London bound!

J

johngalt

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Feb 27, 2006
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We are enroute London, in March, for about 3 days then Edinburgh, Glasgow and maybe over to Dublin if time permits. After that it's off to the Netherlands for a few days.
Can any forumites recommend good places to stay in London? We have never been to Europe before and are looking forward to the trip. Or course I will be examining as many historic items with a sharp edge as I can find!
Looking forward to hearing from anyone who can offer any good advice.
 
the only time i stayed overnite in london was at a hostel for govt. employees that the wife got us into, so no help there.

however, the tower of london had a number of edged weapons and arms and armour exhibits, as well as the crown jewels which included a number of edged weapons that had been gifted to the monarchy, as do the museums which are all located in basically the same area. all accessable by the underground, so get a day pass & wander.

the royal armoury is in leeds, and i think they've moved a lot of the arms from the tower there as well, they do sword demo's in full armour from different periods using real swords, but you'd need to check first to see what's on, so unless you can schedule a side trip there, next stop is the castle in edinburgh....

in completely the wrong direction is the naval base down south of london (i think you can get a train direct there for a day trip) in portsmouth with the HMS Victory, and the Mary Rose (neat for archers as they have original longbows on exhibit) as well as HMS warrior, one of the first steam/sail ironclads with racks of cutlasses, boarding pikes and colt revolvers...as well as the huge cannon.
 
johngalt said:
We are enroute London, in March, for about 3 days then Edinburgh, Glasgow and maybe over to Dublin if time permits. After that it's off to the Netherlands for a few days.
Can any forumites recommend good places to stay in London? We have never been to Europe before and are looking forward to the trip. Or course I will be examining as many historic items with a sharp edge as I can find!
Looking forward to hearing from anyone who can offer any good advice.
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I have been to London several times. The impression (as far as accomodations are concerned) is that it is one of the most expensive cities to sleep in in the world!!

Try to make your arrangements before you leave, don't wait until you are there on the ground to find a place to stay. Luckily you are not going at peak tourist season.

How old are you? If you are 20's or younger, you might check out the hostel opportunities. That is, if you don't have any other options.

London is a dense metroplex, so you may be able to find sleeping arrangements outside of London proper which would cost you less than if you stayed, say, next to the Tower Bridge right on the Thames.

As you probably know, you can get just about anywhere in London worth seeing by Tube, so staying outside of the city and traveling in to sightsee is completely doable.

Just "Mind the Gap!"

Have fun!! Watch your possessions! They will walk off if you don't. Thieves WILL be watching for you to be careless.

Andy
 
johngalt said:
We are enroute London, in March, for about 3 days then Edinburgh, Glasgow and maybe over to Dublin if time permits. After that it's off to the Netherlands for a few days.
Can any forumites recommend good places to stay in London? We have never been to Europe before and are looking forward to the trip. Or course I will be examining as many historic items with a sharp edge as I can find!
Looking forward to hearing from anyone who can offer any good advice.
Click to expand...

Try to get a room off the traffic side. We stayed in a place on Bayswater, north of Kensignton Gardens and the traffic on that road is amazing.

The British Musem has tons of ancient metal work if you are interested. If you are into history and museums, plan to spend a whole day there. We went for an afternoon and barely made a dent!

Good books for current info: "Let's Go" and anything by Rick Steves. The Michelin Guides are dry, but have the most horsepower to weight for historical info. Let's Go books are compiled from information sent back by traveling students, so you get a good snapshot of prices and quality. Start at the library and work you way out. Bon voyage!
 
I've got a copy of the Let's Go Europe and have been reading it. The places to stay in it are more geared towards the younger backpacker travelers and I know my wife is not wanting to stay at a hostel, even though she is a student. I guess after you have your own kids and they are old enough to travel the thought of staying in a dorm loses its appeal.
I've been looking at the Kensington area to stay and think I may have found a hotel, not sure yet though.
 
I used to live in Cornwall, southwest England and when we flew out of Heathrow we always stayed at the Ramada Jarvis on Bath Road. you can get a bus or the Heathrow Express tube into London itself. As mentioned London is horrendously expensive. The food, beer, staff and rooms at Ramada Jarvis are great. Ask for a room in the 'old part'. The Irish porter Patrick is amazing, helpful and friendly and Patricia the barmaid is very pleasant. It was the staff that made us go back there every time. Ask for the 'Infotel' rate which is discounted. http://www.infotel.co.uk/

http://www.ramadajarvis.co.uk/hotel/overview.asp?hotel_id=8
 
There are many less expensive B&B's in the area around Paddington Station.
I used to stay in that area when we would go down from RAF Lakenheath,
where I was stationed. If you are into military/WW2 history, I highly recommend a side trip to the US Cemetary at Cambridge, most of the USAAF dead are buried there. Also, the "backs" of the Colleges, along the river, are very lovely.
DaddyDett
 
Imperial War Museum, HMS Belfast(She ran down the Scharnhorst late in the war), London Underground and any pub you happen upon. The indian food is superb. Don't try the chinese food, I made that mistake!
I pretty much stayed on the cheap in hostels or rednted out rooms for the night at private residents.
Have fun and be careful if you carry sharp pointy things. The brits don't trust you and think you might be a heinous barbarian/killer if they catch you with one in possession.
 
DaddyDett said:
There are many less expensive B&B's in the area around Paddington Station.

DaddyDett
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Paddington is now a bad area and I would not recommend staying in the area especially in bed and breakfast establishments. And parking is a nightmare!
 
Booked a hotel in the Kensington area for the first few nights and will figure out the rest when we get there. lots of good ideas so far. The Royal Army Museum in Leeds is one for sure.
 
johngalt said:
... The Royal Army Museum in Leeds is one for sure.
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:foot: oops! make sure you remember it's the royal ARMOURY in leeds, not the royal army, or you may spend a few hours in the MP's tender care at some army base.....;)
 
+1 anything Rick Steves says. :thumbup:

His advice will save you bucks and show you things tourists don't see.


Mike
 
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