First time in London!

[JRawkSteady]

So, I'm going to London for the first time ever on a business trip. There's so much I want to see but I only have 2 free days. I was wondering if anyone can either recommend something. I'm not a fan of anything extremely touristy. (I'm from New York - I think I've had my fill of tourist traps.) But there's so much beauty in London, that I don't know where to start!

Also, I'm a big fan of the punk scene, and was wondering if anyone knew any "historical" spots in London that are affiliated with that. I put historical in quotes because it began only about 30 years ago.

If not, does anyone know any message boards that I could trek to? The DIS has helped so many people, so I'm sure there has to be something for London Travel.

Thanks everyone!!

 

[mrsv98]

AH, one of my favorite cities in the world! Here is my list of "Must See" places:

British Museum (outstanding Egyptian collection)
National Gallery (especially the Michealangelo)
London Eye (yes, touristy but spectacular views of London, book ahead)
Tower of London with a guided Beefeater Tour
Buckingham Palace for changing of the Guard and tour of the palace if you go in summer
Walk down the Mall from the palace thru St James Park to the Horse Guards
Shopping in Knightsbridge or Oxford St

Sorry I don't have any "punk history" info but I know there are still many, many afficianados walking around!

Oh man, now you have me wanting to go back! I am planning to take my DD in 2009 for the 800th Anniversary of Cambridge (alumnea) but I want to go sooner! You will have a wonderful time, London is a fabulous city!

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

I would also be interested for some suggestions as I am heading over there on Sunday for a 2 week school trip.

 

[NMAmy]

Definitely the London Eye. I really had no interest in doing this but my SIL (who lives in the London area) insisted and DH and I both LOVED it. BIL (who is afraid of heights) wasn't so thrilled. We ordered ahead and combined it with a lunch that was pretty yummy.

Even though we were there for a week, due to family obligations, I had to be very selective as to my touristy outings. I really wanted to go to the British Museum but we couldn't work it in timewise--so next trip that's top of my list.

The Tower of London was incredible--I also really enjoyed going to Hampton Court which didn't have a whole lot of crowds at the time so it kind of felt like we had the place to ourselves. We also did a lot of stuff outside of London--in Yorkshire mostly because dh's parents own a cottage there.

I hope you have a great time!

 

[Ava83]

I love London also, We went when I was 4 months pregnant with Ava and I felt her move for the first time in front of a castle I knew she would be a princess then!

Anyway..

British Mueseum...it is amazing, the history in there and the building itself is stunning.

Tower of London...do the tour, sounds cheesy but its not.

For another great view climb up to the top of St Paul's (beautiful)

We did all the big stuff and to be honest out favorite thing was was the tours and just taking the tube and walking places. It is really a wonderful city.

 

[laura001]

London is one of my favourite places, other that WDW of course. My daughter attends University there and I was just there in October to see her.

Everything is touristy of sorts there, how can it not be? My must do's would be:

Tower of London (tour with beefeater)
London Eye
Piccadily/Oxford/Covent Garden Areas

Since everyone has different tastes, it is difficult to tell you what you should do, I have two suggestions:

Purchase a tour ticket on the Double Decker buses, you can hop on and off of it all day seeing what you want to see. It passes through or by all of the attractions and gives you a whirlwind tour of the city.

There is a site that is full of very informative people, somewhat like DISboards, it is www.tripadvisor.com ...go into the London forums and you can read other peoples questions or ask some of your own. The moderator Adam (adamhornets) is a wealth of information.

Have a super time!

 

[Geoff_M]

In addition to the places already mentioned:

Westminster Abbey... There's more history packed in that building than anywhere else in the city.

Cabinet War Rooms... Very near the abbey. This was Churchill and his staff's "bunker HQ" during WWII. He made a number of famous radio speeches from this location. The Hitler/Chamberlain "Peace In Our Time" letter is part of the collection there.

British Library - The contents of the "Document Room" at the British Library was moved to the new "British Library" in the 1990's. Here on display you're likely to see original manuscripts written by the most famous of Bristish authors, many in their own handwritting. The Magna Carta and other famous historical docs are also found there.

The London Dungeon - Not far from the Tower of London is this little macabre "museum" is a popular attraction devoted to historically popular ways of dealing with and dispatching your political rivals.

Other tips: The London Underground used to sell cheap multi-day unlimited tube passes for tourists. These had to be purchased before you left for the UK and weren't available in the UK.

 

[Laura]

So much of London is very touristy, but it's more in the way of visiting the Statue of Liberty than Times Square. Definitely skip the changing of the guard and Piccadilly Circus; the first is boring and the second is very touristy and, frankly, doesn't compare to Times Square. The Tower of London is a must (especially a beefeater tour) as well as Westminster Abbey. Apart from those, a visit to Harrods is fun as well as Covent Garden (the London Transport Museum has the best souvenirs and the flagship Dr. Martens store is there as well). See a play or join in the nightlife in some way. I did find this info on the web about a famous punk club:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Club
http://www.bangbang-live.com/

I think further web research could unearth some interesting things for you personally, especially as regards to punk landmarks in London. It's one thing for us to tell you what we like to do there, but another to find something that would interest you.

 

[missypie]

With so little time, you have got to focus on the era of history in which you are most interested...Roman? Tudor/Elizabethan? Dickens/Victorian? WWII? What do you enjoy most? Art? Shopping? Parks? Historical houses? Live theatre? Sit and think a minute about what you are most interested in (instead of hearing what everyone else thinks you must see or do). Once you've got that down, go to the Europe travel talk page of fodors.com and do a few searches.

 

[AnaheimGirl]

The Tower of London was probably my favorite spot when I was there, over 15 years ago. Also Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. People go there to rant and rave about different things -- it's pretty funny to watch.

Not exactly historical punk, but I just had to see Piccadilly Circus, just because of the line from Kiss Me Deadly (by Billy Idol's first band, Generation X), "When two punks chose to risk the subway, for a tube to Picadilly". It wasn't really worth it, there's not much there. It's just a turnabout in the street with a little fountain in the middle.

I believe it was King's Road that had a bunch of punk clothing stores, but I'm not so sure anymore, you may need to look that up. And I think it was near there that we went to a pub that someone had told us was the first place the Sex Pistols had ever played. Sorry, I honestly don't remember the name of it and I never verified whether it was even true or not, but I bet a little internet research would turn up the names of places like that.

Have fun!

 

[florida-again]

I live in London so could answer any questions you might have. I'm going to have a think and post again after.....

 

[florida-again]

If you're a fan of the punk scene, a day in Camden is amazing, its a market place with lots of eclectic shops, restaurants and clubs.
Its not at all touristy but has lots of great things to see. There is a canal with boats to greenwich which is also great fun. Simply take a tube there, its on the Northern Line. Its an area rather than a sight, but it's really very cool. You will see some very different things there!

I'll keep thinking and post again if I have any more ideas.

http://www.camdenlock.net/markets.html

 

[JRawkSteady]

You guys are all great! There's so much to see with definitely too little time! I'll have to figure out what to do. My trip is really theatre-based (we're bringing Mary Poppins to NY in October, so we have to research some things), so I may check out everything in the theatre district.

Thanks so much florida-again for the info! I'll definitely check out Camden. We're staying in Soho, so I'm going to check out the scene around there as well! I'm definitely more interested in the lifestyle moreso than the beautiful scenery for this trip. I'm saving the scenery and landmarks for a pleasure trip with my fiancee.

Thanks again everyone!