Weekend in London with OH and son courtesy of Tesco Clubcard

bluenose1

Am off to London for second time as had great time last year.
My husband has even agreed to come with us (could be something to do with the 5* hotel.)
Anyway Tesco Clubcard points paid for two nights in Rennaissance Chancery Court Hotel as well as London Eye and £90 in Spaghetti House vouchers
My itinerary
Arrive 12 noon Friday 11th March
London eye
Westminster Abbey
Back to luxury hotel
Meal at Spaghetti House
Sat 12th March (husbands birthday)
St pauls Cathederal (2for 1 trains)
British Museum
Bus past the attractions (no 9)
Hamleys
Back to luxury hotel
Meal at Spaghetti House
Sun 13th March
Science museum
natural History museum
????

Going to buy travelcards for each day
Any thoughts /ideas greatfully received.

p00hsticks

I would recommend a river cruise if you haven't already done one (2-4-1 train offer tickets are available for a couple of companies).

I also would have suggested contacting your MP to arrange a free tour of the Houses of Parliament instead of / as well as paying to go into Westminster Abbey, but unfortunately there isn't enough time for you to do that - I would recommend it for a future trip though.

porlock

Sounds good - I'd consider getting Oyster cards instead of Travel cards. The oyster cards are capped at around 50p (I think) less than travel cards, so for example, if you travel around all day on the tube, it will cost you less on Oyster. It does cost around £3 for each card, but you can re-use them every time you come back to London. They're more durable, and if you don't use the full cost of a travel card's worht of travel, that money is still on your card to spend, rather than just vanishing, as it would if you'd bough a travel card. I hope that all makes sense!

Also, and I'm not sure if you've figured this out, but the 2 for 1 traisn offer works with ANY overground train journey. I have often bought a single from London Bridge to Waterloo East (a 5 min journey, cost less than £2) and this ticket made me eligible for the offer.

I'd also like to say how impressed I am with you taking the No9 to see the sights. A lot of people who visit London stick to the tubes, and then spend a fortune on bus tours to see the attractions. It's nice to see someone being more intrepid!

If it's a nice day, you could always finish off Sunday with a stroll through Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens.

Quentin

The £3 "cost" of an oyster is actually a refundable deposit.

The advantage is not that they are cheaper than travel cards, (they're not), but that you only pay up to the same amount as a travel card (so if you don't use public transport too much on one day for whatever reason, you haven't "wasted" the cost of an unused travelcard).

porlock

The advantage is not that they are cheaper than travel cards, (they're not), but that you only pay up to the same amount as a travel card (so if you don't use public transport too much on one day for whatever reason, you haven't "wasted" the cost of an unused travelcard).

I was trying to explain this but couldn't put it as clearly! And I've had mine for so long, I had totally forgotten that it was refundable!

bluenose1

p00hsticks wrote: »

I would recommend a river cruise if you haven't already done one (2-4-1 train offer tickets are available for a couple of companies).

I also would have suggested contacting your MP to arrange a free tour of the Houses of Parliament instead of / as well as paying to go into Westminster Abbey, but unfortunately there isn't enough time for you to do that - I would recommend it for a future trip though.

Will do river cruise after the London Eye, had thought about it but then forgotten. I will look at 2 for 1 offers.
Will think about seeing Houses of Parliament next time - good idea.

peterbaker

Your mention of a River Cruise got me thinking that another way to "see the sights" a bit like the No 9 bus is to use the river and the most handsome boats on the river are the Thames Clipper catamarans which could (with an Travelcard/Oystercard discount - you can pay onboard using your Oystercard) - for about £4 each I think get you from London Eye to Greenwich in about 25 minutes past the Tate Modern southside linked by the wobbly bridge to St Pauls northside, the Globe theatre southside, past the Cannon Street station building northside, the Golden Hind replica south side, Southwark Cathedral southside, via London Bridge, see the gold top of the Monument northside, HMS Belfast moored southside, Tower of London northside, Tower Bridge and then it gets exciting for men that like the sound of powerful engines and women who like the wind in their hair, because about a quarter of a mile beyond beyond Tower Bridge they open the throttles and you can stand out the back and be whisked to Canary Wharf at about 40 miles an hour on the water! There's a small bar on board. You could get off at Canary Wharf and walk towards and through the Dallas type towers (there's two 7 day shopping malls under those) and go right through to opposite the Barclays tower and eat at Jamies Italian (very reasonable value - you don't book, you just sign in then get yourself a drink and wait for the little buzzer they give you to signal that your table is ready). Afterwards you can stroll back through the mall into CWharf Jubilee line station and back to your hotel. Or if you can't stand being so close to where the billions disappear in bonuses, you could give CWharf the finger and breeze right past and go two more stops to Greenwich and get off and see the National Maritime Museum or go up the hill to the Royal Observatory, or just stroll along the riverside to one of the pubs overlooking the river, or browse round the historic Greenwich market, or go three stops to the Millennium Dome. If you don't want to go back on the Clipper you may catch an overground train back from Greenwich mainline to Charing Cross (Trafalgar Square) or Jubilee Line tube from near the Dome quickly back to Westminster ...

Or something a bit different on Sunday is the Spitalfields Market area which is becoming a quite fashionable area to be seen in (so much so that parking a car anywhere near is almost impossible on a Sunday). Apart from the Spitalfields Market covered area itself, with it's huge variation of fashions stalls, there's proper toilets, proper food places - I recommend the Androuet Cheese Shop and mini-brasserie adjoining - either a raclette cheese sandwich made at the outside raclette grill whilst passing during your stroll outside, or if there's space inside, go for the raclette, mushroom and bacon baguette perched on a stool inside whilst people -watching the cheese-shop customers directing the cheese slicer and their sometimes hilarious tasting and ordering expressions - with maybe some side olives with herbs, a glass of the recommended Italian syrupy but dry wine specifically to go with the raclette (forgotten the name!) and not to forget a shared wonderful chocolate fondant dessert cooked to order (takes about 15 minutes) with a glass of dessert wine. Not exactly moneysaving, but absolutely wonderful and memorable

Then out of the covered market and across the road maybe to browse in All Saints (the original Spitalfields one) - good thesedays for his and hers of course! Or past them along towards Brick Lane where there are further really interesting market stalls in warehouse buildings on the way there ...

Once upon a time, visitors perhaps by the coachload used to visit this area perhaps to visit Petticoat Lane Market. Well in 2011 it is all a lot more upmarket and far more interesting on a Sunday - be there or be square :beer:

And if you get the chance to do any of that, you'll want to come back several times to do it again, maybe with friends - every year - I like cities, but London is the bees knees thesedays if you know how to get around and it is even better when you get shown how it all joins up so you can move around fast and see far more than you thought was possible in a day.

redpete

bluenose1 wrote: »

Sun 13th March
Science museum
natural History museum
????

If you get the boat trip you could go up to Greenwich and see the observatory or maritime museum.

Another market suggestion would be Camden, especially around the old stables. Lots of vintage clothing, food stalls, and other quirky stuff.

bluenose1

Thanks all, brilliant ideas as usual.
PeterBaker - will definitely do Thamesclipper, don't know how I hadn't noticed it. Plus 2 for 1 on train offer so will work out £12 for two adults.
Don't know whether we are trendy enough for Spitalfields, my 8 year old detests shopping and not sure if this is his cup of tea. (Like most 8 year old boys I would imagine.)
Though will certainly bear it in mind if we at loose end.

My husband has a fear of heights so hope he is ok on the London Eye!!!!!! and I won't even mention his fear of terrorist attacks:eek: But as I said to him if you lived like that you would go no-where.

Thanks again. As last time I will go armed wth maps, instructions and my new smartphone which will hopefully guide us if necessary.

p00hsticks

bluenose1 wrote: »

Thanks all, brilliant ideas as usual.
PeterBaker - will definitely do Thamesclipper, don't know how I hadn't noticed it. Plus 2 for 1 on train offer so will work out £12 for two adults.

The price of the Thames Clipper River Roamer ticket went up to £12.60 in the New Year - still very good value for a whole days boat trips, especially if you get 2 for 1 with your train tickets.

At evenings and weekends you can get as far East as Woolwich, which involves going through the Thames Barrier. with a Roamer ticket the staff are quite happy for you to just stay on the boat and come straight back if the boats timetables to do so. I'd also suggest doing a trip after dark if you can, as it's a good way to see London lit up.

One word of warning though - check the timetables, as the boats stop serving some of the piers (in particualr the one for Tate Modern) soon after 5pm, which nearly caught us out last time we were there.

peterbaker

Ha! Glad to have been of assistance - you don't have to be trendy to go to Spitalfields but you surely will be if you do decide to check it out

Just trying to remember what it was like when my son was 8 ... p'raps you are right and he mightn't have been too impressed to be dragged round a busy market at that age. There's ice creams though round the edges

The science museum is a good one to show him - the Apollo command module and lunar lander, sections of rockets, an undercarriage leg from Concorde, for example and they had a formula 1 racing car last time I was there - remember they have their own IMAX in there too (the racing car was closeby) - you can see the IMAX programme on their website I think.

The National Maritime Museum at Greenwich is quite interesting for some kids too ... they have a few hands on exhibits like the science museum.

Jamies Italian is of course quite kids friendly too - you see lots of young families in there at weekends even though it is right in the heart of the Canary Wharf office district and it really is quite reasonably priced - three courses for Mum & Dad and a small pizza or bolognese and drink and dessert for your son, a beer or two, a glass of wine or two and a coffee you might spend no more than about £65 and depending on your preference you might spend less. I know that's not economy but compared to some famed tv personality restaurants I swear you'll agree it is good value if you enjoy the adventure of Jamies style of cooking.

If you went to Canary Wharf on the clipper it would take best part of 15 mins to walk to Jamies so you might hop on the bus for a couple or three stops if the weather is bad. When leaving Jamies you can also be in CWharf underground station in 5 minutes if you know which entrance to use! There is a third alternative to/from Canary Wharf - your hotel I think is near Holborn station which is on the Central line. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is all part of the Travelcard / Oystercard setup. And the trains have no driver - has your son ever seen one of those? You can catch one from Canary Wharf DLR station (walk through the shopping mall to get to it) and take it all the way to Bank underground station (which is also a few stops from Holborn on the Central ). They run every few minutes like tube trains.

Alternatively if the weather is really nice you could picnic in Greenwich Park high up near the observatory whilst you look down on the museum, the river, the towers of CWharf and make out the London Eye and other distant landmarks on the western skyline.

Oh ... I have taken many a person a'feared of heights on the London Eye ... all 420 or whatever feet of it! Many years ago (when my son was about 8 I reckon!) we were able to use our Tesco Vouchers to get a season ticket that entitled us to go on the London Eye as many times as we liked for a whole year! We saw a Concorde and Red Arrows flypast from up there (brilliant!) and we saw the big Buckingham Palace fireworks display (new Millennium celebrations was it?) which was late starting so unlike the normal payers who thought they'd cracked it and got their tickets for the exact 15 minutes or so for the display and went all the way round, missed the fireworks and had to get off, we just grabbed another free ticket using our season pass and went round again and saw it from a pod almost entirely to ourselves . Can't do that one anymore on Tescos

Anyway, the design of the pods with the seating bench in the middle well back from the glass if that's where you want to start, and the slow speed it all rotates mean that it just does not seem to badly affect such people at all. By the time you have got half way up I am sure your husband will be on his feet with his nose pressed against the windows showing your son where Buckingham Palace is without any fear of falling (I promise).

Oh and the terrorist thing ... unless you want to call Guy Fawkes a terrorist, the nasty stuff actually started in 1894 for Londoners apparently - some anarchist detonated a bomb at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich! I wasn't there of course but I do vaguely remember telling my Mum that I heard the bang when some IRA bomber I think botched the job and hurt himself in Kensington or Fulham when I was a London student in the 70s. And they put a pretty bad dent in the DLR a few years later at South Quay between Canary Wharf and Greenwich. And of course I remember the almighty mess they made when they blew out what looked like almost all the windows in the City with the bomb near St Mary Axe .... then after a few years when they got tired of it, of course another lot took over ... and round we went again ... C'est la vie ...