Going to London

[PamNC]

Hi everyone! I wanted to hop over this board although I'm not from the UK to say that I am going to London for a "vacation" on 4/9. I'll arrive 4/10 of course. My husband is an opera singer and he's performing at Sadlers Wells. So, I'm going to join him and see the performance. When he's done, we're taking a couple of days to go to Paris.

Please, if you don't mind, clue me in on any must-see's. We'll have 5 days in London. He'll be free during the day and evenings except during performances. Rehearsals will be over by then. I've never been out of the USA so I'm very excited.

Hey, we even though about spending one of our Paris days at Disneyland Paris. That would be very exciting.

Thanks -

PamNC

 

[emily1982]

Well, i think a show is a must see...if you want to pre-book your tickets you could try www.ticketmaster.co.uk...theres loads of tours, london wheel, palace etc. All the schools have broken up now so you might find it abit busier than usual, but have fun!

 

[Dimplenose]

5 days in London – You’re going to have a lovely time. It will be beginning to get busy as you are arriving during the main school holidays and also I believe there may be some industrial action on the underground that week.

I think spending one of your days doing a hop-on-hop-off bus tour would be good as this will give you a feel for all the main sights. A river trip is also good.
Things I enjoy seeing are

Buckingham Palace (only from outside at this time of year) and changing of the guard (but you must get there early to see anything) http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page555.asp

Tower of London http://hrp.org.uk/tower
Kensington Palace (and the Gardens) http://hrp.org.uk/kensington

Covent Garden (interesting shops, restaurants and street entertainment)
Hampton Court Palace (not actually in London but a 30 minute train ride away) http://hrp.org.uk/hampton
The Globe Theatre http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/

Then there is Oxford and Regent Streets for shopping
All the museums (but Science and Natural History get VERY busy in school holidays) http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/guide/about/museums.html
The National Gallery http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/ and National Portrait Gallery
Tate Modern http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/

And the churches(most charge an entrance fee)
St. Paul’s Cathedral
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Cathedral

It’s worth looking at the locations on a map as many are close to each other (e.g. Tower of London, Globe, Tate Modern)

There are LOTS more things to do – have fun!

Libby

 

[wickesy]

I would say The London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London and St Paul's Cathedral are must sees.

You can find out all you need to know about getting around by bus and underground (subway) on this site.

 

[carolfoy]

for a real taste of why London is the coolest city in the world check out
Carnaby Street
Camden Market
Petticoat Lane
the Kings road (all style setting areas)
and get a great curry in Brick Lane to experience real British cuisine
also Harrods, Harvey Nicholls for top price cutting edge designer wear and for trend setting but very cheap fashion the huge Top Shop and New Look stores on Oxford Street
the museums are fantastic and free (you may have to pay for specialist exhibitions) try the british museum and the natural history museum (these are both set in spectacular buildings too

 

[mark&sue]

Please come back here and let us know how you got on.

Have a great time.


Susan

 

[KayleeUK]

If you are thinking of a day at Disneyland Paris, don't forget to check out this board

 

[Andy B]

for a real taste of why London is the coolest city in the world check out
Carnaby Street
Camden Market
Petticoat Lane
the Kings road (all style setting areas)
and get a great curry in Brick Lane to experience real British cuisine
also Harrods, Harvey Nicholls for top price cutting edge designer wear and for trend setting but very cheap fashion the huge Top Shop and New Look stores on Oxford Street
the museums are fantastic and free (you may have to pay for specialist exhibitions) try the british museum and the natural history museum (these are both set in spectacular buildings too

Carnaby Street is not the centre of street fashion anymore.

Pam, if you give us some ideas as to the type of thing you are interested in we can give some more focused and less obviously touristy things to do, although they are fun also.

 

[carolfoy]

miss sixty and diesel are both there and class their stores as their flagships, there are brands not easily found in the states, also they have the best cosmetics store - Benevertoobusytobebeautiful and make up IS fashion, don't forget david and goliath have a great shop there, chili pepper, quiksilver roxy, o'neil and punkyfish and narcissus, at least they were all there last weekend, but I guess the wags boutique wouldn't count? storm or The Great frog? if you equate fashion to cosmo, harpers and tatler Carnaby street definately still is cutting edge

 

[JustMinnie]

I'm going to be in London in May, so I, too, thought I'd hop over here to this board to have a look around! Glad I found this thread, I'll have to keep checking back for all of the suggestions.

6 weeks and counting!