Jules76126
Practically Perfect in Every Way
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2006
- Messages
- 1,359
Even thought I gripe about the Eiffel Tower, it is worth it to see the city. We waited too long to buy tickets so we couldn't buy them in advance which added to our wait. However, it was magical to see the city lit up on our honeymoon. We actually got back to the bottom right before it did its final sparkle of the night, so that was cool. I am sure you will enjoy it!
London is why more laid back than Paris. Definitely less crowds which is nice. We also thought food was more reasonably priced, even with the exchange rate. All the museums are free, so definitely pop in and out of a few. I never found bad just going for an hour as you don't paid to get in unlike Paris. We did the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, and Musee Marmottan Monet in Paris. In London, I recommend the National Gallery, British Museum, Tate Britain, Imperial War Museum, and probably the national history museum. The other thing is they are a great place to use the restroom as those can be hard to find if not in a restaurant or cafe. Sometimes we would pop in just for that.
The most crowded places will definitely be St Paul's and Westminster Abbey. We did not buy our tickets in advance and it was fine. They was maybe a 10 minute wait. Definitely climb the dome at St Paul's and get the audio guide at the Abbey - otherwise you will have no idea what you are looking at. I prefer Fortnum and Mason over Harrods - but definitely check out one of those stores.
Final recommendations -Do not go to sleep when you land. You will be tempted to, but don't. Walk around, drink coffee, whatever needs to be done. Then go to bed at like 8:00 PM. You will then be on local time by the next morning. If you like wine, check out Gordon's Wine bar near Charing Cross. The oldest pub (And my husband favorite) is the Old Cheshire Cheese also on the Strand. They have great beer. Also if you do not go up in the Shard, but want great views of London go to Duck and Waffle for breakfast on Liverpool street. The views are almost as amazing and the food is very good. Plus we found it reasonable priced. I did my masters in London so could go on all day about the city. If you have any questions, definitely let me know.
We flew Virgin last summer. They were great, but very pricey. We are flying British Airways to Dublin this year. We fly out of Boston and Norwegian has weird flight times here so they don't tend to work with our schedules unfortunately.
London is why more laid back than Paris. Definitely less crowds which is nice. We also thought food was more reasonably priced, even with the exchange rate. All the museums are free, so definitely pop in and out of a few. I never found bad just going for an hour as you don't paid to get in unlike Paris. We did the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, and Musee Marmottan Monet in Paris. In London, I recommend the National Gallery, British Museum, Tate Britain, Imperial War Museum, and probably the national history museum. The other thing is they are a great place to use the restroom as those can be hard to find if not in a restaurant or cafe. Sometimes we would pop in just for that.
The most crowded places will definitely be St Paul's and Westminster Abbey. We did not buy our tickets in advance and it was fine. They was maybe a 10 minute wait. Definitely climb the dome at St Paul's and get the audio guide at the Abbey - otherwise you will have no idea what you are looking at. I prefer Fortnum and Mason over Harrods - but definitely check out one of those stores.
Final recommendations -Do not go to sleep when you land. You will be tempted to, but don't. Walk around, drink coffee, whatever needs to be done. Then go to bed at like 8:00 PM. You will then be on local time by the next morning. If you like wine, check out Gordon's Wine bar near Charing Cross. The oldest pub (And my husband favorite) is the Old Cheshire Cheese also on the Strand. They have great beer. Also if you do not go up in the Shard, but want great views of London go to Duck and Waffle for breakfast on Liverpool street. The views are almost as amazing and the food is very good. Plus we found it reasonable priced. I did my masters in London so could go on all day about the city. If you have any questions, definitely let me know.
We flew Virgin last summer. They were great, but very pricey. We are flying British Airways to Dublin this year. We fly out of Boston and Norwegian has weird flight times here so they don't tend to work with our schedules unfortunately.
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