London for Anniversary - help please :o)

fanatabulous87

Thank you Lynzpower - and there was me thinking 3 nights was plenty of time!! lol - and I think Manchester is huge so got a feeling I'm going to like a fish out of water!! I will look into all the places I want to go and narrow them down, probably the best bet!
I will have a look on the website you suggested - thanks for your help x

lynzpower

fanatabulous87 wrote: »

Thank you Lynzpower - and there was me thinking 3 nights was plenty of time!! lol - and I think Manchester is huge so got a feeling I'm going to like a fish out of water!! I will look into all the places I want to go and narrow them down, probably the best bet!
I will have a look on the website you suggested - thanks for your help x

have sent you a PM

rjtppr

Because London is so well conected by tubes and buses it doesn't matter too much where you decide to stay, as long as it's zone 1 or 2. I guess it makes some sense to be fairly close to where you arrive, so Euston or KingsCross perhaps. As already mentioned by others, if you decide to head south, Southwark TL is well positioned.

Get Oyster cards!

davetrousers

Madame Tussauds is overpriced and not very good!

Southwark Travelodge is pretty OK have stayed there a few times.

SteveC-Ni

Any time we travel to london, we usually stay out in Croydon. it's only 20mins by rail into the centre of london and your travelcard (zone 1-5) covers you for that.

We Always stay at Jury's Inn Wellesly Road, it's open about 8-10 years. There's also a travelodge on the same road too.

You also have the whitgift shopping centre just across the road from the hotel. (it's the shopping centre that you see on the match.com adverts with cupid and that other bloke)

Travelling around london, I had always used the tube to get me to my landmarks even though they may only have been a 10 minute walk.

Learn your tube map, the pace of london is pretty fast.... and it only dawned on me several years after going that if i'm travelling in a right direction on the map I look for the eastbound train platform, up... the northbound train platform, down.. southbound train platform etc...

For ages i stood at the bootom of the stairs checking both the boards to see which one the station was on that i wanted to go to.

Work out the attrations you want to go to and find the nearest tube station, baker street for madame taussads... etc

Your travel card should allow you a trip up the thames in some fashion, visit the O2 arena, try and walk under the Thames at Greenwich.

The London Dungeon is pretty cool too, the actors really take their job too seriously and never break character.... it can be real funny...

susancs

wwww.megabus.com are not too bad for your dates for £5.50 pp on the Friday Manchester to London and £1 pp on the Monday.

Waterloo TL is £39 for Friday, Sat £62 and Sun £29, currently. If you book these add them to your basket one at a time ( on booking page, take off insurance and go to bottom of page and click on add another stay)to get the cheapest rate, as if you block book it will charge the dearest price for all nights. You can also add the cafe help yourself buffet breakfast to your stay for £6.50 pp, saving £1 on normal rates(change the pre-set to 2 adults on front page), it is quite good and fills you up. Waterloo TL is opening in July so should be a nice new modern one and is well positioned for transport and walking to a lot of attractions. The Jubillee line is closed on the Sunday, so Waterloo is ok as you can use the Bakerloo to get around, plus the boats and buses.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/livetravelnews/realtime/tube/track-closures.pdf

Fairly easy journey from Victoria Coach station as you cross over the road and go to the tube station 2 stops from there to Westminster on circle or district line and 1 stop from there to Waterloo on the Jubillee. So about 10 minute journey time.

The changing of the Guard is planned for Friday 13th at 11.30am if you arrive at Victoria, it is only about a 10 minute walk from there to the Palace. If you go on googlemaps you can click on the side to get walking directions and a map.

As another poster said an oyster card will be useful to save on fares, £3 refundable deposit (buy at the tube station on arrival) and just top up as you go, get your deposit back and any money left on the card under £5 from the tube station office before going home or you can write off for it. I would also advise you to plan in advance as there is so much to do and see. Plan using the www.tfl.gov.uk journey planner.

The museums are free if you head towards South Kensington tube the Natural History, Science and Victoria and Albert are all beside each other. You can walk from there to Kensington Gardens to see the nearby Royal Albert Hall, Albert Memorial, walk through there to Hyde Park to see boating on the serpentine. There is a good tour you can do using oyster on this site (if you are staying at Waterloo, you will just do it backwards from the Eye).
http://www.londonforfree.net/outdoors/bustour/bustour.shtml

Covent Garden is worth a visit to see the street performers.

You might also be interested in this, if you write off quickly, you may still get free tickets.
http://www.hrp.org.uk/toweroflondon/whatson/ceremonyofthekeys.aspx

A boat trip along the Thames is nice in August. You can get it from beside the Eye to Greenwich or shorter trip to the Tower.

The Nataional Gallery is in Trafalgar Square and beside there is the old church of St Martins in the Field, which has a cafe in the crypt for lunch or tea.

Camden Lock is fun in the summer as it has a market on Sunday with lots of unusual fashion and items on sale.

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

Make sure that a few days before you go that you check the Transport For London website for planned engineering works on the Underground.

The works are usually limited to the weekend. I spent a Saturday in London a couple of weekends ago and the Circle line was closed completely. Didn't directly effect me, but worth checking before you go just in case.

susancs

davetrousers wrote: »

Madame Tussauds is overpriced and not very good!

Southwark Travelodge is pretty OK have stayed there a few times.

Totally agree with you. We have Merlin annual passes so can go as often as we like and still I find Madam Tussauds disappointing. It is usually very busy, so hard to get near the wax works and only takes a max of 1 hour to go all around it. I alwys think that the dungeons are more fun (although again only take an hour to do).

loulou123

More agreement from me that madam tussauds isn't all that good. I made teh mistake of going in August and queued for nearly 3 hours! In fact spent longer queuing then looking around! We had the 2for1 coupons from the trains, and there is no way it is worth the full price in my opinion. Cant comment on the dungeons as i may (!) have freaked out and ran out of their before even getting to the point where you pay lol!

As for a hotel, i stayed at the Easy hotel in Earls court a couple of years ago and was very impressed. The rooms are pretty small, and the bathroom is a cupboard without a bath (does have a shower though.) but it was warm, felt very safe and was quiet and only cost £45.00 for 2 of us for a saturday night. I believe that their is also a easy hotel near Victoria Station, might be worth a look.

Alye16

If you eat early you may be able to get theatre meal deals.Set menus at set prices.Try Sophies in Covent garden our family favourite.