Things to do in London?

[Epical]

My girlfriend and I are going to England in September, and I was pretty much just wondering what kind of things we should do. I've never been outside North America before (well, Belize, but that was on a cruise so that doesn't really count), so I'll probably be pretty clueless. I know we have a few BG residents that live in the UK, and some more that have traveled there before, so if they could shed some light, that would be great.

Some details:

- Going for two weeks from mid-end of Sept.
- Trip will primarily be in the London area, I hear it's very easy to get around Europe though via cheap train/flights, so Paris might be an option? Would love to have a nice dinner at the Eiffel tower or something.
- Doesn't necessarily have to be specific tourist attractions... after all, we are spending two weeks there, so stores and food places are good to know. I assume that once we're there for a few days we'll get the hang of it and start to make our own path, but some starter stuff is good.
- Good places (parks, etc) to go on a walk... something like Central Park in NYC?
- She's the shoppy-type... has an interest in vintage clothing. I'm up for anything really.
- I don't think I'll be back there in the foreseeable future after this trip, so a couple "MUST DO" things would be excellent... don't want to remember something we didn't do on the flight back and be all depressed about it.
- Would you recommend (lol) Frommer's? Seriously I have no idea what to expect for Europe.

Bleh, I don't want to make the list too long. Thanks!

[BerenTebogo]

Kidnap David Tennant and force him to resume his roll as The Doctor.

[Crumpet]

Get some proper english tea accompanied by either crumpets, biscuits or cakes

[Ohemgee]

I went to London for 6 days. Trying to remember what I did besides go on sightseeing tours with my parents.

Uhhh, Picadilly is a crazy place. Check out the old record stores there if you're in to it.

[Venga]

Commercial vintage areas like Brick Lane and Camden will probs be appealing. Hyde Park is good fun, similar to central park. Looks round places like Piccadilly circus and Trafalgar square. Even though they're pretty stranded places their always rammed with people and sights to see.

[Mamimikun]

Banksy art?

[XanthePandy]

Take advantage of the 2for1 London vouchers if you're running around by train and grab tea at one of the lovely places they list. http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/attrac...or1london.aspx. Hyde Park and Camden are definitely up there. I also suggest going to the theatre at some point if you're up for that. Blood Brothers is recommended as it is one of my favourite musicals. I'd suggest things like museums but it very much depends on what you enjoy.

[volcanicweather]

I would definitely make it a point to go to an English Premier League match even if you're not a huge soccer fan. It's a great experience and the bigger the club the better the atmosphere. There's several clubs in London (Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Fulham, etc) and the price and availability of tickets will depend on the match-up.

[Bonta]

My girlfriend and I are going to England in September, and I was pretty much just wondering what kind of things we should do. I've never been outside North America before (well, Belize, but that was on a cruise so that doesn't really count), so I'll probably be pretty clueless. I know we have a few BG residents that live in the UK, and some more that have traveled there before, so if they could shed some light, that would be great.

Some details:

- Going for two weeks from mid-end of Sept.
- Trip will primarily be in the London area, I hear it's very easy to get around Europe though via cheap train/flights, so Paris might be an option? Would love to have a nice dinner at the Eiffel tower or something.
- Doesn't necessarily have to be specific tourist attractions... after all, we are spending two weeks there, so stores and food places are good to know. I assume that once we're there for a few days we'll get the hang of it and start to make our own path, but some starter stuff is good.
- Good places (parks, etc) to go on a walk... something like Central Park in NYC?
- She's the shoppy-type... has an interest in vintage clothing. I'm up for anything really.
- I don't think I'll be back there in the foreseeable future after this trip, so a couple "MUST DO" things would be excellent... don't want to remember something we didn't do on the flight back and be all depressed about it.
- Would you recommend (lol) Frommer's? Seriously I have no idea what to expect for Europe.

Bleh, I don't want to make the list too long. Thanks!

We do have cheap flights to europe, starting from something ridiculous like £30 + £30 airport tax (lol I know), but trains are ridiculous, Eurostar can cost upto £300 return without special offers. It is convenient and quick though.

Brick Lane, Smithfields and Camden market still has a retro feel to it if you're into that.

Picadilly circus - Regent Street - Oxford Street is the commercialised shopping area, but to be honest, coming from America you'll probably just find the same old suspect chains stores. Try walking off the side near Bond Street end, where you'll find more upper class Celebrity pricing fashion stores.

Just off Regent Street is Carnaby Street, which hosts more smaller and trendier fashion stores.

For parks, Hyde Park and Holland Park is a good bet. Or we got Kew Garden, basically a plant museum (lots of exotic import and a super size greenhouse)/park, entrance fee applies but its worth it.

Final tip, for 'British food' if there is such a thing, its gotta be pub food. Pubs near Brick lane are excellent (financial & trending agency area, very picky customers), stay away from anything near Picadillly Circus area as you would imagine, most are tourist scams (high price, microwave food).

Mid-Sept out of all dates? Expect rain, lots of puny but annoying the crap of you rain.

[Chen]

^ aye definately go see one of the matchs, most likely going to be a big game sometime in those two weeks for either arsenal/chelsea/spurs

[Folant]

Choir at Westminster Cathedral, daily mass. Concert on Sept 22nd too, be worth checking out, free admission.

[Selamis]

Become a werewolf.

[FNH]

I went in January.
Take the underground, familiarize yourself with a map before going and have a map of the underground with you so you can know where to get off and what lines you can transfer around to get to different places. Get a day pass unless you know you won't use it more than once. Taxis get expensive especially if you don't know how to tip with their money.

They have the same fast food chains but they are different(no traditional biscuits fucking english muffins and pizza hut ended up being a sit down restaurant with a waiter lol) and taste worse, bring pepto. Also, soft drinks are different cokes were awful lol. If staying in your hotel for a while find the local Sainsbury or one of the other chain grocery stores.

Hotels are pretty small compared to the states. And they have a thing about the bathtub walls being really high for some reason. Had to hurdle out of mine and burned my ass on the radiator next to it.

Also keep wallet in front pocket and be aware of those around you. If you stop through covent gardens and their is a crack whore doing gymnastics, do not bunch up in the group back up and watch for pick pockets.

The palaces are pretty awesome if you are into architecture or just seeing things like that. Same with the military things like the horse guards or w/e they're called.

Guided tours are really good to get the most of the info, but are expensive and are not for everyone. Walking the streets is an experience by itself. Must see places imo were Stone Henge (got to see it in the snow it was great) and Bath. On the way if you pass The (Red?) Lion's Head pub and have the fish and chips. Tower of London was nice too with a boat ride down the Thames afterward around sunset. London Eye at night would be pretty romantic.

Stop at a cigar shop on Jerman Street in London it was amazing.

more later if I think of something or you have a question.
Oh save for Business Class on a delta flight, or w/e first class is for your airline carrier. 8-10 hour flight sucks without having a bed(which you get in Business class) and the awesome meals.


edit: St. Paul's Cathedral is great architecture too.

[Keria]

if a gypsy lady tries to sell you lucky heather for the children, make sure you still have your wallet after you've got away. also, watch your stuff when on the tube.

[The Stig]

I made some semi walkthrough to get to Heathrow from paddington ASAP:

http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/showthread.php?t=77470

It's near the bottom with all the pics... not very helpful but if you want a firsthand experience of what it'll be like .... lol

As everyone already posted on what to do, I haven't got much to contribute. But I'm idle on most weekends and it costs me 0 to get to/out of London, if you want some visuals or anything let me know.

Oh, weather is fucking random. 8:12am at the moment and it's 5 degrees C outside, in MAY!

[Tricen]

I'm sure you could do Whimsical.

[Obev]

Porterhouse, Covent Garden.

It's Irish but I don't care. Best beer in the city, some damn fine food to go with it, and a really interesting style. Well worth the price of a pint and dinner. Oyster Stout or Brain Blasta would be my picks for beers.

Vintage crap can be found in Camden. Also punk rockers trying to sell you pot, and/or give you a flyer for an utterly awful gig. If you want live music, it might be an idea to go the Underworld. It's in the basement of a pub across the road from Camden underground station, and it's got "history," which means some bands which later got quite big started off playing in a basement with terrible acoustics and overpriced beer. Good atmosphere though, I guess.

Parks... well, Finsbury, Regent's, Hyde, St James, Hampstead Heath, Greenwich... yeah, we've got parks. None are as central as Central Park, but we've got more parks per square mile so we win. Regent's has a zoo, Hyde has a big lake, Greenwich has an observatory/museums/international meridian, and Finsbury has uh... grass, I guess, but I'm seeing Rage Against the Machine there for free in June, so I shouldn't complain too much.

On the topic of Greenwich and its museum stuff, do it. It's interesting stuff, and the neighbourhood is very nice to look at. A friend came over from France in September, and my flatmates did some big "tour of London, or at least the bits we can do on the cheap" thing with her. We took a boat from Embankment Pier (essentially, central London) for about £6 return, got to Greenwich and spent the day wandering around museums, eating pub food, and drinking beer.

There's museums-a-plenty too. Go to the British Museum, or as I like to call it, "Stuff we stole from the Orient," for gallery upon gallery of everything from Egypt to Iceland. It's in central London, Russell Square, in the middle of a region where every second building is part of one of three universities. Further out, there's the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, right next to another university. It's got Darwin's stuff, and dinosaurs. However, you have dinosaurs and African masks in American museums, so instead go to the Hunterian Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields by Holborn station. It's essentially a museum of bizarre and freakish anatomy from the eighteenth century to the present day. I would recommend you have lunch before you go.

Then there's the tourist crap. Buckingham Palace, yawn. Tower of London, snore. Houses of Parliament, why not? We certainly don't know what to do with it right now so you may as well go have a look at it. There's cathedrals all over the shop; St. Paul's is the prettiest, but Westminster Abbey is big and old and Gothic and a blatant ripoff of Notre Dame de Paris. I don't know, British history is all a bit "meh" to me, but this stuff's older than your damn country so pay your respects.

That's about it really. Go to Paris if you can, it's a much prettier city. The Eurostar is most convenient, but the plane is cheapest. Eurostar gets you in to Paris though, whereas Ryanair will fly you into the far suburbs. I like London's grime, but it's not for everyone.

[wop]

I like London's grime, but it's not for everyone.

You mean the black stuff that stick in your nose when you're in the undergound?

-_-

That's the main reason I don't travel on tube lol

[Epical]

Awesome dudes, that's exactly what I was looking for. If you have anything else to share, please do!

[Titanss]

I was gonna say pm wopa but looks like he had nothing to share..