A non-Disney question from an American

[Amzey]

Hello everyone!
I'm headed to London next week for the first time, and I'm very excited. It will be me (16), my sisters, who are 12 and 9, and our parents. We're staying at the Grosvenor House - can anyone tell me anything about it?

Also, we've been told by some people that we need to dress very nicely, and by others that we can wear our shorts and sneakers. (I think you call them trainers? hehe) I was wondering what all of you here think about that issue?

And just some general tips on London would be nice!
We're flying Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy - it looks pretty nice, I'm excited.

Thanks, UK DISers!

 

[thefatman]

Hi Amey
Grosvenor House is a nice upmarket hotel on Park Lane
ideally located to explore London etc..
It famous as its ballroom is used for many awards ceremonies.
I ,ve stayed there a couple of times for such events.
As for dress code yes you may find shorts and sneekers are not accepted in the Hotel restaurant, but otherwise when its sunny here (he he he) we all wear comfortable cloths, and your certainly not short of choice of restaurants in London.

Are you just over to look around ?
Are you planning on venturing outside London ?
everywheres very nice this time of year.

Hope you and your family have a geat time, and please ask any more questions.

You might also want to jump over to our UK DIS (where we all hangout) http://www.wdwinfo.co.uk/

 

[WDWfan uk]

I have found that the upmarket hotels use a dress code in their public areas e.g. if you are sitting in the lounge areas and certainly the restaurants, some do require a tie to be worn by gents.
However, for coming in and out to sightsee, I have seen plenty of tourists wearing shorts and sneakers. I just hope that you get the weather to wear them - it is a beautiful day today
As far as London is concerned, you may enjoy the open-topped bus tour - you can get on and off at any point you wish I think. Visit the Tower Of London including the Crown Jewels which are housed there - and if you have an interest in the royal palaces, you might like to look at their website:-

http://www.royal.gov.uk/palaces/index.htm

 

[Janice]

Hello - hope you have a great time when you visit us in the UK

One thing you may like to have a look at it the new London Eye, which is a huge Big Wheel attraction on the river that give spectacular views over London.

Here is a website to help you: London Eye

If you want any more help - do pop over to the UK Site where we would all be more than happy to give you more ideas

Have fun

 

[Penny12]

AMY!

Glad you found us

Been meaning to PM you, but now that you are here, I'll post here instead

I've been asking questions on your behalf, and going by what you have told me before then Chessington is the one that may well appeal to you more that Thorpe Park, but they are fairly similar.

Just remember they aren't as slick as Disney (or have any magic) and obviously much smaller, but hopefully you should find a few thrill rides to keep you happy

I mentioned the River Boat down the Thames which is nice. Plus the London Eye. The open top buses are good and can give you lots of info about the sites you are passing, but are expensive...if you are adventurous and independent, then you can get daily Travelcards which allow you to use all London Public Transport much more cheaply.

Penny!

 

[Hilary]

Hi Amy

I used to live in London, but now only visit with my family - I have two daughters aged 16 and 12. I've asked them the kinds of things they've enjoyed when we've visited and they've said:

The London Eye
Open-top Bus Tour
Tower of London
Buckingham Palace (just from the outside!)
Madame Tussauds & Rock Circus (wax-works museums)
Natural History Museum & Science Museum
Regent's Street and Oxford Street for shopping
Covent Garden (shopping and street entertainment)
Hampton Court Palace & Maze (outside London a little way)

I'm sure you'll find plenty to do!

 

[vernon]

If the weather is as hot as it is today you aren't going to want to be inside.

For HOT days, as not many of our public buildings have AirCon. I would suggest

Regent's park Zoo ( North London and accessable by underground or (on a Sunday because the traffic is less intense ) a taxi.

The open topped bus tour

STRONGLY recommend a day trip to Hampton Court Palace ( the gardens there are beautiful and it is a very interesting place to see), you can get to their website through the link http://www.hrp.org.uk

For cooler days

The Natural History museum has a GREAT dinosaur exhibition if you like that, as well as many other interesting things.

The London Eye ( but not if it is too rainy/cloudy)

Madam Tussauds and the plantetarium have a combo ticket if you find that interesting ( possible).


For shopping ( which if you're anything like my 16 year old) , you're going to find the UK a little expensive compared to the US so I would stick to stuff you will find difficult to get in the US.

French Connection U.K , is a popular label that I think is hard to get in the US. Other shops ( so I'm told) are Mango and Top Shop ( both along Regent/Oxford Street Areas)

Have a good trip

 

[Goofyish]

Amy,

Check out this link for some info on the hotel:

http://www.hotels-of-london.co.uk/grosvenor/index.htm

The hotel has it's own website but seemed to be down when I checked it - you may want to try later:

http://www.grosvenorhouse.co.uk/

Have a great time

Tim

 

[SandraM]

Hi Amy,

Was in London for a week about 5 years ago while DH was working there (we live in Dublin, Ireland). Brought DD (age 8 at the time) and DS (age 6 at the time). We also met up with the American families of a couple of people my husband was working with. I bought the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Travel Guide for London, and everyone thought it was brilliant, including some Londoners that my husband was working with as well. It has great 3d graphics in it, easily understandable maps and loads of tips. The index is fantastic - one friend wanted to bring home a string of lettered beads and she looked up the index to find "The Bead Shop" and was able to go there and find exactly what she wanted. From personal experience, I would say don't miss the Science Museum - I brought my kids for 2 hours and dragged them out screaming 5 hours later! However, London is a great place to visit and you'll meet lots of lovely friendly people (don't forget to visit Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park about mid-day on a Sunday - it's memorable) wherever you are. Make sure you have an umbrella handy!
Good luck, Sandra

 

[Amzey]

Thank you for all the great tips everyone! You are all so kind and friendly. I'll be sure to print out this thread and show it to my family.

 

[Hemelman]

For a more unusual tour of London you might like to try a frog tour http://www.frogtours.com. This would go well with a trip on the London Eye as they are very close to one another.

Cheers
Mick

 

[Amzey]

LOL, Hemelman, the frog tour looks interesting. We have them here on Cape Cod, we call them duck tours. It might be fun to try in London.