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I'm going to London for spring break! I've never been to Europe before so I'm super excited. I'm going with a big group of friends.
I need some ideas of what I should do. I definately want to go dancing one night while I'm over there. I have a huge obsession with King Arthur stuff too. Some people are planning to go to Oxford for one of the days.
I also need advice on books for the plane. I'm leaving my laptop here in the states so I won't be able to entertain myself with it. I tend to be unable to sleep on planes and I read rather quickly. Thus I want to find good books that will take me a while to read. Right now I'm planning on taking Foucault's Pendulum by Eco. But I need at least 3 other books.
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Take the Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt. It's about a single mother raising a son who is a prodigy.
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What sort of things are you interested in sarahdipity? I spent three days there not last summer but the summer before last, and from my other memories I can give you a few recommendations.
When I was there last we went on the London eye, which gives you a spectacular view.
There's also the Globe (which I was excluded from when I went ), although I don't know when it opens.
Get day/week Underground passes so you can hop on and off the Underground without worrying about tickets or change. The Underground is by far the most efficient means of travelling in London.
Other than that I'm afraid, although I love London, my experience is very limited .
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I spent the summer there! Definitely have tons of recommendations for you...what are you interested in?
Do you drink alcohol at all (forgive me for not keeping track of everyone's religious affiliation)? If you do I can recommend some good bars/clubs/fun spots, etc.
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The London Eye is an excellent recommendation -- I highly recommend going at night, when the city is all lit up. It's beautiful.
If Parliament's in session, try and see if you can get in to see that (there's a public line you can wait in). The absolute best time to go is Tuesday at 11:30 (if I remember correctly, you may want to double-check), because that's Prime Minister's question time. You might have to get in line super-early to see that
Skip Tower Bridge. NOT worth the money.
See a show. Wait at the TKTS booth at the south end of Leicester Square for day-of, half-price tickets.
The Tower of London is extremely expensive, too, but can be worth it if you want to, say, see the axe that took off Anne Boleyn's head. Entirely morbid, but it can be entirely fun.
Go to Westminster Abbey, but not to tour: go at 4:30 (maybe 5? pm) for Evensong, which is a wonderful afternoon service with the organ, etc. Definitely powerful.
The British Museum is definitely worth seeing if you're interested in the rest of the world, haha. It's really quite a tribute to British colonial abilities, but they have the Rosetta stone, which is amazingly cool to see
Everyone always wants to see the Changing of the Guard; I found it anti-climatic and thoroughly boring. Your choice here.
If you can, I'd highly recommend taking a day and going to Canterbury. The Cathedral is gorgeous and the town is absolutely charming. I thought it was tons more fun than Bath, if you want a day excusion.
Nightlife Stuff. All of the pubs in London close at 11pm by law, so it's tough to find "off-license" places that stay open later. When I was there, we spent a lot of time at O'Neill's, which is on Wardour Street just north of Leicester Square. They're open til 3 am and have a fun, young, international crowd that dances to (mostly American) pop and rock music (as opposed to unbelievably loud hiphop/rap/dance/etc). The drinks are reasonable and the food's not bad either. If you want a more legit British feel, go hang out at just about any tavern-type pub. You'll get the older men in the corner nursing Guiness for hours. Shopping
Do NOT miss Portobello Road! It's really fun just to wander all along the streets on a Friday or Saturday morning, and there's a Frenchman with a crepe stand who is absolutely amazing. You can find some great stuff realllly cheap
If you want middle-of-the-road, pretty much chain-related shopping, hit up Oxford Street. They have H&M, Topshop (a major British chain w/ reasonable prices), etc. Honestly, the exchange rate is so bad I strongly advise against buying anything you could possibly get in the states. Wander a litte further west on Oxford Street and you'll find some of the more famous British department stores -- the original Selfridges and Marks & Spencer's (Marks & Sparks).
Bond Street (New & Old) if you want designer labels. Every self-respecting international fashion designer has a boutique here.
Knightsbridge -- Harrod's and Harvey Nichol's. Do NOT miss the Harrod's food halls. They are phenomenal. Split an ice cream sundae with one (or two) others. You can't possibly see all of Harrod's in two hours or two days, but you can try. Ever wonder where you can buy a dress for $10,000 (5000 pounds) off the rack? Harrod's is your place. They say you can buy ANYTHING at Harrod's, even an elephant (a throwback to the colonial era). Harvey Nic's is a bit of an updated version; their restauraunt is excellent.
That's all I can think of for now...if there's anything in particular you want, let me know! Have a great time!!
[ March 02, 2005, 12:41 PM: Message edited by: Kasie H ]
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Oh I forgot to add -- before you do Westminster, see Christopher Wren's St. Paul's Cathedral.
Also, if you decide to do a tour, make sure it's with a Blue Badge guide. If you're going with a bunch of friends you could probably afford to hire one for your group; they are extremely knowledgeable and definitely worth it. London is a *huge* city that you can't even begin to cover in a summer, let alone a week. A guided tour with the right sort of person will give you a better feel for London as well as fun little facts, like which hotel Ho Chi Minh washed dishes for before becoming the bane of the U.S.'s existence.
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Come and see me! I'll be up in Northumberland from Mar 26-Apr 4 but will be in London for the rest of it and am happy to play tour guide for a day or so.
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Hrm what am I interested in? Excellent question.
I do drink upon occasion and will have several drinkers as part of the group. One of the people I'm hanging out with is over in London working in a pub or at least, he was.
I like old buildings especially churches so those are definately on my list. I like graveyards and things that generally haven't been made too touristy. I'm a big fan of literature history and stuff like that.
As far as shopping goes I probably want to avoid typical mally things. However funky places are always encouraged.
I know we're planning on going to Abbey Road and possibly Hampton Court Palace.
I personally would be content to just wander and take pictures of cool things. However, my friends might require more entertaining.
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Somewhere in Picadilly Circus, not too far from the Underground station, is a restaurant called the Texas Embassy. Obviously a bit of a copout to go to an American style eatery while in a foreign country, but better than TGI Friday's or Pizza Hut.
Definitely see a show. I saw Chicago there. Phenomenal.
For that particular trip my plane read was Crime and Punishment, but then I was on my way to Russia.
Oh, and if you drink tea, buy some. There are flavors there that aren't available here, and they're relatively cheap while everything else is astronomically expensive.
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Hrm are there any foods that I ought try there that are "typical". I can't really think of any.
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I stayed in Oxford over the summer and went down to London for a weekend. It absolutely terrified me. Once I got used to looking the opposite way before crossing the street, however, the ever-present threat of death slowly receded and I became fascinated with the little nooks and crannies of the place. Didn't have too much time to gander, though. We wandered across half the city looking for our hostel, and when we found it looked like a cross between a bomb shelter and a laundry room.
By the way, in the summer, the population of the city apparently is exchanged for that of Rome, because I'd say three out of every five people we ran in to was Italian.
We wound up going to some incredibly expensive clubs where my friend (who had more money than I did) got immediately drunk and proceeded to buy me drinks, so it was no big loss. I wound up having to steer four drunks through Piccadilly at two in the morning. It was an interesting experience.
EDIT: My favorite London experience, however, is a bus change we got there on our way back from the airport. It was four in the morning and the streets were entirely empty. I wandered around for a while, just enthralled with the place.
[ March 03, 2005, 09:09 PM: Message edited by: Book ]
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The Brit driver is aggressive, the French driver is psychotic.
If you don't know how long the crosswalk light has been green, stay on the sidewalk and wait for it to change because if it changes in mid-stride, you are so SOL.
But yes, there's nothing quite like wandering around a new city in the wee hours of the morning and basking in the newness of it all. I did that in Paris - it was an absolute blast.
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I have pictures of from the trip. There are a ton, and these are only the pics taken with my camera. So I'm not in most of them. In fact there's only one of me. However, there are bunches of old buildings and statues.
I had a fantastic time and got to see lots of london and oxford.
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I had some friends that went to London this year for spring break too. So jealous.
Your pictures are wonderful!! And pictures like this make me impressed with your camera too. (I used to be a birdophile so pictures where you can see individual feathers make me happy).
Somehow you got each statue at just the right angle to capture what it is all about Posts: 3636 | Registered: Oct 2001
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I'm jealous. I've seen lots of places, but England (apart from Heathrow Airport) is not one of them.
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