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Post by rodge on Jul 18, 2023 18:05:21 GMT
Taking my eldest daughter to London next month for a 2 day trip- we are seeing what we can do including flights for about €200, so wondering if there are any recommendations of places to go.
She’s 18 now so more grown up things are on the cards.
Not worried about a place to stay as I’m using points for a hotel.
To be honest, the cost of activities isn’t an issue- if it’s really good, we’d be interested.
So any suggestions? Arriving mid morning and leaving the following evening, midweek.
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Post by bryan on Jul 18, 2023 18:56:21 GMT
I love taking the river boat to see a lot of sights , the Thames clippers are like an extension of the tube so cheap and lovely on a glorious day.
I'd also suggest you can have a great walk around covent garden , Soho, Oxford Street etc.
Tower of London also good fun
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Post by LandieMark on Jul 18, 2023 19:11:40 GMT
Echo the above. London Eye was worth a look as was river cruise. Love Covent Garden and the transport museum. The boat next to Tower Bridge is worth a look too as is the Tower itself.
I hate the city, but there are certain sites worth seeing.
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Post by Stuntman on Jul 18, 2023 19:54:13 GMT
Does she like visiting museums or art galleries?
The National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, The V&A (very diverse and eclectic stuff in here, good exhibitions sometimes), British Museum, Natural History Museum, Science Museum - I think all of these are free to enter.
There are other more niche museums and galleries too that are worth visiting, especially if you like art. The Courtauld collection, the Wallace collection, Sir John Soane museum spring to mind. Greenwich Maritime museum too.
Bank of England museum is interesting if you like coins, and gold.
Tower of London is a good shout and I agree about taking the Thames clipper on the river.
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Post by Stuntman on Jul 18, 2023 19:57:14 GMT
Visiting the nice shops and boutiques for things that either of you like? She might want to go to Selfridges or Tiffany's. Or watch shops?
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Post by PetrolEd on Jul 18, 2023 20:36:16 GMT
Londons a great walking city. Have a rough plan and go from there. The high stuff is always good, get a meal or drinks at the sky garden or duck and waffle. Catch a gig at the O2. Tower of Londons great. Borough market. Camden market, soho. Go see a show like Phantom. Can’t go wrong to be fair
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Post by clunes on Jul 18, 2023 20:47:16 GMT
If you/she are interested in art then I can personally recommend frameless: frameless.com/It's a unique immersive art experience that presents famous works in a totally new way and even though I am not a huge art person I found it to be amazing. It's not free but is something quite different. Apart from that - things like the Science Museum, Natural History Museum etc are pretty impressive. So many good food/drink places - inc interesting experiences such as the Ginstitute (if booze is an option!) And a show is always good. I have to admit I've been terrible despite living close but took a couple of kids to Frozen and it was genuinely amazing! |
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Post by Big Blue on Jul 19, 2023 8:03:25 GMT
She’s 18 now so more grown up things are on the cards. The Windmill, Soho then. 😆 Get the 14 bus for cheap sightseeing without feeling like a tourist. Another vote for the boat and the Eye: go all the way to Greenwich to get the Canaletto view as the boat turns. St James’ Park to stand on the bridge and get as close to Queen Victoria’s favourite view as is possible these days. Museums: Tate proper and Tate modern are both family favourites in our house. Walk the SOUTH bank from London Bridge to Vauxhall for the best views of London by the river. If you’re staying in the centre just forget the tube: often quicker and definitely more pleasant to walk. Stay off the big streets (Oxford, TCR, Regent, Piccadilly etc.) as much as you can using them only as link roads between the side streets. Do go down Bond Street and into the Arcades at the Piccadilly end, though. That’s alway a Christmas stroll for us. Get to as many green spaces as you can to remind yourselves that London is indeed the centre of the known universe* and easily the greatest city on Earth. *never disproven, even by Buzz Aldrin and his multitude of wrist watches. |
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Post by Alex on Jul 19, 2023 12:07:16 GMT
Lots of free museums but they will be stupidly busy so maybe better to avoid unless there's something you really want to see. We're taking our girls to the Tate Junior that's recently opened (don't think it's kids art more young adult). Nearby I noticed there's also the Vagina Museum (which amusingly has a pub called The Camel next door). We were also going to give the optical illusion museum near Oxford Street a go. If she's into it you could look at taking her to West End show. You can often get discount tickets on the day.
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Post by rodge on Jul 19, 2023 22:09:17 GMT
Great suggestions!
Thanks all, I like the boat idea and seeing a show.
It’s about 30 years since I was in London so looking forward to being back.
I’ve been to the museums and loved the science museum especially- still remember the pendulum that moved to the rotation of the earth.
Shopping will probably be a thing too.
She’s a Harry Potter fan and we’ve missed the window for tickets, but Kings Cross is on the list already for photos on platform 9 3/4.
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Post by Alex on Jul 20, 2023 16:22:20 GMT
Re. Having you're photo at 9&3/4 be prepared to queue with lots of Chinese tourists! You can hold her place in the queue whilst she raids the HP shop though.
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Post by Roadrunner on Jul 20, 2023 18:22:30 GMT
Re. Having you're photo at 9&3/4 be prepared to queue with lots of Chinese tourists! You can hold her place in the queue whilst she raids the HP shop though. Where is platform 9&3/4? On Monday I was at a meeting just over the road from King's Cross and, not knowing but assuming there would be some sort of 9&3/4 content, I wandered in to see if I could get a photo for E. No obvious evidence of the relevant platform and ticket barriers to get through to the real platforms. My ticket was for Euston and KC was crowded with tourists, so I quickly moved on and strolled on up the road. |
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Post by Roadrunner on Jul 20, 2023 18:33:45 GMT
Back to the OP. We did a family visit to London a couple of weeks ago. E had never been and W was about seven years old when he last went, so we walked past all the main points of interest B Palace, St J Palace, Horseguards, Downing St and Westminster. Because W is very much into military history, we then headed to the Imperial War Museum (via one of my favourite coffee shops on Lower Marsh) and were very much impressed. I do realise that might not be of interest to everyone, though.
Late afternoon/ early evening we walked (I agree this is the best way to travel in London) along the south bank from the Eye, over the river, back up towards Soho and Chinatown, both of which I recommend if you like a busy nightlife scene. An excellent meal in a proper restaurant recommended by a Chinese friend, avoiding the crappy tourist spots.
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Post by bryan on Jul 20, 2023 18:52:00 GMT
Re. Having you're photo at 9&3/4 be prepared to queue with lots of Chinese tourists! You can hold her place in the queue whilst she raids the HP shop though. Where is platform 9&3/4? On Monday I was at a meeting just over the road from King's Cross and, not knowing but assuming there would be some sort of 9&3/4 content, I wandered in to see if I could get a photo for E. No obvious evidence of the relevant platform and ticket barriers to get through to the real platforms. My ticket was for Euston and KC was crowded with tourists, so I quickly moved on and strolled on up the road. It is down the side of the main shopping bit, the other side of the tracks, there is half a trolley stuck to a wall |
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Post by Alex on Jul 21, 2023 6:32:56 GMT
Re. Having you're photo at 9&3/4 be prepared to queue with lots of Chinese tourists! You can hold her place in the queue whilst she raids the HP shop though. Where is platform 9&3/4? On Monday I was at a meeting just over the road from King's Cross and, not knowing but assuming there would be some sort of 9&3/4 content, I wandered in to see if I could get a photo for E. No obvious evidence of the relevant platform and ticket barriers to get through to the real platforms. My ticket was for Euston and KC was crowded with tourists, so I quickly moved on and strolled on up the road. Its not in the express train hall but near to the Great Northern platforms. Just past the Little Waitrose there's half a trolley embedded in the wall and just beyond is the HP shop. Tbh if you didn't see it it may have been due to crowds. |
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Post by Andy C on Jul 21, 2023 7:28:14 GMT
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Post by Alex on Jul 21, 2023 14:35:29 GMT
I was also going to suggest the studio tour but it needs most of the day especially if you include travel out to Leavesdon. It is a must for any Potter fan though. We've been with the girls a couple of times when they were younger. This time of year it will be stupidly busy though and you definitely have to book in advance
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Post by woofwoof on Jul 21, 2023 16:56:01 GMT
We had a flying visit a while back as Mrs WW had to go to the Thai embassy in Kensington. We stayed in the Queens Gate hotel which was just about next door. It seemed cheap and was just down the road from Kensington Gardens / Hyde Park. I liked wandering over and around Westminster Bridge area. Hope you all have fun  |
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Post by Big Blue on Jul 21, 2023 17:43:25 GMT
I was also going to suggest the studio tour but it needs most of the day especially if you include travel out to Leavesdon. It is a must for any Potter fan though. We've been with the girls a couple of times when they were younger. This time of year it will be stupidly busy though and you definitely have to book in advance Yeah, I’ve been twice and never read a book or seen more than 10minutes of any film. It’s a great place. |
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Post by ChrisM on Jul 22, 2023 20:38:34 GMT
I'm beginning to wonder if the Mayor of London wants anyone to visit (or live in) London. As well as trying to extend the congestion charge zone to the M25, he is now killing off the Travelcard if you wish to use public transport. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66268315When I looked up how much this card costs and then what you'd pay daily using an Oyster card, it's almost jaw-dropping. Zones 1-6 £14-90 per day, or £74-40 per week (which runs Monday to Sunday, not any 7 consecutive days). I think the equivalent in New York is about USD30 for a week (7 consecutive days from when you buy), and Berlin (which covers a huge geographic area) is EUR10-70 for 24 hours (not a calendar day but 24 hours from the time you buy/validate the ticket) and EUR46 for a week. |
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Post by Alex on Jul 23, 2023 7:49:46 GMT
Scrapping the travelcard is rather annoying as it's only a few quid extra on a return from our station and covers all your tube bus and even local trains around London. You only need to make three tube journeys and you're up on the deal.
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Post by Big Blue on Jul 24, 2023 9:30:32 GMT
Warning: boring.
The Travelcard has long suffered from a value-swap argument between the TOCs (train operators) and TfL. The cost of maintaining infrastructure that includes the orange ticket shite mag strip is a TfL cost that TOCs just don't contribute to via travelcards. A lot of outlier stations don't even use gates so they have no issue with the cost of maintaining them and use a randomised set of revenue inspectors rather than manning every station.
You can still buy a daily all-zones ticket: just get a smart card from your local TOC and the product will be loaded on to your card for use on the day you selected / purchased it. Alternatively buy an orange ticket to terminals only and use your debit card on TfL for a capped daily cost. You'll generally only be travelling in 1-2 so the cost cap is less than a 1-6. Which is the crux of the issue. Zone 1-6-1 travel is classed as TfL but on TOC/NR infrastructure and the TOCs are loathe to pay TfL anything for it as they already pay NR a shitload of access fees. NR get negligible money from TfL (there are a few bits of P-Way (the track) that are TfL owned like Farringdon section but that's off-set by bits like Wimbledon District Line owned by NR) so aren't interested at all. The whole issue of TfL zones on non-TfL infrastructure was (and has) never going to work equitably so using the shitness of orange tickets has been a long running matter. TfL have other issues with infrastructure cost: Prestige (Oyster to you) is run and managed by Cubic, a big American technology company and the Oyster ticket management is expensive. So Microsoft came in and ran the e-ticket back office and enabled debit card / credit card / phone emulated card use on the readers. Then DFT came along and introduced bar code and ITSO tickets on that back office network (the ones your TOC sells you) and at the gates. The readers go Oyster card / Bank Card / ITSO card in read order so the quickest way through the gates is STILL a physical Oyster card. It's supposed to be milliseconds but even an old git like me can notice the difference as I have occasion to use all three.
The only issue is Child Day Travel Cards for over 11s (under 11s are totally free in London accompanied by an adult) but I think that TOCs also offer child ITSO smart cards to load products on (doesn't affect me - my non-London sons are in their 20s and the girls have TfL ZIP cards) and I think bar-code options (vehemently hated by TfL) from TOCs are still available.
In short that BBC news item is at best misinformed (deliberately headlined to appear that daily Travelcards are not available at all then referring to paper cards in the text) and is very likely a lever used by the incumbent Right-wing government to make the Left-Wing mayoral office that runs TfL look like arseholes when in reality there is no problem that hasn't been overcome years ago via smart-card and smart-phone technology.
I said it was boring.
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Post by rodge on Aug 8, 2023 11:34:05 GMT
Over here now. It’s wet, the queue at platform 9 3/4 was crazy so we just went into the shop. just finishing lunch. Doing the Harry Potter walking tour later on, going to see if we can check in to the hotel early to leave the bags and then see some of the sights.  |
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Post by Alex on Aug 8, 2023 18:40:46 GMT
Not surprised the HP queue was long. Probably not helped by there being lots more people at Kings Cross due to all the lines out of Euston being closed. Perhaps try again tomorrow morning before breakfast if your hotel is nearby.
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Post by rodge on Aug 8, 2023 20:46:09 GMT
Not surprised the HP queue was long. Probably not helped by there being lots more people at Kings Cross due to all the lines out of Euston being closed. Perhaps try again tomorrow morning before breakfast if your hotel is nearby. Staying in the Travelodge in Kings Cross. To be honest, I looked for other places but it was 500m away and cheap, so will do for the night. Not bothered going back to 9 3/4, although we are traveling back from Kings Cross. Walked miles today and saw a lot of the city, including finding places unexpectedly. As a tourist, you could part with a fortune here very easily. Tomorrow we’ll visit Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Walked around St. Paul’s today and was amazed at the detail in the stone masonry. On the tv you only see the bigger view but the detail is incredible. HP walking tour was good, quite entertaining too and included the water uber. |
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Post by rodge on Aug 8, 2023 20:49:22 GMT
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Post by Big Blue on Aug 9, 2023 8:20:32 GMT
Like anyone that spends lots of time in any city it’s only when some else shows you pictures of their holiday there do you think “oh yeah that’s a decent place.” Familiarity breeds contempt, or indifference in my case. Glad you’re enjoying it.
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Post by Roadrunner on Aug 9, 2023 11:22:07 GMT
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