2008 12:43:24 PM
Author: Gailey

Date: 11/17/2008 5:53:20 AM
Author: Deia

Date: 11/16/2008 3:10:56 PM
Author: Krissie
I lived in Angel for 1.5 yrs, so I highly recommend a Sunday there and a walk up Upper Street. Some really nice gastropubs there - Draper''s Arms is my favorite but it''s a little far from the Tube stop; The Angelic is also really good for Sunday lunch, and just up Liverpool St from the Tube. Opens at 12.30 on Sundays, and if you get there just then, you can snag a soft leather sofa, a paper and some fabulous roast.

My favorite store in London is Liberty. Their top floor always has a Christmas boutique which is fun to look through. You''re also about a 20-25 minute walk from Covent Garden, with great shops and restaurants (Belgo Centraal is my favorite for mussels and fries, but they have wonderful Belgian beers, chicken, steak etc. and all the servers dress like monks!)

Kensington Palace is a good indoor activity if it''s cold. The area around KensingAton is so nice, too. My favorite restaurant around there is Maggie Jones - small and intimate, yummy wholesome food.

As for ''cheap'' eats - I second the Nando''s recommendation. I also like Masala Zone for quick, relatively inexpensive curry. My favorite Italian place is Porchetta - there are two around Angel, and several throughout the city. Pizza Express is another quick restaurant with relatively inexpensive food. Their dough balls and sloppy giuseppe pizza are quite filling!

Finally, if you are staying around the Piccadilly area and looking for nice Indian, Veeraswamay is my favorite. I think it was the original curry house in London - it''s very elegant with delicious food, but not cheap.

Have fun!

I forgot to mention Covent Garden!! Really fun area, not to miss! And yes if you want belgian beer then Belgo Centraal is the place to go hehe!



Ive never personally heard Angel being called ''The Angel'' or The Angel Islington'', don''t think it matters either way. As long as you know that the tube stop is called Angel you should be able to get there without any problems

Hey Krissie, I think you''re right about Angel! I''m just going by how my husband refers to it. It''s all part of the Eastend culture, they even have their own language! Took me a while to catch on what was being said around the dining table sometimes!

I seem to remember that there is a really good Sausage & Mash chain. I can''t remember if the one I went to is near Liverpool St Station or is it at the Angel? Any clues?

Oh, no worries - I think it was Deia who pointed that out - I always called it Angel when I lived there, but occasionally some cabbies did refer to it as The Angel

I think you''re thinking of S+M cafe? There is one on Upper St in Angel; not sure if there is one around Liverpool St or not? I could totally go for a toad in the hole right now. My lovely hubby is also British, Gailey! He says he really misses a good cumberland sausage.

Another good chain is Giraffe ...

 

[Gailey]

Lill

This seems to be a good website: http://www.londoneats.com/default.asp

Really current reviews and location and travel instructions.