England / Scotland anyone?

[Rajah]

Yup, that's what I'm seeing price-wise as well.

 

[live4christp1]

Try to get to a Toby Carvery to eat.........it was a great meal! One of my favorite places we visited, wish we had one here!

Also you mentioned small little areas that time forgot, the are we visited at Loch Lomond in Scotland was exactly that, I'll have to get my pictures out and look, as I know the name of the place is on a sign there, I'm thinking it is Luss but it is right on the water, couple of little shops, etc. The highlands are beautiful and we stayed in a bed and breakfast there that was great. The man was a big game hunter and had moose heads and stuff all over the place (little eerie at first, but it was fun).

 

[Rajah]

Lotsa flowers? I know Luss is supposed to have lots of flowers...

 

[RadioNate]

Tower of London -- If we have time, okay, if not, okay

I just wanted to jump in and really try to pitch you on the Tower. While I fully admit I find thatched roof cottages and gardens really boring (seen 1 seen 'em all) I think you might really enjoy the Tower of London. It is one of the coolest places I've ever been. For me it was definately history brought to life. It was such an amazing place. It is definatly on my 'must do' list when I return to England. I could skip seeing a lot of things RoyalCanadian mentioned and wouldn't bother seeing a lot of things again (like Buckinghan Palace or the changing of the guard) but one of my primary motivations for returning to London is to see the Tower again.

http://www.toweroflondontour.com/

 

[Rajah]

Yeah, I've been researching London today and the Tower is now on my must-see list rather than the "if we have time" list.

As is a stop at the Library to see some of Da Vinci's works and the ancient maps and the bibles.

 

[RadioNate]

Yeah, I've been researching London today and the Tower is now on my must-see list rather than the "if we have time" list.

As is a stop at the Library to see some of Da Vinci's works and the ancient maps and the bibles.

Oh good! I'm excited for you. lol

What about Canterbury? Stratford? Just making your list longer.....

 

[RoyalCanadian]

As for the eye -- it's the heights and open window and no solid floor below that bug us. A tower we'd do, barely. Dunno about the Eye.

On the London Eye you are completely enclosed in a glass and metal orb. The windows do not open -- the floor beneath your feet is as solid as they come. There is also a bench upon which you can sit.

I'm glad you're doing the Tower of London -- now allow me to sell you a little more on one aspect of the Tower known as the Ceremony of the Keys. This has been rated the best free thing to do in London. It is the ceremonial locking up of the Tower of London which has happened at 9:15pm each night for the last 800 years. Even while the bombs were falling on London, they did the Ceremony of the Keys. I think Rick Steves website has more information on the Ceremony of the Keys and the place you need to write to get the free tickets.

Glad to be of help.

 

[Rajah]

Nate -- I wish we could do Canterbury and Kent as well, but those are going to have to wait for another visit, as well as York.

Neil -- I saw that, and am looking into it! I think the ceremony sounds great!

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Neil -- I saw that, and am looking into it! I think the ceremony sounds great!

Just leave your camera at home. I've been twice and they do confiscate any cameras if they find you taking pictures or video. Reason being: HM Tower of London is an operating military establishment. The mounting of the guard, the locking of the doors -- these are security procedures. Highly ceremonial, yes -- but security still.

You never know which Regiment will be mounting guard. It could be a Guards Regiment (red coats, black bearskin busby hats, etc.) or could be regular regiment -- there have even been Canadian regiments on occasion.

 

[Rajah]

Is that true for the entire tower, or just for the ceremony?

And do they confiscate only if you're taking pictures, or can you carry it in a carrying case with the lenscap on or something? Because if they're going to take the camera (and not give it back??) and there's no way to put it in a locker or something, we'll probably skip it if we're going to be going from a day of touring straight to the ceremony - I'm not going to go all day without my camera just because of one event.

But if there are lockers on premises or if you can carry it just not use it or check it at the door, I'd *love* to see it.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Is that true for the entire tower, or just for the ceremony?

There are some places you can take pictures and some places you can't. You cannot take photographs of the Crown Jewels. Just hold your camera -- turn it off and don't even think of taking photos. However, you can take photos most everywhere else. There are rather obvious signs highlighting the NO PHOTO zones. If the guards catch you photographing something there they are more likely to tear a strip off your hide than take the camera. These are ex-British military enlisted men -- all retired at the rank of Warrant Officer or higher. They used to make a living out of spotting the tiniest detail and spotting a tourist taking a photo is like throwing raw meat before the hungry lions.

The Ceremony of the Keys is a no photos at all event. Once again -- just put it in your backpack and pretend it doesn't exist. They will not confiscate the camera if you are not taking photos. They will search your bags on entering the Tower -- they are searching for explosives.

Leave yourself a good amount of time for traveling there on the Tube. The Circle Line was infamous last September for break-downs during our week in London.

 

[Rajah]

Okay, cool. Thanks Neil and thanks so much for the warning!

 

[NCRedding]

We flew into Manchester, and travelled to Edinburgh (saw St Andrews), York and back to Manchester. I only had a week, so overcoming jetlag was very important to me.

The best thing I did--I arrived in Manchester at about 10 am. I managed to make myself stay awake until 8 pm that evening, when I crashed. I ended up sleeping about 12 hours and woke up a reasonable schedule the next day--this was the easiest time I had ever had with jet lag.

 

[live4christp1]

Just wondering if this is still true.....when we were there we were told that we couldn't take pictures in any train stations or airports.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Just wondering if this is still true.....when we were there we were told that we couldn't take pictures in any train stations or airports.

I have photos from the King's Cross train station in September 2004 -- I never saw any signs. I recall hearing that one cannot take photos of the security screening areas at airports -- but cannot remember when and where I learned that tidbit of info.

 

[Rajah]

Hmm, good info.

What about clothes? My mom is convinced we shouldn't take *any* jeans, I think we should take one pair anyway for tromping around the Lochs?

 

[Rajah]

Okay, is this getting better or worse for the beginning weekish of our trip?

Fri: Depart Houston

Sat:
Arrive London
Check into hotel
Portobello Road
(if time)
Ride the hop on / hop off bus to get a feel for London
Take the London By Night bus tour
Night: Hotel in London, Sat & Sun night

Sun & Mon:
Hop on / Hop off bus tour
Changing of the Guard (~2 hours incl wait time?)
British Museum (~2 hours)
Library's room with ancient maps, etc (~1-2 hours)
Tower Bridge (~30 minutes max)
Tower of London (~2-3 hours)
Tower of London Keys ceremony
Westminster Abbey (~1 hour)
Big Ben and Parlaiment (~30 minutes max)
Trafalgar Square (~30 minutes)
Globe Theater (~1 hour)
St Pauls Cathedral (~1 hour)
(if time)
Queen's Garden in Regent's Park
National Gallery
Brief stop in Kensington Gardens & view of Kensington Palace
Mon Night: Transfer to Hampton Court Palace B&B, Mon & Tues night

Tu:
Hampton Court Palace & Gardens
(if time) Windsor Castle

Wed:
Train to Southampon Airport
Rent car
Winchester Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral
Stonehenge
Avebury
To B&B in Cotswolds (Wed - Sun night)

Th:
Cotswolds

Fri:
Down-day

Sat:
Warwick Castle & ?Stratford-Upon-Avon?

Sun:
Bath overview (Roman Baths mostly) & ?Wells?

 

[Rajah]

Oh, and a side note -- I know I could spend 2 days at the British Museum, but there are only a couple of exhibits that I reallyreallyreally want to see (like the Rosetta stone) and since we have some great museums here, I'm limiting our Museum time this trip.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Remember the Ceremony of the Keys is held at approximately 9pm each evening.

At the British Museum you can see the real Rosetta Stone (behind plate glass) and a fibreglass copy which you can touch and get another tourist to take your photo with it. It freaked out one of my friends who had never been to the British Museum to see a photo of my family with our grubby hands all over a world heritage treasure. Apart from that - I think the 2 hours at the British Museum is time well spent.

A word of note: there isn't much to see at the Changing of the Guard -- but that's just my opinion. If you're going for the ceremony, get to Wellington Barracks (just around the corner from Buck House) and you can see the guard getting ready for the Changing of the Guard. Inspection, marching, music and all. You get a much closer look -- you can be within feet of them as they march through the gates. This could save you some valuable time in the morning.

When you are at Kensington Palace, it might be worth a pop over to Harrod's just to see the place -- it is phenomenal, and the prices are out of this world. However, it is fun to walk through the Food Hall.

IMHO, once again -- I would save the Hop/On-Hop/Off tour for the Sunday & Monday when you are going to be doing the bulk of your touring. The buses essentially take you to the great majority of the sites you're hoping to see. This will save you both time and money on using the London Underground. The Underground can be very, very confusing. What appears to be a direct route from one station to another is not always the shortest distance between two points. For instance -- it would appear that, in order to get from Euston Station to Euston Square Underground, one must take the Northern Line to King's Cross and transfer to either the Hammersmith & City Line or the Circle Line. In actuality, go out the door and cross the street. Same that it is quicker to walk the length of the city block to get from Charing Cross to Embankment instead of waiting for the train.

 

[Rajah]

Yup on the Ceremony, so I'm planning to try to get to Tower fairly late in the touring time, or at least be around the tower area for dinner. Assuming, of course, we can get ressies.

Changing is something my mom's always wanted to see, so we're definitely gonna see it. I like what you're describing though -- do you get to see pretty much the whole thing from there, too?

I'd like to see Harrods, even if its just for 10 minutes.

I intend to do the hop on / hop off tour for anything we're going to be doing a bunch of wandering around for. From what I hear, that's going to be the easiest way by far to get around to the things we want to see, and it keeps us up on top where we can actually *see* London as we're transfering from point to point.