London

Started by Milltown Row2, October 26, 2015, 06:33:50 PM

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Milltown Row2

Heading to London this summer with the family, Booked flights for early July and plan to stay for 5 days, obviously looking to do the usual stuff, take in a show (Les Miserables, Maltilda, or others ) London Eye, Harry Potter studio tour (for the kids  ;) ) Madame Tussauds and other stuff... Looking to book a hotel or rent an apartment .... Premier Inns have prices ranging from £555 to £800 depending on location... Earls Court was the cheapest rate .. any experience on these?

Looking tips on travel also, tube over bus? Prices like five day family passes and the like ? Looked at booking a show and prices on tickets are cheaper than what the actual price is plus booking fee! is it cheaper to get when we get there or is there a chance of missing out on the show???

Would love to have most of this paid before getting there as I'm sure I'll spend a fortune over the 5 days!
None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an after thought. Ea

T Fearon

Firstly this summer is over.Have had some great weekends in London,including seeing Phantom on Saturday night,and the Rolling Stones on the following evening in Twickenham,back in August 2006 just three weeks before my wedding.

Was last there in 2010, on a weekend competition win.Wouldnt like to pay for a trip now to be honest,hotel,transport have all got wildly expensive.But you do get quite decent reasonably priced tickets for shows down in the booths in and around Leicester Square.For 5 days,in terms of travel,you might be better off investing in an Oyster card

Tony Baloney

Did it myself this summer and you could take a week in Spain for the same price but it's a place I love. We got an apartment on AirBnB as hotels were working out very pricey as like yourself need 2 rooms. Worth checking out.

Depending on the age of your wanes they may travel free on public transport. I would thoroughly recommend the Big Bus tour. Due to the hop on hop off nature of it it can substitute for public transport too.

We had toyed with the idea of seeing a show and buying tickets from one of the stands over there but the weather was too good so jacked it in.

Milltown Row2

Quote from: T Fearon on October 26, 2015, 06:48:07 PM
Firstly this summer is over.Have had some great weekends in London,including seeing Phantom on Saturday night,and the Rolling Stones on the following evening in Twickenham,back in August 2006 just three weeks before my wedding.

Was last there in 2010, on a weekend competition win.Wouldnt like to pay for a trip now to be honest,hotel,transport have all got wildly expensive.But you do get quite decent reasonably priced tickets for shows down in the booths in and around Leicester Square.For 5 days,in terms of travel,you might be better off investing in an Oyster card

I'm glad you reminded me or I'd have booked the wrong date for my hols, now what nob would do that eh? Would the shows still be available ? they have a 100 seats but the cheaper ones I'd imagine would be taken up!
None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an after thought. Ea

T Fearon

Doubt if any show would sell out in midweek particularly.

Leonardo

How fancy a hotel do you want MR?  I normally stay away from city centre and use the tube to travel in and out. I stayed in Euro Hotel in Clapham which is pretty basic but cheap, and by using the Oyster card it will be capped at around £10 per day. City centre wild expensive, even for Premier Inn etc

easytiger95

Oyster cards all round for the tube Milltown - though I'm sure you could get a family version of it. Brilliant city, love it so much. london aquarium is right beside the London Eye, i'm sure the kids will love it. the South bank is great for a wander, Tate Modern is down there as well, if you want to bate a bit of culture into them, plus there are loads of family friendly restuarants nearby. Try the boat trips on the Thames as well, or you could head out west towards Greenwich Observatory, it's really nice out there on a good day.

And if you want a really nice view over london as the the sun is going down, try Primrose Hill, a little picnic for the anklebiters and a bottle of wine for yerself and the missus. Happy days.

andoireabu

Id agree with the poster who said stay on the outskirts and travel in on the tube. Could save you a few quid.  As for stuuf to do its nearly endless. Museums in kensington then you could take a boris bike through hyde park if the children are big enough. Walk around the fancy shops in knightsbridge before a dander down to see buckingham palace. Down the mall to see taffy square then big ben. Across the river for the london eye and the aquarium and even the dungeons are there now as well i think.  Id avoid the shard but if you want a view id suggest st pauls cathedral. A lot of steps to the top but i thought it was worth it.  As for shows you could try lastminute.com or the ticket booths on the day as they try to sell remaining seats if they can. Most of the shows i went to were excellent so you would be unlucky to pick a dud.  You could also look up a rooftop cinema for a new experience. Deck chairs and a great view for the film.  And i wouldnt bother with taxis. Very expensive way to sit in traffic.
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ONeill

I was there yesterday.

It will seem strange to those who do not know suburban London that in Chiswick (from where I stayed) one may feel oneself to be in a quite country place, despite the endless number of railways, tramlines, and motor buses busy incessantly with traffic to the centre of London. All night a tawny owl was calling. He makes his home in the ivy-covered trunk of an old pear tree, and as the fox-terrier is able by great scrambling occasionally to get a footing very near his perch the owl now and then has a flight during the day-time. Usually, however, he scares off his enemies, hissing and using his claws most effectually. Between this house and the Thames, a quarter of a mile away, and extending almost unbroken for a mile in both directions along the river bank, is a dense orchard, chiefly composed of pear trees, now heavily laden with fruit. Birds are wonderfully numerous, and, judging by the number of species and young fledglings about, they must have had a good breeding season. The heavy thunderstorms of the past week culminated on Sunday, when till evening all sign of bird life had disappeared. All are cheery enough in the morning, and the flowers everywhere are a wonderful show.

Yesterday I travelled through the low-lying dockside slums of East London, where smoke and heavy odours of chemicals are never absent, yet even there flowers are cultivated wherever a cottager can get a yard of ground. There were hundreds of hollyhocks and dahlias, still dashed to some extent by the recent storms, but showing good evidence of coming beauty.

That fine day has at last given many farmers their chance to get in the last of the hay, and in the southern counties and the Midlands a considerable quantity of corn is in sheaf.
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thewobbler

Here's the thing with London: apart from a few streets around Picadilly, Soho, Covent Garden, it generally doesn't stay up too late. Most pubs still shut their doors at 11pm and an outdoors cafe culture has never really developed.

So in terms of what to do in the evenings, staying a bit out of central London isn't usually a bad option. Plus there's reliable nightbuses all night long if you do choose to hang on centrally.

Earl's Court would be fine. It's the start of zone 1 which means cheap tube and bus tickets (you'll rarely leave zone 1), it has its own village feel, and it's not far (maybe 10 minute walk to each) from Fulham (bit of a night vibe), High Street Kensington (shopping) and South Kensington (museums).

Speaking of museums, that my best recommendation. You will struggle to get better days out than the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Imperial War Museum (though it's on the other side of town) - plus they're free in. While your kids might dread the thought of a museum, these ones are on a different stratosphere.

I'd avoid Madame Tussaud's. I'm actually a bit shocked that this place has held its value as a tourism attraction. This isn't 1960; we've got unfettered access to famous people via the Internet, and paying a fortune to queue for 2 hours for a static exhibit that they ram you around in an hour or less, well I just don't get it.

If it's waxworks you're after, the London Dungeon is a far better experience, a nice mix of gore and education.

The open-topped bus is the best way to see London, and with the right compere is a great day out in itself. Manhattan might be a movie set, but London has got 1000 years of history and stories. Plus it gives you a great sense of what an uncoordinated mess the road system is.

Wembley Stadium tour is an unbeatable experience for any football loving youngster.

The theme park Thorpe Park is only a half hour out of central London and there's fired buses. It's an absolutely brilliant theme park for 9 years and up. If yours are younger, Legoland isn't much further out. For either, keep an eye out for 2-for-1 or "kids go free" vouchers on cereal packets. Saves a fortune.

Visit Harrods. Even if you don't like shopping, you'll  be surprised how much you you'll enjoy walking around it. Or, send her, and head over to Hyde Park behind it for a nice open air walk. South Bank, as someone mentioned above, is also a nice walk, even if you're not arty (which I'm not).

Apart from Harrods, shopping isn't what it once was. Oxford Street has little of distinction anymore and is basically a bigger, busier version of any high street in this part of the world. If you've got teenage girls, maybe Camden or Portobello Road markets might be worth doing.

Don't buy a tube pass until 9.30am. The price falls by about 40% after rush hour. Avoid the tube between 5-6pm if you've young kids. It's carnage.

Central London isn't the price fixing racket it once was for food and drink, but if the prices are raising eyebrows, head into a Wetherspoons for lunch. Will never win awards, but it's always solid and well priced.

Go see Blood Brothers. I don't particularly like musicals as my brain always gets frazzled or bored trying to pick up a story from the songs. But this is outstanding.

macdanger2

I'd second the London Dungeons, very good. It's pricey enough but there's often a 2 for 1 deal, not sure where you get it but I'd say you should be able to find something on google.

The Jack the Ripper walking tour is excellent also, starts from St Pauls, would be particularly good this time of year I'd say

Canalman

Brilliant city to visit. Possibly best I have been to . It and NY by far the most interesting places I have been to.

5 Sams

+1 Great town. Took the tube out to Kensington one morning had a snoop around the museums and then walked back to the West End via Knightsbridge. The wealth you see is frightening. The amount of Middle Eastern looking teenagers driving Ferraris, Bentleys, etc.  :o
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tyrone girl

Definitely agree with all of this. Fab fab city. I loved it and loads to do.

I agree with your point in getting all booked and paid for before you go. We did this the first year and it was brilliant, we actually didnt spend a lot whilst we were there as we had everything paid for and booked, printed out etc.  I did notice that a lot of the attractions ie madame tussauds, ripleys etc allow the 2 for 1 with the train tickets.  Ripleys in particular i felt was over priced and just ok.

The open top bus is brilliant. We got great weather for it also. We also loved Camden market for the food experience alone  :P. So much to choose from and we spent ages walking about it. South bank is great at that time of year lots of stuff about.

Agree with whoever said about blood brothers the musical. It was outstanding. Unfortunately we saw it in one of the last performances as it was closing down. A shame really.

Premier Inns are great and we found once we stayed out at the one in wembley as we were going to a concert that it was class and so handy. Right next door to the tube and straight into central london in about 15 mins. So much cheaper than staying in central london.

Cant think of much more of the top of my head at the minute. We are going back for 4 nights in December. So looking forward to it.

tyrone girl

Forgot to add. We done that rip ride speed boat on the thames and it was class!!!! Pricey but well worth it. Keep an eye out though for special offers and 2 for 1 on it.