London for a week

[MrsDanielle]

Hello everyone!

My contract at work expires at the end of March, so I thought it would be a good time to take advantage of one of Air Canada's rare seat sales and book a flight to London in early April. (April 6 to 14) This will be a solo trip (my husband is unable take holidays on such short notice) but I will be staying with friends who live in Shepherd's Bush.

I've been to London once before a few years ago (spring of 2001) but I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what I should do. I'm fairly young (26) and I'm very interested in theatre, museums, and of course SHOPPING! Day trips out of London would be great, but I'm not sure where to start...I will say that I am on a fairly tight budget, so that must be be taken into consideration.

And lastly, does anyone know how to get from Heathrow's Terminal 3 to the Underground??

Thanking everyone in advance,
Danielle

 

[Pinky166]

You can get straight on the underground at Terminal 3. (Picadilly Line)

Here is a link for a map of the underground. http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...p&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image&cd=2

I would suggest seeing a theatre show in the west end.....something like Mamma Mia, the Sound of Music, Chicago, Lion King or Avenue Q. I have seen all of these and more and would recomend them. You shouldn't have much trouble getting a single seat at such short notice (some of the shows book out months in advance). Avenue Q is not for the easily offended....but is by far the funniest, or one of the musicals if you prefer those.

Some other things that spring to mind are:
London eye
River Thames Cruise
Aquarium
London Zoo
Tower of London
Buckingham Palace
One of the london sightseeing tour buses - you can hop on and off all day long.
Art galleries

There is lots to do.....I'm sure some others will share some ideas on here.

Have a fun trip.


Edited as I just found this website for you which has some day tours: http://www.attractiontix.co.uk/london-sightseeing.asp?t=g&gclid=COPhwNygl5ICFQQF1QodFyv8yg

 

[Daysleeper40]

Hi - as you are on a tight budget you should consider visiting some of the free museums.

My favourite pick would be the natural history museum (beautiful building as well as all the interesting stuff inside) or maybe one of the art galleries (Tate / Tate Modern / National Gallery - there are lots to choose from!)

This is quite a good website to help you plan and has details of all the free attractions there are:

http://www.londontourist.org/free.html

 

[Dimplenose]

For shopping I like to start at Marble Arch and walk down Oxford Street to Oxford Circus. I also like to look around Covent Garden.

I have recently been to the National Gallery (in Trafalgar Square) and found it to be great. They have free audio tours (but recommend £3.50 donation) which are really good. There is a suggested route of pictures (about 30) but nearly all the other pictures have code numbers that you can just type into your guide to get info on. I was there over 3 hours and didn't see everything. (There's a nice coffee bar in the basement too.)

The British Museum also has audio tours. The family one is narrated by Stephen Fry and I enjoyed it (even though I'm 46). I found the highlights tour hard to follow. I think there is a complusory charge for these, but it is free just to wander around. You can see the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin marbles here.

I find the natural history and science museums, although both very good, are over run with children since they became free entry. Now my kids are older I prefer the Victoria and Albert Museum - some great sculptures here, and an amazing collection of plaster mouldings of historic artifacts (they are huge, goodness knows how the Victorians managed to make them.)

A good day out from London is Hampton Court Palace. 30 minutes by train from Waterloo. Quite an easy journey. Not cheap for entrance fees but once you are in all the costumed tours and audio guides are included. The food there is quite expensive so it might be worth taking a picnic with you.

Have fun,
Libby

 

[MrsDanielle]

Thank you for your response. Oddly enough, I am most nervous about getting out of Heathrow on the Tube. I just hope that the station is easy to find, and that I don't waste too much time at the airport.

I was thinking of taking a day trip to Oxford...