London

lannerjarv

who all has been to London and what did you think?
we're thinking about going overseas for a couple weeks this summer (some AMAZING concerts that we want to go to) and would be going in July.
probably 3-4 days in London, followed by 4-5 in Dublin and then 2-3 in Edinburgh.

Any recs?  We have family in Ireland and Scotland, so it's more London i'm curious about :-)

MeaghanandMichael

oh pick me! I lovelovelove London.
I don't even know where to begin.

We are huge history people so just doing that is just amazing. Seeing everything from the tower to Winston Churchill's war rooms to the museums... sigh.

If you get a chance to tkae day trips to Stonehenge, Bath, Salisbury etc do it. Dap trip it to Paris while you are at it!

lannerjarv

we are hardcore music lovers.. so we're going to see shows that just never come to canada.

the scotland/ireland thing i'm pretty excited about doing as that is pretty much free.  Gotta love family!

julezlee

I visited London once and then did study abroad there for a semester.  I loved it.  I went to a bunch of the museums while I was living there.  You must go shopping at TopShop. 

AdeleDazeem

I've been to London a few times.

My friends and I ended up in the London Torture Museum one day.  It was interesting that the city has such a shrine to torture.  Then we got to the back, somehow ended up on "trial" and were sent on a Jack the Ripper tour, complete with random boat ride.  I'm not still not sure how it all happened.  But my friends and I still talk about it to this day.

We also saw Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Westerminster's Abbey, etc (all the touristy places).  I missed going on the Ferris Wheel, but it looks really cool.  And definitely go to Paris for the day if you can.  I *love* Paris.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

Yup! I was in London for 4 days and Edinburgh for 5 days this past August.

We stayed at a hotel called the Academy Bloomsbury Townhouse, I think. It was pretty conveniently located. It was close to the Northern tube line, but also not far from a few other stations. So we had to switch tube lines a lot, but it was okay. The hotel is basically 5 townhouses built circa 1780 that have been converted to a hotel. They have a really nice garden in back too - we packed a picnic dinner and some beer and went out there one night.

One of my favorite pubs was called the Prince Regent. It's on the Marylebone High Street.

Tourist sites we saw:

British Museum (walking distance from our hotel)
Tate Britain
Tate Modern
St. Paul's Cathedral
Kensington Palace
Buckingham Palace (outside only)
Westminster Abbey
Tower of London

We walked across the Millennium Bridge, rode a double decker bus, and saw Big Ben/Parliament (right by Westminster Abbey).

Tower of London tickets were 17 pounds but SO worth it. You get a free guided tour by a Yeoman Warder (retired military - really know their stuff!), see the crown jewels, see where Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were beheaded, etc, etc. We also saw na exhibit on the armor of King Henry VIII. We spent 3 hours there and could have spent more.

I also highly, highly recommend Westminster Abbey. We got a guided tour which was about 2-3 pounds extra (on top of the 11 pound tickets) but totally worth it. They have lay members of the congregation give them and they take you on a tour and tell you stories about the architecture and history. And you get to go up behind the alter where Edward the Confessor and a lot of really old (Plantagenet) kings are buried.

Also, get an oyster card for the tube. We ordered ours in advance from a company in NY and put 30 pounds each on them. You just swipe them when you go in and out of the tube stations and it saves time and money over single fare. And take the express train from Heathrow if you are flying in. Its 15 pounds and cabs are usually 50-60.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

Crap that was long. I forgot we also went to Harrods. You MUST do Harrods. There's a memorial in the basement to Dodi and Diana which is weird. But the food halls are amazing.

We were in Edinburgh during Festival Fringe, so a lot of our time was spent going to shows. But a tour of the castle is a must. We also did a day tour to Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond. And the Scottish Whiskey Heritage Center is just down the hill from the castle. You get a cute little tour about how they make scotch and then you can do a tasting. We had about 12 scotches and bought 2 to bring home with us. There's also a really good vegetarian restaurant called David Bann's, and something called the Baked Potato Shoppe, which was cheap and awesome. And be prepared for everyone to tell you about JK Rowling and the school that inspired Hogwarts.

SarahnVinny

k

SarahnVinny

k