London trip- 1st timer

beth25

Please help:
Thinking of going to London next week for the 1st time.Will be travelling on Monday morning via train- to Paddington station.
Travelling with 2 children age 10 and 14.
Is bank holiday a bad day to go?
Managed to get good rate for travel lodge in Southwark for 1 night- is this a good location.
Ideally want to do bus tour to see most site- Buckingham palace, big ben, london eye etc. as well as natural history museum, and possibly national gallery.
Bit nervous of underground, so would much prefer to walk to places.
Is this possible- with what we are looking at doing.
Seems some bus tours are valid for 24 hrs- so could we get on at paddington station and then use again next day to get back close to station??
Any ideas and suggestions would be great.
Thanks in advance

bishopsgirl

I would use London Megabus tours they are so much cheaper than the London Bus tours but have to be booked on line and you can not hop on hop off.

They are about £5-9 per person for Bank Holiday Monday at the moment compared to about £30 for the Original Bus our.

Staff are lovely too.

megasightseeing.com

essex_boy

Don't know where you're coming from
Check prices and see if buying a family and friends railcard would save you money now or be a good investment for the rest of the year

judy2357

I dont know much about the open top bus trips, when I was in London I bought tickets in a shop at Paddington and caught the bus at Lancaster Gate, cant remember the name of the company.



I would recommend this website for getting around, well worth taking a look as you can set it up for walking routes as well as bus and train routes. https://tfl.gov.uk/


Lastly the number 23 bus goes around in a circle, you can get on at Paddington. It visits many of the sights, St Marys Hospital, Marble Arch, Piccadilly, Trafalgar, all the main streets Oxford, Regent etc. You can see the Savoy, at least one theatre, The Royal courts of Justice, St Pauls. Have a lovely time.

beth25

just booked -thanks

Cornucopia

beth25 wrote: »

Managed to get good rate for travel lodge in Southwark for 1 night- is this a good location.

Yes, probably quite a good compromise - reasonably central without being right in the noisy heart of things.

It's a short walk to the South Bank, and there are lots of bars and restaurants nearby. Southwark tube is 2 mins from the Hotel. Local buses are a little limited, though. Probably better to walk through to Waterloo Road for more choice.

Cornucopia

judy2357 wrote: »

Lastly the number 23 bus goes around in a circle ... It visits many of the sights, St Marys Hospital, Marble Arch, Piccadilly, Trafalgar, all the main streets Oxford, Regent etc. You can see the Savoy, at least one theatre, The Royal courts of Justice, St Pauls. Have a lovely time.

That's not a circle.

It's a good tourist route though, and Oyster/Contactless could be an option for the OP. You can travel all day on price cap on buses for £4.50 adult & £1.50 child.

Other touristy bus routes: 88 between Vauxhall & Camden Town, 14 between South Kensington and Warren Street, 38 from Islington to Victoria, RV1 from Covent Garden to Tower of London.

dacouch

The Tate Modern is literally a stones throw away (Free entry)

Shakespears Globe is literally next door, you can buy cheapish returned tickets about an hour before the performance.

You can walk over the pedastrian bridge next to the Tate (Remember the famous wobbly bridge although it's not wobbly now) to St Paul's. It's a wonderful way to see the city as you cross the Thames.

Borough Market is worth a visit, although it's expensive, if you like coffee Monmouth is very popular with tourists. Tip from a local, the coffee in Gentlemans Barrister is better, cheaper and there is no long queue. They are in Union Street and now have a shop in Borough Market.

The Notting Hill Carnival will be on.

Rosie Tate do a nice and cheapish breakfast

You are also slap bang in the middle of Charles Dickens country if that floats your boat, you will recognise a lot of the street names.

Avoid the Co Op shop, the prices are ridiculously expensive, there is a the Tesco Metro and Sainsburys metro are normal prices.

It's a nice area to walk around, especially the South Bank (The pedestrian walk way along the Thames)

baza52

remember to pack your stab vests.
Southwark is also a great place to lean about and experience different cultures and races.

dacouch

baza52 wrote: »

remember to pack your stab vests.
Southwark is also a great place to lean about and experience different cultures and races.

There is nothing wrong with that part of Southwark, the OP has nothing to worry about.

I walk throughout Southwark at all times of the day and night with no fear.

The stabbings that have been making the news in Southwark are in Peckham / Camerberwell which is about 3 miles further south and are almost always drug and / or drug related.

The OP will be mixing with office workers, tourists and the many many rich Chinese students

martindow

Reading Festival travellers will be on their way home on bank holiday Monday. If you are travelling from further out than Reading you will have seats and be OK. From Reading there will be a queuing system and packed trains. I'm not sure if families are allowed to bypass the queue.